Day Two of Groezrock kicked off for us with Sugarcult on the main stage. Having seemingly disappeared after ‘Lights Out’ a few years back, this was their first mainland Europe gig in over 4 years. The band played out the hits, but despite the energy of other members, lead singer Tim seemed to be missing something, and didn’t seem as into it as the others. It was good to see them play for old times sake, but feels like this return could be short lived.

Next up is Goldfinger, who are the exact opposite of Sugarcult. Singer John Feldmann is the perfect frontman, mild mannered off stage but a complete rock star on stage. He commands the crowd, berates them, and gets them moving. 45 minutes of non stop catchy pop and non stop jumping/diving round the stage and it’s over. Spokeman, Get Up and Open Your Eyes being the stand out tracks.

Second set of the weekend for Thursday, and after the amazing performance of Full Collapse they have a lot to live up to. With a set list limited by what their touring bassist knows, the set missed out songs such as ‘For The Workforce, Drowning’ but still managed to contain enough fans favourites to keep the crowd happy. Songs off new album No Devolucion sound more epic live than on the album, swirling keyboards and furious guitars everywhere.

After Thursday, we have our first chance of the weekend to have a proper look round the festival site and I have to say it beats many UK festival sites. The huge market tent is a good place to get away from the music for a bit, and full of great t shirt companies and record stores. Just outside this is the Macbeth stage, where we witness the last couple of songs of Attack! Attack! which ends with most of the audience on the stage.

Groezrock seems to have a much friendlier atmosphere than many other festivals, which explains why so many people travel from the UK and further afield to attend a festival in a small Belgium village.

Then it was time for the set a lot of people had been waiting for, The Descendants. Not only was the mosh pit packed for this, but side of stage was a who’s who of the bands playing over the weekend, everyone wanted to catch some of them. The biggest punk rock set of the weekend, went down so well, the band were on form, played all the songs people wanted to hear and everyone went away happy.

Back to the second stage, and Saves The Day entertain the crowd with a blend of old and new. The set is just a big sing along, and shows that Saves The Day still have loyal fans despite it being almost 10 years since their biggest album ‘Stay What You Are’. ‘At Your Funeral’ was the perfect singalong end to their set.

The Used end the festival. It hard to know what to make of The Used, technical problems delay their start, then they go through the old songs but fail to play anything new. It feels at times like a band out of practice going through the motions. Hopefully they’ll improve live once they come back with a new album.

Overall, Groezrock was a great weekend, a great festival, loads of great bands, and well worth visiting.

First up on the main stage were Army Of Freshmen, who won over an ever increasing crowd with their blend of catchy infectious pop tinged punk. HAving been on tour for two with the Freshmen I knew what to expect, but this performance blew even me away, and won the band many new fans.

The Blackout hit the Etnies Stage, and carnage ensued. Second song in ‘Children Of The Night’ found Sean Smith in amongst the crowd, starting a riot, whilst the rest of the band rocked out on stage. The Blackout keep on getting better and better over the years, and new album ‘Hope’ has allowed them to become more pop, whilst retaining their heavier edge.

Next up were Thursday, performing Full Collaspe from start to finish. Not only was the tent packed but side stage was full of other bands (including The Blackout, Underoath, Everytime I Die), singing/screaming along to every word. Whilst the set list wasn’t much of a surprise, the performance was full of energy, hard to believe that until recently they had never performed the album in full. Despite being ten years old, the songs still song current, and as good live as ever before.

Back over on the Main Stage, Millencolin pull off a similar feat as Thursday, playing the whole of Pennybridge Pioneers from start to finish, and with a 45 minute set they get to add a few other songs from their career (with a new backdrop for new song not on Pennybridge…). Highlight of the set is The Ballad, a song I never thought I’d see live. Most people wondered believe you could get a 10,000 strong punk festival tent singing along to an acoustic song. Breathtaking.

Etnies Stage headliners on day one were Underoath. Whilst the band put on a strong perfromance, the set mainly featured recent material, with only a couple of songs from breakthrough album ‘We’re Only Chasing Safety’ played.

Overall a good start to the festival.

