Photo Report: Together Festival @ De Effenaar, 28 February 2016

On Sunday, Together Festival landed in Eindhoven, The Netherlands with a killer line-up: Gorilla Biscuits, Modern Life Is War, Touche Amore, Miles Away and GWLT. I hate being the cynic, but what was supposed to be an energetic stagedive-filled show, turned out to be a rather dull matinee happening.

GWLT from Munich, Germany opened up for about 30 people in a 600 capacity room. Incorporating hiphop and catchy hooks with their rock-infused style of hardcore, they didn’t seem to care and played a solid set. Singer David Mayonga gave a strong speech about striving to be “human being in a free world,” referring to the ongoing refugee crisis and the ignorance of mankind. Singing many of their lyrics in German, their blend of hardcore is definitely something else but GWLT left a good impression.

It’s been five long years since Miles Away set foot on European territory. With a new full-length under their belt called Tide, they’re back on the road to have some fun in between jobs. The high stage is definitely something the band isn’t used to which makes it hard to interact with the awfully quiet crowd with an average age well over 30. It’s clear that most people in the room who were willing to pay €27 for a ticket came to see the two headliners of tonight.

The crowd finally warms up a bit to the infectious songs of Los Angeles based band Touche Amore. With an impressive discography released over the last few years, the band gained a supportive following and about 15 dedicated fans are present to set off to tracks like ‘Pathfinder’, ‘Home Away From Home’ and ‘Honest Sleep’. Touche Amore just finished recording a new album before hitting the road which will be out late 2016, and they played a new song off of it called ‘New Halloween’.

Modern Life Is War and Gorilla Biscuits finished up a night of solid hardcore and were able to let some bodies fly. The absolute highlight of tonight’s show? 10-year-old Giovanni Maatman opening up for Gorilla Biscuits, playing the intro for ‘New Direction’ on trumpet! Bad ass!