Thrice at Groezrock 2012
This weekend we’re going to be at the greatest punk festival on the planet (true story), and we’re taking you lucky people along for the ride – even if you’re not there. As well as our rolling coverage, we’ll be doing stacks of interviews and hopefully some live video footage (internet allowing). What’s most important though, is watching those bands.
We’ve been scouring the line up for our favourites, and here’s our ideal Groezrock Saturday/Sunday schedule.
On Saturday morning, picking band one is going to be a struggle, but get yourself into the festival for Attila (Etines Stage @ 11:40), and you’ll definitely be awake. Next up, check out a bit of Crossfaith (Imperion Stage @ 12:30) with some Jager on the go, and head over to catch The Riverboat Gamblers (Monster Stage @ 12:55) to really get the party started.
After a short break for some food, get in for the highly charged horns of Streetlight Manifesto (Monster Stage @ 13:55) before enjoying a bit of Joey Cape’s Bad Loud (Impericon Stage @ 14:35) and charging back for A Wilhelm Scream (Monster Stage @ 15:00).
After that, it’s clash central time, but we’re gonna go right ahead and suggest you split AC4 (Etnies Stage @ 15:55) and Pulley (Monster Stage @ 16:05) right now the middle. Another uneviable clash is The Aquabats (Monster Stage @ 17:15) and The Story So Far (Etnies Stage @ 17:05), so we’re just gonna put our hands up and say to make your own mind up there. We’re probably gonna have to split that one down the middle too though.
Next, Trapped Under Ice (Etnies Stage @ 18:15) will be grabbing our attention, but the battle of Grade (Impericon Stage @ 19:15) and Walter Schreifels (Acoustic Stage @ 19:30) is going to be a bit of a heartwrencher, so we’ll wait and see which stage we can actually get into until we catch the rest of Hatebreed (Monster Stage @ 19:40).
After that (bearing in mind we’ve had no time to stop yet), we’re going to put our money with Title Fight (Etnies Stage @ 20:45), Pennywise (Monster Stage @ 21:00) and then take on Kid Dynamite (Etnies Stage @ 22:00) into Rocket From The Crypt (Monster Stage @ 22:30), which makes up an amazing hour and a half of punk.
To close down the day, we’re gonna watch as much of Comeback Kid (Etnies Stage @ 23:15) as is possible before watching Rise Against (Monster Stage @ 00:00) knock it out of the park until the early hours.
After that, we’ll probably be curled on the floor begging for some more food, so we’ll recharge and go and explore the campsites, looking for a beer bong and some hard partying Germans.
Sunday 28 April
As is a customary of Groezrock, the early bands on the Sunday are very, very early. If we get across for The Front Bottoms (Etnies Stage @ 10:15) it’ll be a miracle, but we’ll be dashing between Nothington (Monster Stage @ 10:30), Bastions (Impericon Stage @ 11:00) and Masked Intruder (Etnies Stage @ 11:10) before some more tasty breakfast.
Following that, PJ Bond (Acoustic Stage @ 12:00) and Smoke Or Fire (Monster Stage @ 12:25) will keep us entertained before a three way clash tears at our heart. Iron Chic (Etnies Stage @ 13:10), The Flatliners (Monster Stage @ 13:25) and Into It. Over It (Acoustic Stage 13:30) all play so close together, and as of writing, we have NO IDEA what we’re going to do about it. After that, The Ataris (Monster Stage @ 14:30) will drop some classics before we get all excited about Rob Lynch (Acoustic Stage @ 15:00) taking on a Groezrock stage for the first time.
From here there’s some tough decisions, and we’ll be locking down the rest of the afternoon with Strung Out (Monster Stage @ 15:35) and Less Than Jake (Monster Stage @ 16:45) before watching Polar Bear Club (Etnies Stage @ 17:45) and Strife (Impericon Stage @ 17:30).
For the evening, we’ll be check out a split of Bring Me The Horizon (Impericon Stage @ 20:00) and Billy Talent (Monster Stage @ 20:30) and then bringing it home with Flag (Etnies Stage @ 21:30) and the always excellent Bad Religion (Monster Stage @ 22:00).
That’s barely left any time between the bands starting and finishing for getting to the bar, but I’m sure we’ll all find a way. See you in the pit!
TOM AYLOTT