By Jase Walker
It’s the third and final day for Jera On Air and it feels like it’s blown past me so fast that it’s barely gotten started!
Showered, fed and watered, I’m off to get the hangover blown away by Polar. It’s still pretty early but these guys don’t give a shit, they want a pit and a wall of death even if you’ve just rolled out of bed, you’re on their terms now so get moving. I’ve seen these guys play tiny venues years ago in Manchester and seeing them command a solidly sized audience in the Netherlands now is a real treat. Big riffs, thunderous grooves, a singer that wants to reach into the crowd and grab them, this is what makes Polar great.
Festivals always roll a bit weird for me because although I get to see so many things, sometimes the short sets bother me a bit and I feel like Polar’s set was over way too fast. A quality bit of angry music that I hope I can see more of soonish!
A bit of a break and I’m back to the Eagle stage for Dayseeker. Opening with their latest single, ‘Pale Moonlight’, it’s great to hear this live and is a subtle indicator of Dayseeker’s direction for their next album. Darkly brooding synths and more dreamy choruses, very eager for more from these on the lead up to their next big release!
Of course though it wouldn’t be a festival set without a couple of big bangers though eh? ‘Dreamstate’ and ‘Crooked Soul’ puts any newcomers’ doubts over whether Dayseeker can go hard to rest. Rory takes a moment to remember his dad to give a bit of context for ‘Homesick’, a bittersweet song that carries a ton of emotional weight and tugs at my heartstrings every time. Generally floating a lot of the set around the ‘Dark Sun’ album and another short but sweet set that makes me fall in love with Dayseeker that bit more. ‘Without Me’ and ‘Crying While You’re Dancing’ both get a dull roar of the crowd singing the words back at Rory and you can clearly see he’s thriving off the response. He’s been tentatively testing the crowd to see if he can persuade everyone to sing the words which is clearly paying off looking at his massive grin when everyone screams the chorus for ‘Sleeptalk’. One last emotional shout out to his dad, the finale is ‘Neon Grave’ and brings Dayseeker’s set to a close. These guys never miss.
Next up is PVRIS, a real big one for me as I’m a huge fan of these! I get over to the tent just for them to hit ‘ANIMAL’ and I think if I’m going to wreck my voice to one band this weekend, it’s gonna be PVRIS! Following it up with ‘Dead Weight’, I think it’s definitely going to happen now. I would have thought that there’d be a bit more from White Noise in the set given it’s technically part of the anniversary tour! ‘Smoke’ perks up the ears of the others around me as they’ve evidently been wanting more of that from today’s show.
The further we get into the set it’s clear that is what they’re doing though and I definitely feel how much more I know the last two albums over White Noise. ‘Good Enemy’ seems to light a fire under the crowds’ arse as they’re now moving properly! To talk a bit about the sound and the like though, PVRIS sounds phenomenal. Loud as all hell but crisp clarity in the way I can hear every part of the band with no issues and the bass shakes my feet, perfect! ‘Hallucinations’ is another big singalong for me, time to scream myself raw but also while dancing in the most cringey way because you gotta love what you do eh?
Drawing to a close of the set were finishing up with ‘My House’ and ‘Goddess’ and scratches my itch for PVRIS for now but there better be a date I can make on the White Noise tour!
Next up is the ever strange and interesting Poppy. Opening with ‘Have You Had Enough?’ to an absolutely packed tent, all absolutely transfixed on the stage. I’m quite happy with the fact that the more I see of Poppy, the more I hear her play material from ‘I Disagree’. ‘Bloodmoney’ into ‘VAN’ though, a bit of a change in gears hard enough to give you whiplash! I mean it’s unsurprising it’s the same set as when she supported Babymetal a short while ago but I have zero complaints, I must have listened to her newest album a million times or so.
