CONCERT REVIEW: AJR Give Storytelling Masterclass In Tilburg

After a very succesful show in Melkweg Amsterdam before the pandemic, AJR are back with a new album and a bigger show. This time, selling out Poppodium 013, which holds double the capacity as Melkweg does, months in advance of the show. Armed with a new album and a new show production, AJR amazed on the OK ORCHESTRA tour.

Those who have ever seen an AJR liveshow know that you’re not just coming for the music, but rather for an experience that’s honestly quite unique. A redefinition of the word concert would not be misplaced. Starting their set with a funny video of a voice-over that keeps on making mistakes while reciding the start of the song OK Overture and eventually calling it quits because ‘who has time for this, we’ve waited 2 years for this’. A burst of energy both on stage and in the audience followed as the brothers came on stage accompanied by their touring band.

Kicking off with the popular Bummerland, AJR played all the ‘classics’, as well as a huge portion of their new album OK ORCHESTRA, which is home to the very popular BANG! and World’s Smallest Violin. AJR are natural entertainers and often chatted with the audience in-between of songs. While this may get annoying at some shows, AJR do it with such hilarity and humor, I’d honestly attend a comedy show hosted by the band. Singing happy birthday to fans in the audience, their ‘Elton John story’, AJR entertained for a good hour and a half, and not just through their music.

The great diversity in which the band entertained didn’t take anything away from their ability as musicians. The music unsurprisingly sounded amazing and vocalist Jack Met‘s dance moves are as hilarious as they are epic. AJR brought along a drummer and a trumpet player, who were involved in the show and responsible for the interludes as the brothers submerged off stage from time to time for a wardrobe change or to catch a breath.

An AJR show is truly next level, and at times reminded me of the exceptional Twenty One Pilots show many of us know and love. If you get the chance to catch this band live, do it. It’s an experience you are going to want to well.. experience. Eva van den Bosch was there to make some photos during their set to give you a glimpse of what the fuss is all about! Check it out in the gallery below.

CONCERT REVIEW: Wage War Prove They Are On Their Way To Bigger Things During Epic Amsterdam Show

A few years ago, we saw the Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction in the same room we were in tonight, with Wage War as one of the opening bands in a room that was not even sold-out. How great it was tonight to see Wage War tear up this room in a headliner capacity, with the room sold-out months in advance. Together with The Devil Wears Prada and Siamese, Wage War returned to Amsterdam for an epic show in order to support the release of their most recent album Manic, which has taken the band’s popularity to new heights.

For us, the night started with The Devil Wears Prada, after interviewing frontman Mike Hranica a little before their set took place to discuss all things ZII and Color Decay. Like Wage War, The Devil Wears Prada haven’t been sitting still in the pandemic, and released the highly anticipated follow-up to the Zombie EP and a brand new record Color Decay in the timespan of 2 years. You would expect a certain expertise from a band as seasoned as TDWP in a live setting, and this expectation was matched. With a very varied setlist, ranging from the ‘old and gold’ songs Dez Moines and Danger: Wildman all the way to the brand new Color Decay, which made up 1/3th of the setlist tonight with the popular singles Salt, Sacrifice and Watchtower.

Even with a relatively new line-up, The Devil Wears Prada show why they have been a cornerstone in the scene and continue to be so, with great new music and shows alike. The pit was never-ending and the excitement never died down. We cannot wait for the band to return, perhaps in a headliner capacity next time? It’d be a shame if we never got to hear Time live!

Wage War are one of those bands that popped up on our radar rather early. When they first released singles under the name Wage War in 2015 already on their current label Fearless Records, it was very apparent to us that these guys had immense talent and could potentially get very far. 7 years later, I think we can safely state that the best possible outcome has happened for Wage War. After years of hard work and countless tours, Wage War are already on their fourth album and currently being listened to by an audience of 1.3 million of monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

After seeing the band as headliner in the Melkweg in 2019 in the small ‘upstairs’ room, the band now sold out the next room in line, which is 2,5 bigger than the ‘upstairs’. Kicking off their set with Relapse and Teeth, the tone was set for the rest of the evening. No room for slow songs, just moshing, screams and breakdowns for the rest of the evening. The setlist was masterfully curated with a slight focus on the new album Manic, from which the title track was one of the pinnacles of the performance. With an entire room shouting back MANIC and the moshpit making up the bigger part of the venue, this song was clearly among the favourites.

