CONCERT REVIEW: You Me At Six And The Hunna Co-Headline In Amazing Amsterdam Show
You Me At Six were in the Netherlands last night! They’re on a tour where they’re co-headlining with The Hunna. They released a new album in the middle of this tour to make it a bit more interesting. Their album Truth Decay released on February 10th. They brought Yours Truly with them to open for them. It was their first show in the Netherlands.
Yours Truly are a band all the way from Australia. They formed in 2017 and have only 1 album. That didn’t stop them from giving a great performance though. Lead singer Mikaila Delgado was all over the stage the entire concert. You could really feel the emotion that she has in her music and she expressed that in her own amazing way. The music was great overall too, the only issue being that you could barely hear the vocals. This didn’t stop the fun luckily, the bigger part interacted with the band and sang along with the songs. Check out the pictures below!
Next up was The Hunna, their last time here was only two years ago. A huge part of the crowd already knew them and knew their music. There was something they did as one of the best in my opinion. Their energy. Their energy was absolutely amazing, especially that from front man Ryan Potter. He jumped all over stage, interacted with both guitarists a lot and even jumped on the drum kit once around the end of the set. This was all accompanied by amazing music. Check them out on your preferred streaming service if you can! Check out the pictures below!
Last but not least were You Me At Six. They started relatively late for a concert but they didn’t have a long setlist either. Only sixteen songs in the entire set including the four song long encore. Front man Josh Franceschi explained later semi-jokingly that the set consisted of three acts. The first act didn’t have a name but the second act got a name. “Mosh pit.” Even though this wasn’t the first mosh pit, it was the moment where more pits started to form. The first pit already started at the first song. None of the pits lasted for longer than a minute sadly.
You Me At Six was quite stiff at the start but Josh started to dance some more. Think Tyler Joseph from Twenty One Pilots but less impulsive and more actual dancing. He also made a quick joke about plagiarism after they played Reckless. This joke stems from the fact that they had to give the song a different name a bunch of time because other artists had songs that had the name they wanted to pick. Ultimately they chose to just call it Reckless.
Overall I’d highly recommend going to see either of these three bands live. They were all amazing in their own way and you’ll love their music if you’re already a fan of more alt rock music. There weren’t a lot of downsides to their performances and they all give their unique twists to this genre. Check out the pictures we took there below!
CONCERT REVIEW: The Kooks Celebrate 15 Years Of ‘Inside In/Inside Out’ In Amsterdam
The Kooks came to the Netherlands on tour to celebrate their album Inside In/Inside Out which turned 15 years in 2021. They sadly had to postpone the show because of covid but that only made them play the show closer to the 18th anniversary of the album! They didn’t come along but they brought Stone as opening band with them.
We sadly missed Stone as opener, but The Kooks made a great show! The lights went off and the lead singer Luke Pritchard came on stage with just an acoustic guitar. He started to play their song Seaside from their first album. He later announced that they would be playing their entire first album. This sadly turned out to be false, only missing the last two songs of the album Time Awaits and Got No Love.
The stage that they brought with them had a beautiful design and concept. They all had their own small platform with lights under them and a big grey curtain behind them with their name on it. This doesn’t sound that great but the whole stage seemed to change colors with the lights. There were parts where they lit up the stage in two different colors at the same time which had a really nice effect.
The band was a bit stiff at first, they all just stood there and played their music while the crowd was dancing and singing along. They finally got a bit more loose and started moving around some more later in the setlist luckily. They also had a few great guitar solos in the setlist which were great to hear live too, the solo during Do You Wanna being one of them.
Right before their “last” song, Luke said thanks to the crowd, in Dutch, and after the song they got on stage. Normally during their setlist they play three more songs of theirs as an encore. This time they got Stone on stage and played a cover of David Bowies: Rebel Rebel of which they said that it was the first time that they played it live. It was a great cover in my opinion which they performed really well! They really got the crowd going too.
Sadly, the show didn’t have that much more to add. Besides some basic nice fan interactions, they didn’t really do anything. Their music is great, and they delivered on that. The stage was also really well done but if you’re in the mood to go to a band that you don’t know, I don’t recommend you go here. If you are a fan however, go! Their music was great and the whole crowd is dancing with you. Check out the pictures we took there below!
Halsey is back with new music after half a year. This time with a single called Die 4 Me. This single is based on a demo called Die For Me. This demo was made based on Die For Me by Post Malone where Halsey featured on along with Future.
This song follows her last single So Good which released in June of 2022 after a lot of controversy with her label.
