The perfect remedy
Sick Of It All haven't suffered in the slightest from clashing with Guns n' Roses on the main stage as the Myspace / Gibson tent is full and the crowd are well up for this. The traditional Sunday night bottle fight ensues and ensures that the hardcore at the front are pumped and ready for action. Celebrating their twentieth anniversary this year, Sick Of It All are one of the pioneering NYC hardcore bands who have always stayed true to their beliefs and their fans here tonight never let them forget how much they appreciate this.
A nice piece of Ennio Morricone intro music plays them onto to the stage before they burst into the opening number and what is immediately evident is that the sound is the best that it's been all weekend on this stage. Lou Koller and band are just as vibrant and exciting now as they were twenty years ago and if anything their longevity has turned them into an extremely tight unit. Even after the first two songs you just know you're watching something special. What really makes it tonight is the fact that you can pick out every chord and it shows any that had the band pigeonholed as mindless hardcore thrash just how wrong they were.
I've seen thirty bands over this weekend and not one of them has come close to how good Sick Of It All are tonight, they are simply outstanding and if the music wasn't enough they also get the biggest and most insane circle pit of the weekend! The band never show any signs of letting up and they all put 100% into the performance. Lou Koller has the perfect balance of crowd interaction and he holds the attention like only Killing Joke's Jaz Coleman could match. Newer material sits perfectly alongside older songs and when they reach last song 'Us vs. Them' it's all over way too soon. The crowd go nuts, the band smile and those on the fringes of the tent look visibly blown away. Tonight the best was certainly saved until last.