Persistence Tour 2016: Ignite, Terror, H2O, Iron Reagan, Twitching Tongues, Wisdom In Chains, Risk It! @Warszawa „Progresja”, PL [13.01.2016]

In mid-January at Progresja in Warsaw, we had the opportunity to see the cream of the hardcore scene as part of the Persistence Tour. The good lineup attracted quite a large number of people. No wonder – there hasn’t been an event of a similar profile in Poland for a long time.

Due to the wide lineup and the fact that we needed some time to get to the club during peak hours, we didn’t manage to catch the first band, which was Risk It. It’s a shame, because I really like their music on record, but I hope there will be another opportunity to see our western neighbors live.

The first band we managed to catch was Wisdom in Chains. The band didn’t blow me away, as there wasn’t too much crazy energy from the crowd yet, and the sound was a bit off. That’s the downside of playing early. The performance was still very enjoyable, although I would have preferred to see them in a small club full of rowdy, bald guys singing along to their choral melodies. I particularly remembered their songs „When We Were Young” and „My Friend” from their music videos. They also played „The Land of Kings”, „Dragging Me Down” and „Peace to My Family”.

After a break outside the club, we returned for what, in my somewhat insignificant opinion, was the mistake of the evening – Twitching Tongues. Musically, I couldn’t really fault them, as their mix of hardcore and metal was quite sound, but unfortunately the vocalist didn’t do it for me. His howling effectively put me off the band. What he was producing vocally didn’t match the rest of the band and completely ruined the experience for me. It’s a shame, because they had achieved a pretty good sound. I noticed that I wasn’t alone in my judgments, as the crowd’s reaction was mostly passive during their set.

Next up was Iron Reagan, who covered the stage with an impressive „American” banner. The band is fairly new, but they are not novices. Having members from Municipal Waste in the lineup is recommendation enough. Their thrash/crossover sound, which I had enjoyed since my first encounter with them, held up live. Beautiful, lively and energetic playing, with the attitude and fun that many bands unfortunately lack. They didn’t forget to play hits from both albums, with singles like „Miserable Failure” and „I Won’t Go” leading the way.

Following them was H2O, my third time seeing them live and they didn’t disappoint at Persistence. I have more vivid memories of their concert at one of the previous Show No Mercy editions, but this was also great. Very melodic and catchy, with an energetically reactive crowd. I happily listened and watched hits like „Nothing to Prove”, „Sunday”, „1995”, „What Happened” and tracks from their latest album „Use Your Voice” like „Black Sheep”, the title track, and „Skate!”.

The next band to take the stage in Progresja was American Terror. I have seen the band multiple times, and they have only disappointed me once (when they played with STYG and Comeback Kid the year before and the sound quality was poor). Their concert at Radio Luxembourg may never be topped, but in Progresja they managed to impress me the most. Great, crushing sound, stage presence and songs that are made to be performed live. Of course, the audience showed their appreciation with crazy stage diving and singing along. Knock Out Productions also deserves praise for organizing the gig without barriers, which is not always the case with such big lineups. Terror played songs from different periods, so I think the setlist satisfied everyone. Over the years, Terror’s set has become increasingly catchy, as they manage to capture the essence in it. We heard tracks like „Return to Strength”, „Stick Tight”, „Always the Hard Way”, „Overcome”, „You’re Caught”, „Spit My Rage”, „Keep Your Mouth Shut” and more.

The event closed with Ignite, who I like and respect, but after Terror’s performance, they seemed a bit too sentimental for me. However, I had to keep in mind that they are more in the style of Rise Against and shouldn’t be expected to deliver the same as other bands playing more traditional hardcore. Despite this, I still enjoyed singing along to hits like „Fear Is Our Tradition”, „Let It Burn”, „Bleeding”, „My Judgement Day”. They also played tracks from their new album „A War Against You” like „Nothing Can Stop Me” and „This Is A War”, and of course, the obligatory U2 cover „Sunday Bloody Sunday”. Sound-wise, it was okay, not overdoing it in any aspect. Although I was more subdued during Ignite’s set (just one shy stage dive), I still consider the concert to be very enjoyable and successful.

Looking back, I think it was a great start to the concert year. A solid lineup, lots of friends, great atmosphere – what more could you ask for? Let’s hope that this tour will not skip our country next year.