They explain the origin of this song in the caption of their announcing Instagram post. They explain that people were so enthusiastic about them playing their verse of the original song live on tour that she decided to record and put out the full version officially.
INTERVIEW: Starbenders Talk New Music, Touring In Japan & More
We recently got to sit with Kimi Shelter, Aaron Lecesne, Kriss Tokaji and Emily Moon from the band Starbenders. They were in the middle of their tour with Palaye Royale and YONAKA when they stopped in Amsterdam for a while. This is when we got to talk to them. We talked about what touring is like for them, some upcoming music and way more. Check it out!
So how are you guys?
Aaron: We are doing fantastic. Settling into the rhythm. On the road. Emily: Yeah. Doing great. Kriss: Very good. Kimi: No pun intended.
You describe yourself on Instagram as a: ‘glitter punk, rock ‘n roll band’. How did that name come to be?
Aaron: I think it might just be because of the way we look. Emily: Well, we put glitter on. Kriss: There’s a lot of glitter. Kimi: We have a joke because we say we’re very genre fluid. So, we just honestly came up with a quirky way of putting it together. But at the heart of it, we’re a rock and roll band. There’s different elements to it, but, when we say glitter, punk and roll, it’s just something that’s kind of sparkly and glammy, but it still has teeth.So, we might wear blouses, but we’re the type of band you want on your side in a knife fight. So, after the show, I have to call you guys? Kimi: Yes. If you’re in a dark alley. Or need help in a vintage store, both.
What’s it like on this Europe tour?
Kimi: It’s really awesome. It’s a dream come true. I never travelled much growing up and had never really seen much of the world, and we’re kind of seeing it all in two months. Not all, but you know, Europe. So, that’s like a big, a really big benchmark as a band as well to be able to go and tour Europe in such a substantial tour. And with the band that we really love and are friends with as well.Palaye Royale. Emily: We’ve been wanting a tour Europe for ever. Aaron: Very grateful over here. I mean, there are a lot of jobs that will let you travel. But very few will put you in a new country every day. And that’s been just. Mind-blowing to me. I’ve had so much fun, seeing like all like the museums and the historical sites and because I can’t sleep. I’ve been walking around late at night, so been exciting. I went to the old kerk yesterday, and let’s see what else we did. Wester kerk, he (Kriss) and I, we did the Anne Frank House. We did some good exploring yesterday. What do you think of the city? Aaron: It’s beautiful. I love the canals. It’s not something we’re used to. At all. You know, it’s very, I don’t wanna say like foreign, but I would say like exotic and very new to us. Emily: We keep saying like, this country would be great in the summertime.
Is there still a show or a city that you’re looking forward to in this tour? Or is there a place you’d still love to play a show in?
Kimi: Well all of ’em really. I think that Budapest for Kriss is really important cuz he’s from Hungary, or his family’s from Hungary.Kriss: I mean, I think just every city that we’re hitting is like, you know, a really special place. So, it’s cool to like get the full, you know, platter of European cities in one gigantic tour. I think it’s intimidating but very rewarding.Aaron: It’s like the ultimate European backpacking trip.Emily: The charcuterie board of Europe.
You guys have already had three Japanese tours. Is there a big difference in crowds with like Japan and over here?
Kimi: Yeah, definitely. I think that the cultures are just different. Japan’s very unique. There’s no place really like it, and you just have to go experience it. And each country has its own rhythm. So we just try to be as in flow with where we are and respectful of, of whatever culture we’re in and all that stuff. So in Japan, you know, we do the Japanese crowd thing, and then here it’s different, you know. And the same and rock and roll and music is still very important in all those places. Aaron: I would say. There are some similarities between Japan and Europe, but they’re different from America in the same way. There’s a certain lack of restraint and reservation when people like something like the audiences, the fandom. The fandoms are very similar. When when they like what’s coming off the stage. They’re into it. Americans sometimes are a bit more reserved and shy about it. And that’s something that I’ve noticed over here too. And it’s really special to us and that’s part of why we like Japan so much.
What’s the biggest thing you’d had to adjust to in, in Japan? Cuz you said it’s a big cultural difference.
