Gunther
vocals & bass |
Bastiaan
guitar |
Sander
guitar |
Rony
drums |
|
Lion's Pride gig report Brno (Czech Republic) 30.10.2004
Thursday and Friday
Originally we were to play two nights in a row. On Friday, 29th
of October, we were booked for a headlining gig together with Randall
Gruppe and Squad 96 in Bratislava, the capital of the Slovak Republic.
Everything seemed to be all right: All members of the band, as well
as friends who volunteered to make the 13-hour trip to support us
in what would be our first live experience outside the motherland
had taken the day off. The plan was to rehearse on Thursday evening
and head straight for the east during the night. Thursday afternoon,
I got a message on my mobile phone from Slovakia. Due to police
oppression, the gig was not to take place; we were advised to travel
straight away to Brno instead for the second gig. Apparently, the
local organizers had been shadowed by undercover cops and members
of the anti-terrorism squad for over a week. My contacts thought
they were being followed by left wing extremists or anarchists so
did not pay too much notice at first. On Wednesday, the situation
escalated and three of the organizers were arrested, their whereabouts
were still unknown when we left on Sunday. We fail to comprehend
why such oppression is carried out on the organizers of a simple
Oi! concert, even more so because this particular gig was to be
'for guests only', so just a private gathering of skins. Seems the
local authorities prefer to pester members of a music subculture
and refuse to tackle crime on the streets of their own cities.This
is not the first time (and unfortunately not the last, methinks)
that Lion's Pride are the victims of the PC Brigade and the Thought
Police. A gig in Germany together with Kampfzone and Last Riot scheduled
for September 2004 had to be cancelled for similar reasons. An Oi!
Gig organized a week before the German elections was sadly enough
too much the authorities could handle. Is there such a danger emanating
from 120 Oi! fans listening to their favourite music? Is the German
(so-called) democracy so frail it cannot withstand a concert by
3 patriotic rock bands? Such acts of systematic victimization boggle
the mind indeed.
Anyway, Around 23.30 everybody was en route after we'd finished
our last rehearsal before our eastern adventure. A cozy minibus
for the band, the instruments and drivers Jurgen & Wolf and
4 guys (Old-school skins Sammy, Jimmy and Kenny and metal-/skinhead
'heavy' Metten) trailing behind us by car. It was quite a ride indeed.
At around 4 'o clock, a truck almost rammed us from the right. Wolf
hit the breaks hard and managed to steer in the opposite direction
the bus was tilting towards. We were catapulted all over the road
but we somehow got back on track. No way would we have survived
a collision at that speed, luckily the bus did not flip over or
hit the truck. The guys in the car behind said the incident was
'scary as shit'. Good thing the Gods were on our side that night.
Around 11 'o clock on Friday, we reached the Czech borders, passed
without any problems and made our first stop on Bohemian soil in
the city of Pilsen, home of the famous Pilsner Urquell beer (the
first lager ale in the world). We had a brief look round town. Czech
flags were raised everywhere in order to celebrate the founding
of the Czechoslovak state that same day in 1918 after the first
world war and the dissolution of the Habsburg empire. Some of the
lads were getting impatient. What's all this talk about beer, when
the throat is dry! We quenched our thirst in a local pub and got
back in the van both relieved and refreshed. An hour later, we saw
the cragged silhouettes of Zebrak and Tocnik against the Bohemian
skies on the left side of the road and decided to make a detour
and visit both mighty ruins. Armed with Flemish flags, we climbed
the steep path towards the medieval fortresses. To our surprise,
they were shooting a commercial for Flemish ale Stella Artois in
one of the castles (Zebrak). One of the security guards was kind
enough to show us in, whereas it normally is closed for visitors
outside of the tourist season. If these marvelous walls could only
tell of the brave deeds of its former inhabitants. it was a wonderful
sight to witness us 10 with flags clutched in our hands, looking
out far and wide from the castles keep. We descended and went towards
Tocnik as well, although cruder and obviously used as a defense
outpost, the impression of the mighty defense tower was overwhelming.
