Los Intrusos, Holocausts and Pissebed set great small venue Hillyweird alight!
Venue Hillyweird in Hilversum, the Netherlands, announced a concert on 19th June 2025 by four bands: Pissebed from Utrecht, Toeva and Holocausts, both from Israel, and Los Intrusos from Mexico.
Hillyweird DIY venue is, since last year, in the basement of Vonk in de Wijk community centre. It is a small hall, roughly the size of the Roxy in London in 1977. If full of people, then it is great for a punk gig atmosphere.
However, sad news: it is very likely that, in September 2025, Hillyweird will no longer be able to continue at its present location. There is a possibility of another place, not so far away. It is in a building which has been empty for seven years. So, it will need lots of cleaning and reconstructing. Before the concert started, people who may have wood and other building materials were asked for their help.
Another announcement from the stage: instead of the four bands on the poster, only three bands would play. Toeva could not travel, as in Israeli airspace, missiles of the Netanyahu and Iranian administrations killing each other’s civilian people had replaced civilian aircraft bringing punk bands to the Netherlands. A situation about which Iranian and Afghan anarchists say:
The Hillyweird hall was packed, mostly with young people, including the manager and bassist of the Clitteband. Though all bands playing that night had their own distinct styles, the audience danced enthusiastically to all three of them.
At first, Pissebed. The band name in English means woodlouse. Woodlice are special among crustacean animals: while, e.g., lobsters live in water, woodlice mostly live on land. The Pissebed name alludes to the band’s position in the crust tendency within punk. They are Jesper on guitar, and Opek on both drums and vocals. This is the only live video we can find of them:
Just like when drummer Melle of Waterschade had trouble with his kit at a Leiden gig, drummer Lucy of the Clitteband immediately rushed to repair it, now singer and bassist Roy Elani of Holocausts and a Los Intrusos guitarist helped the Pissebed drummer when a cymbal fell off! Opek sang very loudly throughout the set.
The Holocausts played as the second band. The top photo shows the Holocausts during a gig in Israel, with Roy, 28 years old, seen from the back; in a small venue, similar to Hillyweird and with a similar atmosphere.
This October 2024 video shows them playing, with other punk bands at a capacity crowd concert organised by Bar Levy, at Ha’gada Ha’smalit, which means Left Bank. It is a building of the Communist Party of Israel in Tel Aviv, one of few places where anarchist punk bands can play. Sometimes, there are twelve bands at one Ha’gada Ha’smalit night. There is right-wing pressure to ban these bands, but that has not happened so far.
Before the band started playing in Hilversum, Roy told me that this would be their first concert in the Netherlands. In Germany, a newspaper had interviewed him. He had mentioned his criticism of the Israeli government extensively to the journalist. To Roy’s big disappointment, the paper had not published anything of that. “What paper was that, Roy?” “taz.” “That Berlin daily is close to the Green political party.” “I don’t know the Green party“. “They were part of a German national coalition government from 2021 till May 2025”. “I asked taz to correct it but they didn’t.”
“You don’t hear in [Israeli] mainstream media and also outside that there is any resistance in Israel,” he said. “Most of the people I talk to [in Europe] say ‘why is everyone in Israel supporting this f**king genocide and this f**king government’, but it is not true.”
Before the band started playing in Hilversum, Roy said basically the same things as in this video of that gig in Israel. He said that one is only really free if others are free as well. So, pogoing should be for everyone, male or female, big persons or small persons. Also: the Zionist political movement claims to free Jewish people, but does so without taking into account freedom of Palestinian people.
The band name the Holocausts is not intended as a provocation, but as a warning to learn from history. Roy said: “The Jewish holocaust [by Hitler] was the best lesson that people could have about what blind support for your government, fascism and racism can lead to.”
Roy was centre stage, a guitarist on each side, a drummer at the back. Their setlist was in the Hebrew alphabet, which I cannot read. He introduced the song ‘Marionette‘, telling that, at 18 years of age, he had refused to join the army.
Roy announced their last song: ‘ACAB‘, saying that police are your enemy everywhere, in Africa, in Russia and in any other country. “If I smoke a spliff, then I am a criminal, But if I kill many people, then I am a politician”.
The final band of the night were Los Intrusos from Mexico. Their name means intruders, or individuals differing from a group.
They are Arlo Spektor and Alan Vazquez on guitar, Ozmar Moreno on keyboard and vocals, William Iniestra on drums and Pugy Sinner on bass.
This video by Terry shows Los Intrusos at their June 21, 2025, Haarlem concert, with Ozmar coming from behind his Jen keyboard and offstage.
Fittingly, their first song in Hilversum was ‘Intro‘.Then came ‘Quítate el Sostén‘. The third song was ‘Atrocidad‘. Then came ‘Mr. Krueger’.
Their final song was ‘Nocturna‘.
After enjoying dancing to all three bands, people went home very satisfied about a great night!
Los Intrusos will play more concerts during their European tour this summer:
Follow Los Intrusos on Their Socials:
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Live review: Mexican, Israeli and Utrecht punk in Dutch Hilversum
Venue Hillyweird in Hilversum, the Netherlands, announced a concert on 19th June 2025 by Pissebed from Utrecht, Holocausts, from Israel, and Los Intrusos from Mexico.
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