JERA ON AIR
WHEN: THURSDAY JUNE 27TH – SATURDAY 29TH, 2019 WHERE: ARGOBAAN 15, YSSELSTEYN, THE NETHERLANDS REVIEW AND PHOTOS: BRENDAN DELAVERE
Once a year, a small village in the south of The Netherlands gets taken over by 15,000 punk and hardcore fans – much like Australia’s UNIFY Gathering, but on steroids. Celebrating 20 years, Jera On Air sees the best of metalcore, hardcore and punk descend on the village for three hot and dusty days. And like most European festivals, it’s BYO, so once the tent was up, we sat back and cracked a cold one; after all, Europe was in the midst an unprecedented heat wave.
With the sun high in the sky, the tented stages were a godsend. Japanese hardcore quintet Crystal Lake were off in full force, with huge, booming bass and electro breakdowns reminiscent of their fellow countrymen in Crossfaith.
Playing the smallest of the three stages, Americans Cane Hill had a pit full of ninjas throwing down. With nu-metal tendencies and a Corey Taylor-style vocalist, the four-piece laid waste to their stage.
Fever 333 were a band not to be missed. A hooded figure was led to the stage, ripping off his hood to be met with instant chaos. Mic lead whipping behind him, singr Jason Butler ran the length of his stage countless times. Constant calls that this was a safe place because “f*** bigotry”, the pit looked mighty chaotic as punters climbed the tent supports to launch themselves into the crowd.
As the blistering set went on, Butler slowly undressed to his undies, and the ballistic set closer saw guitarist Stepehen Harrison crowdsurf his way to the tent support, climbing up with his guitar for one last riffing frenzy before disappearing onto the roof. Now that was an exit!
Back in the Buzzard tent, New Yorkers Harms
Way brought straight-edge hardcore to a stage almost too small to house them. Belter after belter, hardcore bros ruled the mosh pit.
Once one of the fastest-rising deathcore bands, Whitechapel were relegated to a mid-afternoon slot. That didn’t stop the five-piece from trying to shake things up, banger “When A Demon Defiles A Witch” bringing massive bass drops to the set.
Mixing things up from a constant barrage of punk and hardcore, LA ska-punkers The
Interrupters hit the ground running with all horns tooting. With the crowd getting into a bit of two-stepping and skanking, frontwoman Aimee Allen jumped onto the barrier to sing with all the girls in the front row.
“I hate this barricade – mak e these guys work for it!” yelled Terror frontman Scott Vogel – the packed out floor at the Vulture stage didn’t need to be told t wice, mounting the barricade only to throw themselves back into the melee. Security had their work cut out for them as bodies were strewn across the barrier.
Fast rising to the forefront of metalcore, US six-piece Beartooth ramped things up to 11, with multiple circle pits going hard. It was the command of the day – nay, the week. With a drum solo from Conor Denis leading into “Manipulation”, this reviewer is glad the floor was timber, because the dust that would have risen from the ensuing circle pit would’ve been choking.
The first of Friday’s headlining bands, Canadian pop-punkers Sum 41, hit the stage in a dazzling array of lights and confetti. All of the hits we grew up with – “Fat Lip”, “The Hell Song”, “We’re All To Blame” – the list of singalong songs was staggering. Confetti continued to rain down on the crowd as the band pulled out “In Too Deep” and closed with the seminal “Still Waiting”. Nothing but fun and love from the Canadians.
With the sun finally going down and the night air sweeping in, UK outfit Enter Shikari returned to the Jera On Air stage, this time as headliners. Looking like a bunch of lost businessmen, the four-piece exploded with a bombastic energy into “The Appeal and the Mindsweep”; the stage was a maze of towers of lights and mirrors, strobe lights flickered frantically, and smoke filled every inch of the tent. The encore consisted of “Torn Apart” and “Live Outside”, bringing the first full day of Jera On Air to an end. The crowd trudged back to the campsite, weary but satisfied.
Waking up on the final day to a campsite playing Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On” for all to hear was certainly a sign that the day would be great.
Bleed From Within were set on getting the lunchtime crowd riled up; once more, ninja pits were firing up as the temperature creeped higher again. Over at the Vulture tent, Belgian post-hardcore trio Brutus had all eyes locked on drummer and singer Stefanie Mannaerts. With a voice that switched from siren to banshee, the crowd were transfixed, heads banging and the mosh growing as the trio drew more people in.
“We are the motherf***ing Cancer Bats!” yelled frontman Liam Cormier as the pit opened up. The hardcore punk quartet did a lap of the stage performing more riffs than breakdowns, but that didnd’t phase the crowd
who flung themselves from side to side. A cover of Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” sent the pit crazy, the actin at Jera really getting wild.