Back on the road again, made our way through the labyrinth of
Prague suburbs and stopped at a great home-brewery near the Castle
of Pruhonice, where we amply tasted the golden beer and had our
first decent meal since ages or so it seemed. The landlord was particularly
interested in the band and kept asking questions bout what style
we played, where we would perform etc. A typical example of Czech
hospitality (he didn't show up at the gig though haha). After we
had drunk and eaten our fill, it was off to Brno for the next couple
of hours. We managed to get there around 18.00, where our local
contacts would meet us at a parking lot. They had booked a hotel
for us. It was a dilapidated wreck filled with drunken gypsies,
teenage prostitutes and the reek of marihuana. It was so gory beyond
belief that we could even see the humour of it. The entrance door
even had a sign 'no guns allowed'. Martin Korec, drummer of Squad
96 and Randall Gruppe as well as organizer of the Brno gig immediately
cancelled the hotel, saying that the local inhabitants would probably
come after us in a drunken rage with axes, knives and baseball bats
if we would stay there (and skinheads always take the blame of course!!).
They arranged a great hotel (Merkur) for us, close to some bars
and not too far from the centre of town. We spent the remainder
of the evening in a pub nearby together with local skinheads. Food
and beer were again amply brought in.
Saturday
Being 'on the road' is often a great excuse to do some sightseeing.
After breakfast, we took the tram to Brno city centre. The Moravian
capital greeted us with fine weather, the local police with queer
looks. The newspapers had already featured articles about the 'controversial'
(sic) gig that evening. Cops were everywhere on patrol, following
us throughout town and checking our identity. Again, it is hard
to understand why the hell an Oi! Gig is being looked upon with
so much suspicion. Admittedly, Oi! bands are far from the latest
teenage sensation, but to treat us as if we were criminals is way
out of line.
First thing we visited were the foreboding dungeons of the Capucinian
monastery. In the 15th and 16th centuries, the corpses of wealthy
deceased and monks were gathered here. The exceptional microclimate
and the system of intricate air vents made the bodies mummify slowly.
There were several wooden coffins with dried-out corpses, as well
as a central room with over 25 dead monks laid out, some wearing
their long garments, other clutching a wooden cross, their horrific
grimaces pointed at every visitor. On the wall, the macabre saying
'We were once what you are, you will once be what we are" summed
it up perfectly. We stopped at the cathedral, the central market
square and the gothic city hall before halting at a more than inviting
Czech pub for a couple of pints of 'pivo' and steaks. We spent the
afternoon visiting the Spillberk stronghold that dominates the city.
This citadel has a history going back centuries. Its present architecture
dates back to the 18th century though. It was used as a prison ever
since the days of Napoleon to put away political prisoners. During
the Second World War, German troops occupied the citadel as stronghold
to control the city of Brünn, as Brno is called in the German
Tongue. The kilometers of dark tunnels and prison cells left little
to the imagination.
As we were returning to the Hotel to get ready for the gig, we
already noticed the first shaven heads on the streets. The Svatoboj
('Holy war' in rough translation, a fitting name indeed!), a cozy
cavernous pub with a next door concert hall was already filled with
skinheads and skingirls from all over Europe when we got there at
6 'o clock. We were greeted by friends from Pressburg (Bratislava),
Prague, and all corners from The Czech and Slovak Republics. There
were people from Austria, Germany and even Italy present for the
gig. Outside, the 40-man police squad in full assault gear searched
all who entered. They went through bags, cars and personal belongings
looking for 'forbidden symbols' (which is not too hard, considering
that 14 runes of the Germanic Futhark are considered as illegal
over there). They had even provided an ambulance in case there would
be a riot between them and the attendants. Needless to say these
were all very unnecessary and expensive precautions as no violence
broke out. The atmosphere was tense however, it would not be the
first time the police raided a concert hall. Lukas, a close friend
of mine from Prague, had told me that about year ago, they raided
a Black metal concert organized by the Boby Brno (=local side) hooligans,
all attendants were escorted to the train station and had to leave
at once at gunpoint (he also told me that the first officer to enter
the hall slipped over a patch of beer on the ground and fell flat
on his arse haha).
Squad 96 kicked off with a very heavy Rock 'n Roll sound with punky
undertones, the crowd responded immediately to this local band with
an energetic pogo. My personal favourite was the cover of XIII Stoleti's
(Czech gothic rock with punk roots) 'Elisabeth'. The hall was already
swarming with people, I guess there must have been 200 in total.
The inside of the hall was very reminiscent of an old theatre with
long dark-red velvet carpets hanging dawn behind the stage, providing
a perfect setting. The Squadsters played very well, despite the
sudden personnel changes when two members left in September. Seems
that that even as a trio, the band can still rock on.
