In a scene where musical styles are often pigeon-holed, the EHCP has created a very diversified line-up. Almost all different styles in the broad hardcore spectrum are represented. The house is packed and the atmosphere is as always just fine. Here are some of the highlights and some of the disappointments:

Dutch old school band Uppercut had already started as we walked into the ‘Platte Zoal’. Well known in Holland, Uppercut play their songs with enough flair, enthusiasm and singalong parts to be convincing. They’ve been doing their thing since 1995 so the experience is there and so is the quality of the songs. I particully liked the faster songs like ‘Here to stay’. They’ve got a new album out on I Scream Records called ‘A Luta Continua’, go check it out.

Originally Peter Pan were supposed to play right behind Uppercut. But not today. Peter Pan were moved up on the bill. The Heartaches from Antwerpen, Belgium took the stage next, with punk and roll songs that never sparked any of my fires. Although they tried hard enough, the show and the songs somehow stayed boring. I f there’s one thing you don’t want your punksongs to be it’s boring.

How big the gap between musical styles can be becomes clear when L’Esprit du Clan from Paris starts pounding out their furious metalcore. Two vocalists and a lot of stage action all in support of their upcoming album called ‘Chapitre 1’. A lot of movement on stage, a wall of sound but too little hooks to keep it interesting enough.

The EHCP is more and more turning into a safe haven for all styles rooted in any kind of hardcore. There’s no better example for this than Blood or Whiskey. As Blood or Whiskey started their set I was at first surprised. Their mix of streetpunk and folk is nothing new, DKM have been doing it for years and even The Pogues have enough raspy attitude for a comparison.

The surprise is that if DKM would disband their distortion they would sound exactly like Blood or Whiskey. It’s exactly like my friend calls it: DKM unplugged. Anyway, the show and the songs are good and the response from the audience is positive. I definitely would like to see this band again on a smaller venue.

A band that can handle any venue is Peter Pan Speedrock. Take a little Motorhead, add a little Zeke, put ‘Dikke Dennis’ on the mic and throw in a lot of alcohol and adrenaline. Behold, it’s Peter Pan Speedrock. It just doesn’t get any better than this tonight. One, two, three…go. I think we heard the Ace of Spades about 5 times but who fucking cares. This is straight in your face party music. Good music for good drinkin’, it says on the back of their shirts.

Time for a little more old school hardcore. Subject to Change is a Scandinavian hardcore outfit, fits perfectly in the old school style and is, like a lot of old school bands, not bad. The problem for many of these bands is lifting themselves up out of the masses. Being different. Within the boundaries of old school this is an above average band. If only the vocalist would spend less time talking about music, respect and merchandise and spend more of the valuable time doing the songs this could have been excellent.

Time for a band from the neighbourhood (not Maastricht but Heerlen) and let me tell you this: what the hell just happened here? Born from Pain took the stage and set the festival on fire. Furious modern NY-style hardcore, a lot of pit and stage action. Good presentation. I’ve seen them a few years ago and the progress these guys made is fantastic. This is a metalcore monster ready to conquer the world and if they keep on playing like this, they will.

Even if you’re not a hardcore fan, you gotta love the next and last band of the festival. Ignite delivers great honest hardcore with melody and sentiment. The very recognisable voice of singer Zoli Teglas, the positive message, the excellent riffing, it all fits perfectly into place. Actually I have not seen a bad Ignite show yet. Anyone seen Ignite at Dynamo Open Air 1997? Anyway, tonight they played a very nice mix of all of their albums.

The more melodic songs from their last album (A place called home) as well as the more aggressive songs from the Call on my brother and Past our means albums. They even covered Sunday Bloody Sunday (U2) and gave the song a nice hardcore flavour. Although the show was a bit of a chaos at times (more people on the stage than in front of the stage) they have proven to be the absolute headliner of this festival. The plot thickened with Ignite. The hybrid of melody and hardcore embraced the varied line-up perfectly.

To cut a long story short…..EHCP turned out to be well organised, with a good atmosphere and a large variety in hardcore music.

The next EHCP will take place in November 2002.

(Review & Pics: Marc Lochs)