The second day started very good, mainly because of the performance delivered by Bastions. The band, which replaced Trash Talk, opened their set in front of a discrete but respectful audience with ‘With Love’, from their new EP (reviewed a few weeks ago). The group gave everything they had and the sound was really captivating, although Jamie’s microphone could have been louder. Hospital Corners tracks are executed with passion and the last two songs ‘In The Shadow of a Mountain’ and ‘Augury’ were terrific. Excellent morning show.

Just after them, While She Sleeps took over the Impericon Stage and even though we only heard a few songs from them (Midnight Souls started almost at the same time), it was enough for us to get a huge slap in the face. The guitars were really loud and sounded impressive. As for the songs of their latest album This Is The Six, they blast hard when performed live. The group has definitely gained a lot of experience in recent months and the big audience noticed it.

Only moments later, Midnight Souls played the Etnies stage. Here again, it was one of the last times we had the possibility to attend a live performance of the quintet, as they are soon breaking up. Most of the songs from their first and last album Going Through The Motions were played. Strangely, the room was very scattered and the public remained really shy to the frontman’s calls to come closer and share the stage with them. Sad. However, the set was running well and the quality of these tracks will always be noticed. Thank you and goodbye MS.

We went back on the Impericon again to watch Stick To Your Guns who really stormed the scene. Like their predecessors While She Sleeps, one thing to say: the sound was huge! The assembly shouted all lyrics from Diamond songs and the band constantly jumps from one space to another! STYG didn’t forgot to thank the public but also two groups in particular “without which they would not be the same band”:  Ignite and Terror. Nice tribute.

In the middle of the afternoon, excitement was cleary spreading throughout the festival site as everyone was eagerly waiting for the new project of Frank Carter (ex Gallows) and Jim Carroll (ex Hope Conspiracy). Although the style is quite different from the bands that played on this stage, the audience was here to witness the return of Carter with his Anthems tracks. Once Pure Love entered, the tent transformed into a rock ‘n’ roll show and exceeded all our expectations. Here’s a band that has some amazing audience interaction. Carter and Carroll (while playing his guitar) did a crowd surf race through the tent on air matresses by the crowd when ‘Bury My Bones’ kicked in and there was a huge circle pit that went all the way from the front to behind the front of house, out of the tent and back in. Then, people were doing the rowboat in the middle of the tent with Carroll playing among them and when Carter asked the crowd to take their best friend on their necks they wholeheartedly did. This show was undoubtedly one of the highlights of the weekend. Pure Love was just pure fun!

“The best show I saw on sunday is without a doubt Pure Love. Holy crap, those guys know how to get into your heart and soul. I was feeling a bit ill due to saturday night’s festivities, but when I walked through the festival site and heard the band play. I immediately felt better. I onlw saw three songs, but that was enough. The crowdsurf during ‘Bury My Bones’ was really cool and the circle pit at the end of the show was amazing. A lot of positivity during their show!” – Alfred van Luttikhuizen, John Coffey

Narrows was playing next. The crowd was sadly absent at the beginning, even though these were one of the most skilled musicians we saw on stage this weekend, especially the drummer. The sound was remarkable too, altough the band experienced some guitar difficulties during a few songs. And Dave Verellen (ex-Botch) remains a beast on stage. Too bad there was another shy crowd in front of a great band…

On the main stage right after, Strung Out was playing their super-fast Punk in front of a tent that got filled during the set. No downtimes, the band played their songs and thanked the organisation and the Belgian public before announcing going home to record a new album.

Less Than Jake played the main stage right after and delivered their Ska Punk sound to an audience that had put on their dancing shoes. The good mood was set and the classic anthems like ‘The Ghost of You and Me’ are always a pleasure to hear when the sun is shining!

The audience was pumped when Polar Bear Club began their set. Smiling from ear to ear, the four guys were equally motivated throughout the set. The stage diving kids were going off on songs such as ‘Pawner’, first title of their latest album Clash Battle Guilt Pride, and the excellent ‘Most Miserable Life’, played last. Refreshing show.

When the South Carolina hardcore band Hundredth kicked off their set at the MacBeth Stage, they probably attracted the biggest audience at this stage of the weekend. The band played ‘Carry on’ first, and moshing instantly began. Some kids were also screaming back lyrics as Chadwick Johnson shoved his mic into the pit. Then, Hundredth played ‘Weathered Town and two new songs from teir latest EP Revolt: ‘Ruin’ and ‘Free Spirit/Open Mind’. Johnson, front man of the band, admitted himself he hadn’t expected such an audience. This was a band that should have played on a bigger stage.

“The best band of the day for me was FLAG. Their set was nuts. No barricade and constant stagedives. At any point there was 10 people on stage running to dive off. It was one of the best sets I’ve ever seen. Pioneers still going at it.” – Chadwick Johnson, Hundredth