Unfortunately, I missed the beginning of Kampfzone, as I was asked
to do some interviews for newspapers and national television. There
were camera's from TV Nova, the Republic's largest commercial station,
Ceska Televize (the national broadcast) and one camera handled by
'undercover' police (as I was told by skinheads later on), who were
monitoring the gig. I was mainly being asked questions about the
political motives of the band. Of course they were looking for controversial
statements. I responded (in the best Czech I could) by telling the
plain truth, that we are a patriot band, that we are not ashamed
of our heritage and that is our right to express our views. Especially
Ceska Televize seemed to be bent on revenge as their team had been
attacked after (and outside of the venue) a previous Randall Gruppe
gig in Prague. They stigmatized all 4 bands as 'well-known European
neo-nazi bands'. A bit of research on the bands in question wouldn't
hurt for once in a while, hey. We made the headlines of the 6 'o
clock news the day after and were featured on several other occasions
on television throughout the day/night. I hurried back in to see
Kampfzone play 'Made in Germany' and many other ball-breaking tracks.
Tattooed giant Denny was glaring violently over the moshpit and
belched out his aggressive vocals whilst the others played as tight
as it can get. Kampfzone are truly among the elite of the patriotic
oi! scene. The energy these guys evoke on stage has to be seen to
be understood. It wasn't going to be easy for us to get the same
amount of intensity on stage after these guys.
Around ten 'o clock or so, it was our turn. This was to be a win
or lose situation. Our first gig outside of Flanders, a huge stage
and 200 skinheads watching your every move. I saw many of my Czech
and Slovak friends among the crowd, and it would be a disgrace letting
these guys down. We decided to keep our heads up and jump into the
fray, Gunther yelled PAAAATRIOOT! through the mike, Rony hit the
drums and of we went. Due to a really shitty sound (that long-haired
soundman was the worst I've ever seen, met and spoken) there were
some initial inaccuracies. We had brought two Flemish Lion Banners
with us; our friends from Flanders were waving them with vigour,
of went the shirts and tattoos were sported, the first attempt to
a pogo began. We seemed to grow better with every song. The response
became louder and louder. When we got to 'Skinhead', the first guys
started to sing along and shake their fists in the air. Some already
knew our stuff, many were still anticipating and listening to get
to know our style. When we hit '11th July (1302)', things started
to reach boiling point, a huge mosh began, with ever new faces (even
some pretty skingirls!) joining in. Czechs, Slovaks, Germans, Austrians.sang
along (even though they knew no Flemish), took over the Flemish
banner and started waving it through the air, enhancing the warlike
atmosphere. Metten and Wolf got on stage to sing the hymn of our
Folk with us. From then on, we knew this could not go wrong. Marian
from Made in Pressburg magazine and Miro from Randall Gruppe took
the flags and started waving behind us on stage. The guys from Kampfzone
got into the moshpit or sang along. Things got really extreme when
we played 'AN-TI-SO-CIAL'. Everyone recognized the song straight
away and clenched fists filled the air. The pogo turned ever more
intense. I tried to communicate with the crowd in Czech, which got
us an even greater response (especially the hooligan verse 'Ukaz
picu, dam ti jablko' - 'show yer cunt, I give you an apple for it'
when several joined in the chorus). The drum sound was very aggressive
and Rony managed to compensate for the lousy guitar sound by adding
extra power. Although Gunther did not get any reverb from the soundman
on his vocals, he put his best foot forwards and sang his lungs
out. We neared the end of our set but the crowd would not let us
go. We were asked to play 'Antisocial' again and '1302', when about
15 to 20 people got on stage to sing along!!! We hadn't expected
such a warm welcome at all, especially considering it was for many
of the attendants a first glimpse of Lion's Pride.
The evening ended somewhat in an anti-climax as Randall Gruppe
was forbidden to play after our set by the authorities. These threatened
to storm the building if the organizers wouldn't pull the plug.
The reason why: apparently, 'the press' had made a photograph of
a drunken young man making racist gestures and handed this over
to the police. The next day, the young man was released and the
police stated that it 'was not clear from the picture, the man had
made a gesture in this sense'. It is really a shame that the lads
could not perform and that a perfect evening had to be somewhat
spoiled by this event, which was wholly singular in nature as the
rest of the attendants had remained disciplined.
We were driven to a hooligan bar, which had been especially booked
for the after-party. We talked with many friends, discussed the
possibilities of doing some gigs together with Kampfzone, enjoyed
the local ale and made many new friendships. We got back to the
hotel, were some of us went to a local bar, others ordered excellent
Czech Champagne (Rock 'n Roll of course) at the hotel desk and talked
until the early hours about this unforgettable event.
Sunday
We were tired, packed and ready to leave, when we found out that
Wolf's van just wouldn't start. The motor had been standing out
in the cold for too long and it seemed we had to stay for a couple
days longer. The garage on the other side of the road was closed.