Musically and energetically, Wage War are absolutely insane live. Clean vocalist Cody Quistad is an absolute treasure we should protect at all cost, but seriously this band just works. Plain and simple. We would love to see Wage War return for an even bigger show, with perhaps a little bit bigger production, there’d be no stopping this band from headlining festivals within the scene in a few years.

Check out what The Devil Wears Prada & Wage War‘s sets looked like in the galleries below and make sure to catch this tour on the road if you get the chance!

The Devil Wears Prada:

Wage War:

CONCERT REVIEW: Ice Nine Kills Play Intimate Show In Tilburg

We also saw Ice Nine Kills in Amsterdam more recently, check out that review here.

Not even a week after we saw Ice Nine Kills live playing an absolute huge show at Rock Am Ring, we were fortunate enough to capture Ice Nine Kills live once more, this time in a more intimate setting in Tilburg’s Poppodium 013. Mastodon were playing the same venue on the same day, meaning that Ice Nine Kills was playing the ‘Next’ room, giving the INK show something very intimate.

With less than 1000 people, we were enjoying the very same setlist we enjoyed in Germany a few days prior, but when a band brings as many props, gimmicks and just straight up banger tunes, we do not mind.

For a good hour, Ice Nine Kills played a nice mix from their 2 The Silver Scream albums, as well as a small throwback to Every Trick In The Book with the single Communion of the Cursed. Besides the visual aspect, Ice Nine Kills are truly an extraordinary band when it comes to musicianship. Not only do 4 of the band members rotate vocal duties, but the breakdowns they play live are next-level. A personal highlight was Take Your Pick, perhaps the heaviest song of the evening, featuring a brutal breakdown, which was executed to perfection.

We had a wonderful time with Ice Nine Kills again, especially in an intimate setting after seeing them play in front of thousands at Rock Am Ring. While Rock Am Ring was spectacular, it’s nice to be in a room surrounded with fans who bought tickets purely to see Ice Nine Kills perform live – the singing-along and moshpits made for a very great atmosphere.

An intimate show is also very different for a photographer, compared to photographing outdoor. Eva van den Bosch took some nice shots during the set in Tilburg and you can see them in the gallery below.

Jera On Air Review: A Hot Last Day Filled With Highlights

Festivals fly by, and unfortunately, we had already arrived at the last day of Jera On Air. Luckily there were some incredible artists on today’s line-up, leaving us in anticipation what this day has to offer. We were treated to a hot summer day with no rain, and our day started with the highly anticipated newcomer Hot Milk, who are releasing their third EP in August. Hot Milk released their first single only in 2019 and have already garnered quite the following, with almost half a million of listeners on Spotify alone. Even though the band played early on in the afternoon, many fans had come out from the camping to see the band perform at 13:00. Hot Milk played their power pop with vigor before an ecstatic audience and we are convinced this is just the beginning for them. Check out what the show looked like in the gallery below!

HOT MILK

Up next are the very popular German metalcore band Electric Callboy, known for their 80s vibes videos and looks in the new singles including Hypa Hypa and Pump It Better. In a short period of time, these guys have become one of the biggest bands in heavy music and the crowd that came out for them in the middle of the day confirmed this. The band played the mainstage, but the crowd gathered outside of the tent as well, as there was just no room inside the tent. Kicking off their set with the outfits and wigs they wear in their music videos, Electric Callboy played their single Pump It Better and then Ninja before changing back into regular clothing for the remainder of the set. The amount of crowdsurfers during their set was unmatched as of yet this weekend and we cannot wait for their full album to release. The show was about the same as the one we witnessed in Amsterdam, the crowd was just a lot bigger at Jera on Air. Check out some shots from their show right below.