The ever shifting moments of her bizarre musical style shift from dreamy pop moments to others that’d make even the most hardest Slayer fans gurn like someone dropped arse. The sirens sound the alarm that the next big drop is ‘Concrete’ and a massive circle pit breaks out with Poppy effortlessly orchestrating the show. If you want a ridiculously eclectic song that bounces between vastly different genres with ease then this is a pretty damn good example! Honestly though, Poppy continually does whatever she damn well pleases and creates brilliantly bizarre music and shapes the persona she uses along with it. Another amazing show but please, I need that headline tour!
Next up is Static Dress. I’ve not seen these in a pretty damn long time actually, maybe Outbreak 2022? Anyway, I’m gonna get my fill of one of the UKs best young acts that are blazing an incredible trail that mixes early 2000s post-hardcore with modern sensibilities and an ear for a tasty riff. I didn’t expect ‘Push Rope’ to be so early in the set either but the crowd are throwing down like their lives depend on it.
The band themselves are constantly moving and jumping around and their singer never sticks in one spot for more than a few seconds, it’s incredible how he can do that and still have enough breath for the vocals! ‘If you stand still you are a fucking dickhead!’: truer words never spoken, and there’s evidently no dickheads here today. He seems taken by surprise when a bunch down the front start chanting “Yorkshire! Yorkshire!”, definitely not expecting that in the middle of the Netherlands eh? People are charging about, circle pit going full speed, jumping up on the stage, diving back off and generally just going bloody berserk! Static Dress are in a complete league of their own, incredible performers in every way that just want to elicit chaos start to finish. Jera On Air was ready to deliver the goods and I don’t think anyone can deny that. An absolutely insane show!
Some well deserved rest and I’m back in for another bit of a wildcard booking for Jera On Air, darksynth leader, Perturbator. It’s no secret to anyone that I’m a huge fan of these and the incredible stage show he’s developed over the years. It does look a bit different this time though, it may just be the darkness but I can’t see the signature frame that I’ve come to love so much.
This new setup had a central platform with a full lighting rig underneath it and the screens behind the band now play a selection of fast flashing images in time with the music, often looking distorted. This is further pushed by most of the drumkit being transparent and reflects the light from the platform below, always an artist that enjoys a slick production! I mean the more I get through this set the more I’m blown away by the lighting production, It’s just so damn good! Many switches through geometric shapes, strobed lighting that feels like you’re moving and then the platform they’re on sits in two!
This is incredible, I genuinely think this is on par with Meshuggah’s lighting production. This has easily been the best I’ve ever seen Perturbator, they’ve fully upped the ante for their live show to dizzying heights now and have thrown down the gauntlet to other electronic music artists, how are you going to compete?
Finally I opted for Fat Dog as my finale for the weekend over Turnstile as I’ve become such a huge fan of Fat Dog over the past year that I wasn’t going to pass on a chance to see them in a slightly odd environment. The turnout for them tonight is sadly a bit weak which I suppose was somewhat expected when they’re up against one of the fastest growing hardcore bands of the new millennium. I don’t care though, I’m here to have a good old fashioned bounce around to some weird post-punk and I’m gonna bloody enjoy it.
Shortly after the intro one of them jumps off the stage and starts mimicking a crab which I and the rest of the people down the front follow along with and this sets the tone for the pit! I get the feeling the band’s a bit miffed about the awkward situation they’re in considering the turnout and the fact they have to start at midnight and run through to 1am, it’s not an easy slot.
The party down the front is kicking off and I’m stuck right in the middle of it and having a great time smashing into other people. Some oddball is repeatedly crawling his way across the floor right in the middle of when the pits kick off, what seem to be his mates are repeatedly picking him up and moving him out the way but he’s back at it five mins later which is pretty bloody annoying. Fat Dog’s singer jumps off the stage at one point and slowly moves toward the back of the tent, presumably for a quick wander to scope out the crowd before walking back. Once he gets to the front, he rolls into stage and a crew member runs over to offer a hand up but the singer opts for flopping out instead which gets a confused shrug from the crew member who then walks off, absolutely bloody hilarious to me though.
I feel bad for Fat Dog though as ultimately I think they got a bit screwed on their time slot, especially on the finale of the festival but for what it’s worth I had an amazing time and was more than a worthy way to close Jera On Air 2025 out.
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