Emily: Eating all that rice. It’s a lot of rice. Kriss: A lot more compact. The city, like, it’s very, everything’s like really compact, you know? Aaron: Yeah. And we’re really tall so it feels kind of cramped for us. Kimi: And the language, there’s, people who understand English, but less people speak it. But here, I mean we haven’t had a problem with that at all. Like everybody speaks English pretty much. But sometimes that the language barrier being there, it’s funny cuz I’ll say a command to the crowd or something, I’ll be like, make some noise. And everybody’s completely quiet and I learn how to say it in Japanese and I say it and they go crazy. You know? So it’s like you have. You have to kind of like meet them where they’re at. You know?Aaron: She (Kimi) speaks the best Japanese out of all of us. Kimi: That’s not true. Don’t say that. I know like five things. Emily’s actually been studying it and doing even the alphabets and everything.Emily: It’s hard. It’s real hard.
What’s your, until now, worst tour experience yet?
Kimi: Well, I think, it doesn’t even like fall under negative per se cuz it’s all part of the bigger picture. And you learn so much in kind of the adverse situations and things like that. And every time we’ve been up against something that’s been challenging or difficult, it’s just made us stronger as a band. So we can’t really. Knock anything. Aaron: I think adversity is constant on the road, and you kind of have to roll with the punches. So as far as like a worst experience, I would say that’s a regular day. And you just have to like get through it and do the best you can. I think that’s true of everybody on the road, honestly. Kimi: Yeah. And really, it’s just about like, at the end of the day, are we healthy? You know, Probably the worst experience was the headlining tour We did. Aaron got sick and I mean, that kind of puts everything into perspective and he’s okay. But it was definitely scary. And we really view health as being our number one commodity.
You guys also have a new single ‘the game’. It came out February 9th. Can we expect more singles after this one and maybe a whole album?
Kimi: Yes, absolutely. We’re gonna be putting a record out and it’s ready to go. Just gotta get it buttoned up. And then just gotta put its little jacket on. So it’s not cold. You gotta take care of our children, you know.
Is there anything else you can tell us about the upcoming album?
Kimi: Well, it’s definitely showing a different side of the band. I think that we just had a lot of fun stepping into our power in terms of volume and kind of, frizzier side of the band. We just had a lot of fun with it and like leaned more into our metal backgrounds and hard rock backgrounds and everything like that. And every time we’ve put out new music, we’ve all grown as musicians and surprised ourselves and each other. And it’s really great to be like in a band together because everybody’s constantly raising the bar. Elevating together. You know, like the quote says: ‘rising tides raise all boats.’ So that’s sort of been the progression of the band and the progression of also our new music and everything like that.
Looking forward to it! Are there any paths you guys are interested in taking the band in the future?
Kimi: That’s a good question. We just want to tour as much as we possibly can and reach as many people as possible. See where we, where this thing can go. And we’re just really excited to be on the road and be active again, we never wanna take for granted playing live music ever again and getting to go meet and see people and look into their eyes and all that kind of stuff. So yeah, really we just wanna dig into that and be present. Emily: Well, this year, we have like six music festivals that we’ll be playing. And that’s new for us to play festivals. So I’m excited for that. Kriss: We wanna come back to Europe more and more. We’re already like, we got the taste of blood in our mouth, you know.
If there’s one artist or band that you would collab with dead or alive, who would it be?
Kriss: Oh God. I love Prince. A lot of people know that. But I think he’s just such a freak and so awesome. I don’t even know what would come of it, but just thinking about what working with him would be like. It would probably be an insane experience. Emily: I think OutKast would be cool. Kimi: Yeah. OutKast would be really cool. So like Abba or, of course, Bowie, all those acts, what about you, Aaron? Aaron: I mean, I was gonna say OutKast too. But being from Atlanta, like, I don’t know. I think like, at least for me, hip hop is kind of a big part of my musical upbringing. I was really into OutKast growing up. Atlanta hip hop collab with rock. It’s gotta happen. Emily: Weird al Yancovic. Kimi: Yeah. Weird al Yancovic. Emily: Or is Ludacris from Atlanta? Kimi: Yes, I think so. Emily: Okay. Or Ludacris.
When you get on stage, what’s the first thing you guys look at?
Kimi: Each other. Every time I walk out I definitely throw up a quick prayer and look at each other and, and, it’s cool. It’s a really cool moment. And it’s something that only the four of us can share, and it’s very intimate. It’s more intimate than any relationship you’ll have, you know? Emily: It’s like going into the trenches. Kimi: It’s beyond siblings. It’s beyond boyfriend girlfriend, it’s beyond friend. It’s its own thing. I think that when you’re connected to somebody through creativity, like you’re on such a higher frequency that like you’re your best self in that moment and you’re actually able to operate and you’re like true highest self. And that’s something that a lot of people never really give themselves permission to have access to. And the fact that you can do it with people that you’re friends with and that you trust and everything, that just makes it so much better.
Do you guys also have like a pre pre-show ritual?
