NOFX

support Atlas Losing Grip
author PP date 07/05/14 venue Mejeriet, Lund, SWE

It's my 10th time seeing NOFX tonight but the first one in a club environment. The band is a festival band at heart, all about drinking, drugs, partying, having fun, and everything else that just fits right at home at a festival environment. That's one of the reasons why they rarely play intimate club shows, such as the one tonight at Mejeriet, Lund, which houses 925 people at maximum capacity. It's an interesting venue about 10 minutes away from the central station that's shaped much like stands at a football stadium: multiple layers of standing space means those at the back are very high up, while there's a floor below the stage for people to crazy for in the pit. What it means is that no matter where you stand, you have a good view of the stage, but also that the venue feels even more intimate than it is because even at the back you feel like you're standing right up in front of the stage. Neat.

Atlas Losing Grip vocalist in his favored stance

Atlas Losing Grip

The opening duties tonight were assigned to hometown band Atlas Losing Grip, whose brand of clean vocal melodic hardcore is excellent on record. They open with "All In A Days Work", which right off the bat showcases their knack for writing catchy, powerful melodic hardcore songs that draw equally much from Rise Against as they do from Ignite. They've never been a particularly active band on stage, but tonight the guitarists and the bassist are in constant movement, jumping and displaying energy throughout the show. Unfortunately, their singer is still standing way too still hugging his microphone in an anemic position whenever he's singing. Yes, that means his vocals are flawless and the technically challenging melodies are spot on, but I for one would sacrifice some perfection for some movement when your only duty is to hold the mic and run across the stage. Of course, he headbangs when necessary and even does a few jumps in the last song, but this needs to happen all the time for the band to advance from being good to being a great live band. The rest of the band are paying their dues: the guitarists take good advantage of the small platforms setup on both sides of the stage, eventually leading into a dual-solo style riffing at opposite corners of the stage while holding the guitars straight up in air in a mimic of more metallic bands. That being said, their material speaks for itself. The melodies are incredible at times, with "Bitter Blood" being another highlight during the set, so it's not like Atlas Losing Grip are a boring band to watch live.

7

El Hefe of NOFX enjoying himself

NOFX

Lund is the smallest show on the NOFX Scandinavian tour, which Fat Mike immediately lets the crowd know. "It means we make less money, and it also means we care less. Do you know what Stockholm thinks of Lund? ... What's Lund?". His pink mohawk is sloppily setup tonight; he promises it'll be straight up for the Stockholm show though just in case anyone was wondering. A bit more banter follows before the band start with their "60%" / "72 Hookers" combo opener which they've used at every show on this tour so far. Straight after, we're treated to "Murder The Government" and "Bob", where the sing alongs start echoing across the packed room. The pit gets going and never ceases during the show; a guy even gets up on stage past the barrier and security for a stage dive. Of course, he drops a bag of drugs on stage that Fat Mike picks up on immediately. "What is that? Is that why you have such huge eyes", he says, while gesturing with his hands in front of his own eyes. This is right after he picked on UnderWerket owner Peter for his dreadlocks, asking if he sells drugs for a living.

The setlist tonight is vastly different from the one we saw at Groezrock a few days ago, which was dominated by "Punk In Drublic" and other classics. In fact only 13 of the 24 tracks played tonight were featured 5 days ago, which is one of the reasons why it's still awesome to go see NOFX after 10 times: the setlist is never the same. Tony Sly receives a tribute with a cover of "The Shortest Pier", before the band starts picking on a 10-11 year old kid in the crowd. "Don't bring your kids to a NOFX show.", Fat Mike says, and throughout the show spends time on explaining to the kid how to jack off using a wrist guard, what a chili dog is (shitting on a girl's chest and titty fucking her), and other material certainly not suitable for a kid that age.

Some guy shouts "play some Bad Religion" - and the band actually do some improv for a few riffs on a couple of different songs by the band ("I bet you won't see Bad Religion do that for us, will you?"). "Linoleum", "Dig", "Seeing Double At The Triple Rock" and of course "Reeko" are all aired tonight as is expected, but generally the setlist focuses on the less popular NOFX songs today. "Creeping Out Sara", "Scavenger Type" and "We March To The Beat Of Indifferent Drum" are all aired. The biggest surprise is probably "Franco Un-American", which I thought was reserved for the Bush-era only, but what do you know. In general, NOFX are nowhere near as energetic and funny/talkative as at Groezrock a few days earlier, but this is to be expected on a week night show, after all. And then again, the setlist is simply nowhere near as good as the "Punk In Drublic" one a few nights before. Although NOFX rarely disappoint, tonight isn't one of those nights where you'll go on and on to your friends about the diverse anecdotes at their show. It's a decent set, but NOFX are just that much better at a festival environment.

7

Setlist:

  • 1. 60%
  • 2. 72 Hookers
  • 3. Murder the Government
  • 4. Bob
  • 5. Seeing Double at the Triple Rock
  • 6. What's the Matter With Parents Today?
  • 7. We March to the Beat of Indifferent Drum
  • 8. Leave It Alone
  • 9. Dig
  • 10. The Shortest Pier (Tony Sly cover)
  • 11. I Believe in Goddess
  • 12. Scavenger Type
  • 13. Linoleum
  • 14. My Heart Is Yearning
  • 15. Perfect Government
  • 16. Creeping Out Sara
  • 17. Ronnie & Mags
  • 18. Stickin' in My Eye
  • 19. What Now My Love (Gilbert Bécaud cover)
  • 20. Reeko
  • --Encore--
  • 21. The Separation of Church and Skate
  • 22. Mattersville
  • 23. Franco Un-American
  • 24. Kill All the White Man

Photos by: Lykke Nielsen

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