Having been enjoying myself at Chain & The Gang over at Privatclub, I came late into a fully-packed and sold out SO36, when Tragedy was in the middle of the 4th song. So, I had missed PISS. You just can't have it all I suppose.
I was suprised by a thick wall of sound made out of perfectly mixed guitars. For my taste the sound was too metal sounding for Tragedy. However, I must praise the well-defined engineering in SO36, especially for a fast d-beat band with down-tuned guitars the sound can easily end in a muddy bassy desaster on such a big sound-system. It was cool to hear some of the more melodic guitar parts crystal clear and so get both the relentless rolling D-Beat thunder and the great melodies, which make Tragedy so special.
J.'s preview had captured perfectly the spirit of Tragedy. I remember them as a positive side note in the late 90s, blending the dark apocalyptic HC of His Hero is Gone with a clasical 80s Discharge sound. It appealed to hardcore folks as well as crust punks. They were influential for the d-beat revival and they are convinced DIY peace punks.
Luckily, they played a good mix of all albums, not forgetting the old songs of their first self-titled LP, which, in my opinion, is the most remarkable due to its calmer, melancholic atmosphere. There was no extra political message in-between songs but Tragedy convinced musically with a flawless and tightly played gig, which was frenetically appreciated by a moshing crowd. I am sure they played smaller venues when touring earlier, but I was impressed how many people of different walks of life, spanning across several generations, had come together to see them. This was certainly a special gig, organized by local record stores for a very fair price. It is quite a feat to bring together so many different people and suceed in satisfying them. A big compliment to the organisers and of course the band.