Kimi: We dance. We dance and we’re just stupid and all that kinda stuff. We jump around, we twerk for justice. Emily: The more weird and dorky is usually the better we play.
What’s your guys’ favorite soup?
Kimi: Oh, actually I’ve really liked the local pea soup that we’ve been getting everywhere. That’s really ripping. Snert! Kimi: Snert? Great name. We’ve had a really good mushroom truffle soup. We’re a big soup band. Emily: Yeah. Everyone’s gonna think I’m gross, but I love clam chowder. Aaron: I love clam chowder too. Kimi: Clam chowder is good. Probably my favourite is Fasolada, which is a Greek soup. It’s like white beans with carrots and stuff like that.
Stream Starbenders’ most recent single The Game below and get ready for their full-length album to release (hopefully) later this year!
After a long silence and a few posts about his mental health, Grandson has started to tease new music again.
Grandson last released music in 2021 after which he only got a few features on songs. However, he is back now with seemingly new music which he already mentioned would most likely be an album. He mentioned this a long time ago on twitter with a cryptic tweet.
The new teaser is a short video of him walking in the grass and falling over, accompanied by a snippet from, hopefully, a new song. The post has the caption: “eulogy.” which could possibly be the name of the song.
INTERVIEW: Palaye Royale’s Emerson Barrett Chats Upcoming Projects, New Music & More
We recently got to sit down with Emerson Barrett from Palaye Royale before their show in Melkweg. We not only talked about the tour and some upcoming music but we also talked about where his creativity comes from and how he views his role as role model for his fans. Check it out!
How are you? Doing well. I love being in Amsterdam last night’s show was insane, so it’s good to be back.
And, um, you recently released a Spanish version of your song Broken. What made you release it in Spanish too? We love Mexico. Like Remington’s the one that did all that. I didn’t do any of the translations or anything like that. So, he’s our bilingual fucking superstar. I think it’s very important to try our best to connect to other languages as best we can, you know? ‘Cause I feel bad. We come to so many countries and people know English. And like, we don’t know any other language. So we try our best to do that even with, like: I’m gonna do a pressing of the graphic novel in different languages and stuff. What languages? We’ll try to do: German, French, Japanese, Spanish, and I think that’s it. And then maybe like Czech. But I don’t know
You’ve also released a few covers in the past few years, most recently Elanor Rigby. Are there more covers to come? Yeah. We have a cover of, Closer – Nine Inch Nails. Should be coming out soon. We did a video for it, so.
Are there any artists you would still like to collab with in the future or can we expect any collaborations in the future? I think it would be great for us to do a song or a tour with Måneskin. I would love to do a song with Post Malone. Love him. He’s the best.
You recently also started more in the world of fashion. How did that start? I think we’ve just always, from the beginning, we’ve described ourselves as a fashion art rock band. Which we got shit for in the beginning, but now people are like: “Oh, I get it” you know? But yeah, like fashion and manufacturing and stuff. Like, I do all the products from the suits to the cosmetics, to the backpacks, to bedding anything and everything. So always designing things has been something I’ve truly loved, and it’s like making a song or drawing or painting. You’re creating something. So, being able to create something physically within clothing is incredible. And then I’ll always incorporate like my art inside of it and stuff.
Are there any big projects you still want to do in other new areas with the band? Yeah. I mean, on the fashion front, we’re doing like a higher end company called Avant Garde Society. I think we’re gonna drop the first piece probably at the end of this tour. And then going forward, we wanna open a boutique hotel in Budapest. Which would be really cool. And then we’re gonna start our own festival.
Cool. Is there a name known yet with the festival? Yeah. I don’t want to say anything yet, but it’s a great name.
Going from projects for in the future, to projects you’ve already done. The Obsidian City and island. If you had to explain that to someone who doesn’t know anything about it, how would you explain that? That’s a good question. I mean, the initial concept for this world started off when I was like 16. I couldn’t find any significance in the reality I was living in. So, I felt it was absolutely necessary to create my own city. And then that turned into my own world, and then it came with like the people and the politics and the architecture. So, I don’t know, Obsidian in this whole like graphic novel series is an expression of escapism. So, if you want to find yourself within your mind in this place, then you can, you can write reign and recreate yourself, and then destroy it by living.
