On a nice Saturday Metalrage headed towards the Melkweg in Amsterdam for a nice concert with Contrucdead, Hatesphere and Soilwork. Because nobody wanted to join me I decided to go alone and I found some friends at the venue. After the pre-show interview the first band started.

 

First band of the night was Construcdead, from Sweden. The band played a lot in the Netherlands in its early years and they were playing a pretty technical set. To bad the band got no x-factor and the audience wasn’t that attracted towards the set the band was giving. Besides that the band wasn’t really focussing on the interaction with the audience but on their well played set.

I have seen Hatesphere earlier this year on Graspop and they blew me away then. After hearing their latest effort I was bummed because it wasn’t the same thing I had witnessed before. After this release I was curious if the band could convince me once again. When the band entered the stage you can immediately feel the link they are creating with the audience. This band is the opposite of Construcdead, the first band was playing damn good but there just wasn’t a great vibe. With Hatesphere you are guaranteed to witness a brilliant show. Front man Jacob is a pure entertainer who knows what to do to get the audience jumping around. And maybe the set wasn’t that tight, the show was marvellous and the audience clearly enjoyed the entire set these guys were presenting us!

Hatesphere convinced me again, but now I realise these guys aren’t a true record band but one of the better live bands I have seen so far.

Soilwork

After a set change and some drinks and chitchats it was time for the headliner to enter the stage. The entire venue was filled with people and it was clear most of the audience was coming for this band. From the first tone until the last one people were screaming and moshing around. Like Hatesphere this band knows what they have to do for a good show. This band I also saw before, the first time was in Tilburg where they were supporting Children of Bodom and back then they surprised me with their attractive show; although fans told me this was one of their worst shows they had ever seen. The last time was Graspop but the band was playing at 1:00 PM and that is not a great time for a band like this. Song the band played came of all their albums, from ‘The Chainheart Machine’ to `Figure Number Five` and `Stabbing The Drama` and the band kept playing. Soilwork is getting bigger every time I see them and it is great to see a band from Sweden having some success in the States as well.

Overall I had a good night with some excellent music. Soilwork is one of the bands that is growing rapidly and they deserve to play more often in the Netherlands; somehow they are over here once a year and this should be so much more!