Disco Sucks, Fuck Everything!
With Primal Scream on one side of them and Franz Ferdinand on the other, Sick Of It All (SOIA) don't get the crowd they deserve initially but anyone who saw them at Download this year knows full well that the Lock Up stage is the place to be tonight!
SOIA are a stunning live band, twenty years hasn't dampened their enthusiasm or sapped their energy. Early on in the set the crowd are nowhere near as wild as they were at Download but they are just as appreciative of the bands full on hardcore. The sound is great and they do eventually get a huge circle pit going to the accompaniment of songs like 'Sanctuary', 'Step Down' and the welcome addition to the set of the old classic 'Friends Like You'.
Lou Koller is a superb front man and knows just how to work a crowd and this is no better illustrated when he gets all the crowd at the front to play the Braveheart game. This really has to be seen to be believed, the crowd part like the red sea and the two sides are a good ten metres apart before rushing each other as the band go into 'Scratch the Surface'. It's fucking brilliant to watch and one of the moments of the weekend without a doubt. Guitarist Pete Koller is fantastic throughout, how he manages to play in tune whilst whirling around the way he does is beyond me but it's great entertainment. The newer songs like 'Maria White Trash' and 'Uprising Nation' fit into the set perfectly and show that the band are by no means content to rest on their laurels.
The crowd gets bigger during the set and by the end it's pretty packed as Sick Of It All are the last band to finish on any of the stages. They go out in style with 'Injustice System!' followed by an excellent crowd sing along on 'Us Vs Them'. Sick Of It All really are the kings of hardcore and it's a simple fact that no one else on this stage got anywhere close to matching their performance today, long may they continue.