I had been to Ieper many years before, on a school trip to the First World War battlefields, and remembered the giant Cloth Hall and Menin Gate. The whole town was painstakingly rebuilt in the style it was prior to it’s destruction, and it was in many ways a strange place to visit for the purpose we were in the town for. However, we quickly discovered out hotel (again booked prior to departing the UK) which overlooked the magnificent Cloth Hall, then we left to find the venue for the festival. This proved a little difficult, but once we’d found the Vort’n Vis, it became a little clearer. We again bumped into some of the Gainesville crew, who were looking for frites. Chris loved samurai sauce on his, which to me tasted like ketchup, mayonnaise and chilli sauce all in one concoction. It obviously tasted like heaven to him. We also bumped into Emre (Interpol Times/Scene Police) again, last seen kicking my ass at Quake 2 at Cov John’s. Anyway, we found the venue, which was in the courtyard of a school. It was pretty packed already (this being a Friday afternoon) and there seemed to be plenty of straight edgers around. So we grabbed a beer and looked round the stalls. To be honest with you, we knew the line up for the three days was mostly frightening stuff to our ears. But it was a neat festival nonetheless, and amazing to see something like this could take place in the open air in a middle of a town. Discount played reasonably early, and as much as we loved them, most of those present seemed to enjoy the change their neat quirky little tunes and Alison’s stage antics provided against the backdrop of deathmoshstraightedgenewyorkfuckin’hardcorepowerviolence which had preceded. The sun was out, I was drinking beer, and Alison was singing...it was great. After discovering a great frite shop we went back for As Friends Rust. The kids went mental. Whilst not really pulling my strings song wise, they certainly had the energy and stage appeal, and made for a great show. Hot Water Music just took the place apart. They kicked off with "Alachua" ("words of war, they don’t mean shit, when the war’s for nothing") and just tore it up. Just read what they played they night, beneath the summer sky, and you just might get an idea of what I am talking about....