For the fifth year in succession,Oi! In Hoofddorp managed to turn CPunt into a genuine street-punk fortress. What started as an Oi! meeting a few years ago in the area, has turned into one of the more established day festivals of the Netherlands and beyond. On a September Saturday, poppodium CPunt turned into a home for boots, braces and of course a crowd which knew what they could expect: hard, uncut Oi! and streetpunk. This years lineup promised a hell of a show (Razorblade, Lions Law, The Reapers, No Heart, Exili, Tear Up, Young Ones) and it certainly did deliver a great day that kept up with the reputation that belongs to this festival.
The Young Ones, the veterans from Maastricht, took the stage at 15:30 in order to kick the day off with an intense high-tempo set and stirred a frenzy within the enthusiastic, early bird crowd right from the get-go. The highlight for me was "Dutch, But Not From Holland": A short, rough and fast anthem, celebrating their Limburg origins. It embodies Oi! like it needs to be and the perfect choice to kick-off what was to be a very promising lineup.
Tear Up from Watford truly tore the house down. The lads are more about smashing hooligan Oi! Rock 'n' Roll than just a sound and do what they do with that fuck off attitude. Jamie and the guys were more on point than ever and managed to generate immense energy in the crowd that was eager and up for everything from second one to the minute the set finished. "They Lock the Locks" taken of their album"They Can Lock The Locks But They Can't Stop The Clocks" was arguably one of my highlights of the whole day.
A shame I couldn't make it to Exili's set. I had an interview with one of the bands then. I did however hear it was fantastic!
No Heart was to be regarded as another highlight for me. The songwriting from their side stood out being extremely catchy, yet retaining an Oi! Flavor and mod-glam touch all at once. The guys really know how to get the crowd into it. The energy they exude onstage as well as the amount of positivity I can feel on there are amazing. To top it off, the guys are as cool as can be and really down to earth too.
From the ashes of Discharger come The Reapers. Known for that ferocious high speed wall of sound of skinhead rock and roll, they really did what their reputation predicted they'd do. The departure of Ronny (co-founder & drummer) clearly didn't affect the tightness and high velocity in their performance once the new lineup presented themselves on the stage that provided a more than fitting set to the preceding bands. The set absolutely raved.
The boys from Lion's Law opened it off with a great punch, which, as with Razorblade later on the night, made sure the atmosphere heated up just like that. Their set included already timeless classics such as "Brother", "Paris" etc. and that was greeted whole heatedly by all. They did suffer from some amping technical issues mid-way through but still gave off the performance expected; tough, unyielding Lions Law whose pit always stays and sings their loudest when the chorus come along.
Just like Lions Law, the closing act, Razorblade, delivered a punch from the get go and did not let up from that stage at all for the rest of their set which was their farewell show rather than a "just another" show. It's definitely no surprise then that they wrapped things up with an absolute anthem and my personal highlight to end the night "Hard Als Staal". It was one of those perfect moments. When Razorblade performed that it became one huge singing spectacle across the whole room. Razorblade had lived up to their name and were ready to rest....well, i still hope they will do more shows.😅
All in all,Oi! In Hoofddorp continues to prove why it's arguably the toughest and most legit underground Oi!-punk meeting on the planet. High-energy performances, excellent bands and a crowd that knows what's up. Until the next time around...
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