“Lose your fucking minds, Jera!” Sydneysiders Polaris screamed. The completely packed tent was hot and sweaty, frontman Jamie Hails joking, “[We’re] sorry for bringing the Aussie weather with us,” before the band punched out mosh pit anthems “Lucid” and “The Remedy”.
With a blown generator due to the ridiculous summer heat and some last-minute timetable changes, Smoke Or Fire jumped up on the Buzzard stage for half-hour of solid punk-rock. There were no gimmicks, and no calls for circle pits – just four guys that definitely pushed the limits of that generator. After a short hiatus, it was exciting to see
Bleeding Through burst onstage for their long-awaited return. Opening with the brutal “Revenge I Seek”, Brandan Schieppati called for the biggest circle pit of the day. A soundbite from the movie TheDeparted heralded “Love Lost in A Hail Of Gunfire”, and the pit imploded with fight dancers. One of the only thrash bands on the bill,
Municipal Waste were here to show us “The Art Of Partying”. Punk and ‘core kids alike gave a good old fashion circle pit – none of that fight-dancing crap. “Thrashin’ Of The Christ” rocked our socks off, and the only riffs got faster from there.
Hardcore punk OGs Agnostic Front performed a steller rendition of their own “Gotta Go” and a firy cover of the Ramones’ “Blitzkrieg Bop”. Frontman Roger Miret sneered as he spat through each song, and with their crossover thrash, made the band sound angry, firing up the crowd evermore. It was a perpetual – and perfect – loop.
30 years is a long time to be in a band, and though the name hasn’t made it to Australia, Dutch punkers Heideroosjes brought the celebrations to Jera On Air. “Time Is Ticking Away”, a massive singalong that drowned out the band. Speaking mostly in Dutch, this reviewer wasn’t sure what banter was spoken between songs, but the crowd loved it. Another cover of the Ramones, “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” added an extra punk touch. Closing with “United Scum”, frontman Marco Roelofs sang whilst crowdsurfing. Looking more like a band from Triple J,
Turnstile took the indie look and flipped it inside out with a punk-rock attitude. Bassist Franz Lyons jumped higher than any Olympian, long-haired frontman Brendan Yates slowly lost pieces of clothing, much to the adoration of many in the crowd. With the brilliant “Live For This”,
Hatebreed frontman Jamey Jasta spat words to live by – “‘If you don’t you’ll die for nothing!” “Destroy Everything” two words that had the entire main stage jumping, kicking and moshing, also spoken by Jasta. Celebrating 25 years of hardcore, Hatebreed took a sunburnt and dehydrated crowd and pumped them back up with ener gy. Asking for one more circle pit, we obliged, and were decimated with “I Will Be Heard”.
With a strong contingent of Aussie acts on today’s bill, Brisbane’s The Amity Affliction scored a headline spot on the Vulture stage. Opening strong with “Ivy” and “Shine On”, it was soon apparent the crowd weren’t as enthusiastic about some of the newer material, particularly judging by the weak circle pit for “DIE” and the number of people who evacuated the pit during “Feels Like I’m Dying”.
Singer Joel Birch has such a strong voice and persona as a frontman, but it was being pushed aside for bassist Aahren Stringer’s clean vocals. Wrapping things up with heavy hitter “Pittsburgh”, all eyes were on Parkway
Drive and whether they would deliver a full and typical pyro show inside the tent.
With focus on the stage and explosions in the dark, initially people didn’t noticed the cloaked figures emerging from the shadows. With torches lit, the figures escorted Parkway
Drive through the crowd and onto the stage. Standing solemn, the fires died out, and as the band opened with “Wishing Wells”, security were in for the fight of their lives as surfers surged over the barrier and continued to do so for the entire set.
“Prey” and “Vice Grip” saw the crowd sing louder than vocalist Winston McCall, the action bringing a smile across his face. A brief reprieve in the set, all spotlights were on McCall for “Writings On The Wall” before coming back harder than ever with the one-two of “Shadow Boxing” and “Wild Eyes”.
As the lights went down to signal the encore, the hooded figures returned, torches in hand. With a bang the stage lit up with fire – no rotating drum kit in sight, but a full pyro show nonetheless. As the smoke settled in the roof, McCall returned in a Kevlar vest to finish us off with “Bottom Feeder”.
After two days of sun and dust, this reviewer was done. The Netherlands’ premiere punk and hardcore festival, Jera On Air had almost defeated us... Until next year, that is.