You make these beautiful paintings of course. And drawings and stuff of that whole world. How is that in your head? Is it a vivid world in your head? Or do you take inspiration from other things? It haunted me for years ‘cause I didn’t know how to express it. And like when I was 16, I like covered my whole like bathroom and stuff. And then I realized I had to educate and train myself as much as I could every single day. And it’s like 10 years later now. And I’ve continued that project, that task to where I was like: okay, I have these incessant visuals in my head that, if I don’t get it out, I get destructive. You know? So like the best way I can deal with it is by expressing. And then that’s kind of led into so many different things where it’s like in the pandemic. I taught myself about 3D rendering and world building. And then that just expanded my whole brain even further to where it’s like, even when I’m sleeping. I’m either drawing or world building. And then I’ll wake up and I realize I didn’t do it, and I’m like, fuck. I’ll have to do it again but in real life. I have to spend the whole day doing that and I wouldn’t choose any other way.
You also come quite a lot in the Netherlands, like a lot of shows. Have you ever had the time to like properly to look around, the city Amsterdam? Or just in general? Oh. I think there’s so much beauty here that like needs to be seen, you know. Like I feel like Prague is somewhere that I’ve been able to spend a lot of time in and see incredible aspects of it. But that’s what I love about European countries so much in cities where there’s so much beauty to see in there. And it’s like every street there’s something more beautiful than the last. I went to the museum with the Vermeers, how do you say it? Rijksmuseum? Yeah. I don’t know how to say it I really like that museum. And then, just walking around the canals and stuff. It’s incredible.
And I also hit up your official Discord server. We did a little thing with them. To also get a few questions from fans themselves. At this point it’s crazy. There’s so much going on. It’s overwhelming. I’ll pop in every now and again. But it’s like, overload.
The first question is from Angie: Is there a song that personally is too tough for you to perform emotionally? Probably Redeemer. Oblivion is beautiful. I mean we can do it, we do it every night obviously. It’s fucking emotional though. Like we all want to cry when we do it. But it’s good. It’s a good feeling. It’s a good expression. It’s good to feel things. Have you ever like had an emotional moment during a show? Yeah, for sure. We’ve had shows where we thought it was gonna be our last show, like where we hated each other all so much and we were like, we’re never gonna do this again. And then we’ve had really great shows where it’s like, we’re just happy to be alive.
Question from Palana: Do you consider that besides being a musical or artistic inspiration or guide, you also are a spiritual or emotional guide to your fans? I think that’s a big categorization. I don’t ever want to express that I know something spiritually that no one else has the abili-. We all have the ability to manifest the same things. You know, like people ask me all the time: aren’t you worried about burning out from the amount that you do? And I think that’s a very wrong way to look at it. I don’t think. It’s like when you squeeze a lemon, like there’s only so much juice in it. I don’t think that’s the way at all. I think when you’re tapped into this like cosmic consciousness that we all are, and we all have souls, and we are aware. That’s the beauty of the brain. It’s like we’re trying to figure ourselves out with our brains. And it’s like a whole paradox. But there’s not only a certain amount of artistic expression within someone or spiritual expression. If you tap into this infinite cosmic energy that is here with us and without us before and after us. You know, you can tap in like a radio frequency and it’s always there and it’s always broadcasting. And I don’t think it’s a matter of like, there’s only so much in you. But to answer your question, I don’t want to be like a spiritual leader to anyone. But I do think my role is very important in inspiring those. To realize that they have the ability to be divine and to achieve anything that they fucking want in this life. And, and if anyone tells you otherwise, tell ’em to go fuck themselves.
A question by Remi: When writing songs that are personal to you, or more of you. What do you feel or think? Does it help you guys to feel closer to each other? Yeah. I think that’s the beauty in it all. It’s like we’re able to use writing songs, creating artwork, writing poetry as a way of therapy, you know? And like I know a lot of people do go to therapy. I’ve never been someone that’s, that’s done that. So my form of therapy is creation. That’s why I have to do it all the time, you know? And I run into like trouble when I don’t create. So for us, that’s the only way we know how to exist is expressing ourselves.
So, last question by Astoria. If you could remake a song or like refilm a music video, which one would it be and why? I think the whole Fever dream experience was magnificent, like the whole crew and Gianluigi, which was the director. It was just an absolute honor to see that professional with people working. And I think he’s like 27 or something like that. So just like being around like-minded individuals that are so insane in what they do. And I know he feels the same about us, where it’s like when you’re able to connect in a way artistically with someone, and it’s just so. It’s really magical. And the same thing with the Oblivion video and Eva, the director that was just like, there’s certain moments in our lives that just seems so easy in a beautiful way, and it’s almost like meant to be rather than forcing something.
Well that was it. Thank you for your time.
Check out Palaye Royale their latest album Fever Dream out below!