Tina Dico

Norwegian singer songwriter Tina Dico put on an amazing performance at Norwich Arts Centre. Promoting her Welcome Back Colour CD, a collection of reworkings and new songs, she played a stripped back set, backed by just drums and keyboards. The stripped back band made her beautiful vocals shine more than ever, proving that she is an amazing vocalist.

Despite being hampered by technical problems at the start of the set, they managed to get through these problems with a sense of humour. Whilst they weren’t playing songs, Tina comes across as part storyteller, part comedian, always keep the audience smiling and laughing, but most of all entertained.

In the two years since Senses Fail last played Norwich Waterfront a lot has changed, both guitarists have left to be replaced by new guys Zack Roach and Matt Smith. The band have also released a new album ‘The Fire’ arguably the best work of the best.

The new members provide the band with a new found energy, making the set an hour of non stop screamo entertainment. Buddys vocals are sounding better live than they ever have before (something which has let the band down in the past).

The only real disappointment of the set, is also the best part for many fans. The band focus on their older material, and only play three songs from ‘The Fire’. Personally I would have liked to see them play more of The Fire, but you can’t fault them playing the fans favourites and playing more from Let It Enfold You and Still Searching than other albums.

Senses Fail/Man Overboard/Southpaw at Norwich Waterfront – Images by Jon Luton

A mixed day for Me Vs Hero. First day of tour and also the release date of their debut album ‘Days That Shape Our Lives’, but on the down side, their CDs haven’t arrived so they don’t have any to sell at the gig and they end up stuck in traffic all day, only arriving at the venue 15 minutes before their set. This causes them to cut their set time by 15 minutes, and leaves many people still queuing to get into the venue (myself included) when they start. I only managed to catch the last four songs due to the massive queue, but I’m glad I got to see them. Me Vs Hero do pop punk better than any other band in the UK at the moment. Due to not getting a proper soundtrack there’s a few technical problems, and when they finally get to play ‘A Loss In The Ranks’ singer Sam Thompson finds it hard to complete a song in memory of Alex Mcculloch. The band finish the set with ‘Can You Count Suckers’ whilst diving around as the moshpit explodes with crowdsurfers.

Deaf Havana have had a great 2010 despite losing screamer Ryan at the start of the year. Although the band are from Kings Lynn, Norwich is treated like a hometown show, full of family and friends as well as packed with fans. Just over a year ago Deaf Havana were playing the 100 capacity marquee, but thanks to the success of Friends Like These, and new single Smiles All Round, on Kerrang!, and Scuzz they managed to almost sell out the Waterfront. It’s great to see a local band doing so well, but this is down to years of hard work finally paying off. The band focus heavily on the new material from their forthcoming album (out sometime in 2011), starting the set with ‘My Life Is Average’ and ‘Smiles All Round’. James has become a great frontman in a short space of time.

Deaf Havana have managed to reinvent themselves as a new band, and managed to keep their fans as well as gaining many more. Tonight is a celebration of the years of hard work, as well as a nod towards the bright future of the band. As a split headliner gig the band only get enough time to play 9 songs ending with a great version of ‘Friends Like These’ which they have adapted so it doesn’t miss the lack of screaming.

More photos from the gig at www.jonluton.com

It’s been a couple of years since Sum 41 last toured in the UK, back at the start of 2008 to promote their Underclass Hero album, and to be honest not much has changed. The bands set is still charged full of energy, the hits are all there and Deryck Whibley is still a great frontman, always keeping the crowd engaged. This was the sixth time I’d seen Sum 41, and they have always proved themselves to be a solid band live, even when messing around, they pull off all the songs.

In the two years since they last played this venue not much has changed in terms of set list, it still features heavily on the songs from ‘All Killer No Filler’ and ‘Does This Look Infected’, as well as the singles from the last two albums. One great addition to the set is a cover of Paint It Black, where Brown Tom gets to show off his vocal skills. The band still invite members of the audience on stage, so a select few can watch most of the set from the side of the stage.

The only real disappointment is the lack of new songs. The band only play Skumfuk from their forthcoming album ‘Screaming Bloody Murder’, which sounds so good, you want to hear more of the new album material. The album should be out early next year.

Sum 41 Norwich UEA October 2010 – Images by Jon Luton