Everything had the potentiality of a small disaster. Fortunately,
the owner of the garage stopped in front of his business to pick
up some material. We asked for help and in a typical fashion of
Czech hospitality, helped us out and got our motor running again.
The gods had saved our asses twice already! We were looking at at
least 13 hours of driving back to the motherland, but still filled
with the thrill of the previous days. The gig was front page news
in the Monday edition of Mladá Fronta Dnes, one of the most
read dailies of the country (and these luckily had the journalistic
decency to quote my words accurately) and several other newspapers.
This had been a great adventure. We would like to extend our thanks
to all those who made this great concert possible, our many friends
in Bohemia, Moravia and Slovakia, the guys from Squad 96, Kampfzone
and Randall Gruppe and all who attended the gig. Lionhearts Forever!
Bastiaan on behalf of Lion's Pride.
Lion's Pride review from The Metal Observer
What a surprise this one was! Oi! is a new term to me as a genre
of music, but was I in for a treat once I heard it. Punk-tinged
metal (or vice-versa) would be the best way to describe LION'S
PRIDE's music. I would say that the lineage of this music clearly
dates back to MOTÖRHEAD with its fantastic warmly distorted
bass and rough vocals, yet is heavier than that; think SODOM (themselves
disciples of Lemmy and Co.) on their punkier days and Gunther (also
a member of ANCIENT RITES, DANSE MACABRE, IRON CLAD) is a dead
ringer for Paul Arnold of AT WAR on vocals - when the disc started
I even got a clear reminiscence of very early RAZOR. Of course
I am not saying these bands are influences on LION'S PRIDE, merely
making a comparative statement. Fans of these bands should be salivating
by now and I can honestly say that I would bet money on their liking
this a lot. It should appeal to a wide range of musical tastes
as it is just plain great music, the kind that makes you smile
and crave a pint of beer. It was recorded for the most part live
off the floor and this energy shines through in the music; the
production is good and everything is very clear without sounding
polished. A video (mostly a live in the studio interspersed with
images) and photo gallery are also included on the disc.
It appears from the limited searching I did on Google that this
style of music is linked to the skinhead scene and, in fact, some
of the sites I attempted to visit were blocked by my company's
firewall as "hate groups".
However, this firewall also restricts access to DICK CLARK, chicken
breast recipes and the timeless tales of Cock Robin and this narrow
way of defining things is very appropriate in discussing the non-musical
aspects of "Stand And Defend". At heart it is a deeply
political album, lyrically dealing, for the most part, with the
author's (Gunther?) wish to return to the roots of his ancestry
but also touching on the loss of dear friends ("Friendship,
Loyalty, Brotherhood"), addictions ("Self Control")
and the negative side of media\propaganda ("Lies"). As
mentioned, the bulk of the words centre
around the author's pride in his heritage and how this pride is
twisted by political correctness into a negative thing, how embracing
this history is somehow linked to bigotry by a hyper-sensitive
society. The band has been banned or censored for this ideological
position, not because it is 'wrong' or hateful, but because in
the global rush to idealize some cultural ideals, others are treated
as distasteful and opposing rather than unique in themselves. The
fact that there is a song ("Skinhead") about the positive
aspects of the oft-maligned Skinhead sub-culture may send a lot
of people running for the police, but at no point on this album
is there a mention of superiority, hatred or prejudice (except
as experienced by the author).
Extensive liner notes make clear what each song is about and also
reveal the sensitive, non-judgmental and intelligent ideas of the
lyricist. I have also received a quick lesson about the history
of the region in addition to some insight into European lineage.
Impressive stuff.
The fact that I have to make a disclaimer illustrates the political
climate of our times and I specifically make this for European
readers, where these issues may hit closer to home and be more
politically charged than I can realize from where I sit. I don't
endorse anything regarding the ideas on the disc; I simply endorse
the equal right of ALL people to believe what they want and be
proud of what they want. LION'S PRIDE does so with dignity and
class. Whether their association with the skinhead scene (by which
I mean distribution channels for the disc which may or may not
cater to the "darker side" of this sub-culture) is 'appropriate'
or not is beyond me to judge.
I seem to have dwelled longer on the lyrical content than the
music and that is because in the company of such firmly held and
spoken beliefs, the music seems almost secondary.
My rating however is based on the damn, damn fine music, impressive
packaging and overall class of the disc. A very pleasant surprise.
(The Metal
Observer, online March 1,
2006)
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