Last year many of people complained that the Never Say Die! Tour lost its image and became a sell-out due to the headliners that were a little different compared to the previous years. This year there was even more commotion when it was revealed that Miss May I would be the co-headliner. Sadly they had to drop out on this tour, as did Rise Of The Northstar, but their replacements were even better. Not only Carnifex and Hand Of Mercy would of course be on this tour, but also Emmure, I Killed The Prom Queen, Betraying The Martyrs, Hundreth and Northlane were part of it.

The opening band was the hardcore band Hand Of Mercy. These Aussies played in a venue that was only half filled. Nevertheless, they performed with so much energy that the crowd already started to move and people were also screaming along with this first band. A very good start of what would be a lovely evening.

They were followed up by their fellow Aussies from Northlane. But although the venue had filled up a lot more by that time, the movement had cooled down and the energy from both the stage and the crowd had also slipped away. These guys were playing the best they could, but it didn’t really catch on. The band didn’t stand out, but they weren’t very bad either.

When it was time for the first American act of the day, the venue was filled with people and the atmosphere was good as well. However, Hundreth was very comparable to the previous band. The energy of the music didn’t increase, and some people  preferred other activities, such as checking merch, buying a drink, etc., rather than watching this band. Furthermore, the band wasn’t tight and the live vocals just weren’t that good.

Many people came for the only French band of this evening, and the movement finally became as it should be. Songs like “Jigsaw” and “Because Of You” were played and they were sang along by the crowd as well. Their synthesizer and keyboards weren’t a pain in the ass and their energy really had a positive effect on stage. The band gave it all and the crowd kept moving. This was the best performance by Betraying The Martyrs I’ve seen during the last few years.

The venue was packed with people who came to see the last Australian band of the evening, I Killed The Prom Queen, perform. However, it was also clear that this band was an outsider on this tour: part of the crowd sang along and moved during songs like “Your Shirt Would Look Better With A Columbian Neck-Tie” and “Sharks In Your Mouth”, while another part of the crowd didn’t really get into the music. Nevertheless, the band was very tight, but the vocalist didn’t have hiss best day today.

Now it was time for the first part of the American headliners. No poppy emocore by Miss May I, but straight-to-your-face-deathcore by Carnifex. Not only did this band open the pit much more, but some people also already left. It was well known that some people didn’t like the headliners, but people had to leave early as well because the band started quite late. But the band and the crowd that was left gave everything. Much of energy, a superb performance and lots of moshing and stagediving. The band played many well-known songs, like “Slit Wrist Saviour”, “Dead But Dreaming” and of course “Lie To My Face”. They also played a new song from their upcoming record, which will be released 2014 under their new label Nuclear Blast. After “Hell Choose Me”, their performance came to an end.

A battle was going between many people in the crowd between the shows by Carnifex and Emmure. It started with a little “breakdancing”, but soon became a huge contest to see who could bounce their plastic glass the highest. Many people entered this contest and the cheering became louder with every next contestant. Of course this wasn’t the safest entertainment, so the security came in and became a target for some people, some of which got thrown out afterwards.

Even more people left when Emmure entered the stage. Some due to the overkill of this band, and others because they had to catch a train. The band didn’t seem to care that much and started with the song “4 Poisons 3 Words”, which was the beginning of an awesome set list. Because they haven’t released another record since Slave To The Game, they decided to play songs the crowd would want to hear. Therefore, almost half the songs they played were from the album Speaker Of The Dead. The opening song was followed by “Solar Flame Homicide”, “Sunday Bacon” and “Protoman”, which showed three different albums/faces of the band. Although many people left and the moshpit slimmed down,  people were still moving and stage diving. The band also seems to play tighter with every show and Frankie seems to improve his vocals as well!

The set continued with songs like “I Thought You Met Telly And Turned Me Into Casper”, “Demons WIth Ryu”, “R2Deepthroat” and “MDMA”, which was quite a good alternation. It had also been a while that I’d seen Emmure enjoy a performance as much as this one. The amount of stage divers was uncountable and the whole set was near to perfect.

This edition of the Never Say Die! Tour was a very awesome one, and I can’t wait for next year’s edition.