Woehoe, The Apemen still exist! This was my very first thought when i noticed the poster announcing their concert at the VUB. It always was pretty unclear if they had split up or not. I never saw the Apemen live before, but from what I've heard from other people and from what their records suggest, they're a wild fuckin' bunch of talented punksurfers! And yes indeed ... this gig was clear proof!>Arriving at 9.30 in this dark bunker at the VUB campus, that most of the time is used for stupid student activities such as 'cantussen' and 'thé dansants', people were only just preparing the lights and PA for the concert. Even then i got a slight impression that most students from Brussels sleep between 8.00 AM and 5.00 PM and go out at 0.00. At 11.00 the support act got on stage, and i really can't remember much from their show (not even their name pops in mind, i think it had three words in it). They played some kind of simple and loud crossover with real stupid breaks and samples. When they announced their last song, they finally got some applause!Some people already getting nervous and some a bit drunk on the cheap but type of 'rioolwater' beer, the bar was serving, finally at 0.00 the Apemen entered the stage. They didn't wear their legendary ape masks, but instead were identically dressed with ballroom outfits. From the first minute on, you could feel the electricity in the air. I can't remember the song they started with, but they played for about an hour, their first encore dured half an hour and their second a quarter of an hour, and all of the songs were brilliant! Toronado, Surf Dracula, Shake Your Hoover, Baha-ree-ba, De Wip, Cor Steijn Rides The Wild, their Spanish version of The Trashmen's King Of Surf... and many many others. At a certain point Don Porro and Dr. Private even were playing their guitars on top of the bar in the back of the club. This was a very huge and successful 'surffeest' with almost everyone dancing to these delicious tunes. The Apemen's sound is incredible. Mike Rosema plays his drums real fast and messy, and there seems to be a lot of noise and fuzz on the guitars, but the songs always end up melodic. The real surprise however is the way Appie Happy Organ plays his instrument. This guy must be the best organ player in the genre! At 1.45 the Apemen finally ended their set, and we immediately departed to Antwerp because some of us had to go to work the next day. We lost our way in Brussels, but we didn't mind that much. At 2.30 we hit our beds and dreamed intensely about surfboards and real punkrock!