ELECTRIC CALLBOY

Pop-punk giants Neck Deep were up next on the mainstage, giving us a pre-show of what’s to come when they play the Amsterdam venue Melkweg next week. High energy and great tunes are what Neck Deep are known for, and that’s exactly what they came to deliver. Check out some shots from their performance in the gallery below:

NECK DEEP

The second Neck Deep played the last note, things turned up a notch, as the popular hardcore act Knocked Loose took the stage on the Vulture stage, which was once again packed beyond its capacity. We didn’t expect that to be any different, as the band are currently riding a wave so huge, it’s hard to come back down. Their shows are absolute mayhem, a sweaty whirling mess in the best way possible and Jera was exactly that. With the iconic ‘arf arf’ breakdown and many more popular songs from their 2019 album A Different Shade of Blue and their new songs from the 2021 EP A Tear In The Fabric Of Life, Knocked Loose came with a varied setlist, with some throwbacks for the OG fans to Deadringer and even the 2014 EP Pop Culture.

KNOCKED LOOSE

At this point, there are too many great artists playing on Jera, so it’s running all over the festival grounds to the different stages to not miss anything worthwhile. Next up were Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes, which is guaranteed to be a crazy show. Those who have seen the Pinkpop stream last week know what to expect, but for many in the audience, the insanity of a Frank Carter show was either a first or something people definitely looked forward to. The first few songs, Frank Carter spends more time in the audience than he does on stage, starting mosh and circle pits (that range outside of the tent), and swimming around on the hands of the crowd, wearing an inflatable flamingo, because why not. Frank Carter & The Rattlesnakes have an incredible discography, with many epic songs such as Lullaby, Go Get A Tattoo and Kitty Sucker, but honestly the highlight of the show is the crazy shenanigans that Frank Carter and his bandmates are up to while playing their show, even if you don’t enjoy their music, you’ll have a great time attending one of their shows. Check out some shots from the mayhem right below.

FRANK CARTER & THE RATTLESNAKES

We are nearing the end of an incredible festival weekend, but not until we’ve seen the iconic Bullet For My Valentine live on the main stage. A BFMV show is what I would like to call ‘familiar greatness’. The band has an iconic status and has definitely earned this status, but their show has been about the same for years. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, but for us, it’s rinse and repeat. Nonetheless, the band’s new songs Knives and Shatter were a delight to hear live, not to mention the always iconic Your Betrayal, which the band opened with. Check out some photos from the familiar greatness right below.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

It has been our utmost pleasure to attend Jera On Air again after 2 years of no live-shows, but unfortunately, we have arrived at the headliner of the final day, one final act before thousands of festival go-ers would go home to return to their day-to-day jobs and (extra)ordinary lives. Luckily, we’d return home with a smile on our face, as the final headliner was none other than Rise Against. Yet another titan of the industry, Rise Against are still on top of their game, with more than 6 million listeners every single month via Spotify alone, and a brand new EP Nowhere Generation II, the continuance of the 2021 album Nowhere Generation. Of course, a headliner slot like this one isn’t always used to promote a whole lot from the new music, but rather make a beautiful mix of old and new to give everyone who’s ever listened to Rise Against at some point in their lives a treat. As a result, the setlist was a very balanced mixture, with 1-2 songs being played from most albums, except for the album that put Rise Against on the map to stay: Appeal To Reason. This album is home to many favourites, including Savior, Hero of War and Collapse, which were all on the setlist tonight. Check out some Rise Against shots right below and special thanks to Jera on Air for having us this year!

RISE AGAINST

CONCERT REVIEW: SKYND Take Their True Crime Music To Amsterdam

For those who are not yet familiar with SKYND, this band plays music what they call True Crime music: the group takes on the grossest, most heinous acts of human nature throughout modern history and turns them into music, influenced by industrial, metal, rock, goth – you name it. “In their own words, SKYND’s lyrics reach deep, deep down into the sinister abyss of the human soul”, and that is exactly what was being portrayed during their incredible performance.

SKYND consists of two musicians (and in a live setting a third musician behind the drums), whom as far as we know, remain anonymous. With 9 songs released so far, SKYND have a cult-like following, consisting of 122.000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone and all of their music videos raking in millions of views due to the incredible production value, the quality of the songs, and of course the subjects of the songs.

Playing a sold-out show in Melkweg, which was upgraded last-minute, SKYND played all of their released songs, as well as 4 songs that have yet to release. Before each song, a news item about the horrible person/act of violence was played as introduction.

SKYND’s music makes them instantly interesting, considering not many artists out there are doing the ‘True Crime music’ theme, but besides that, the trio also performed music on an exceptionally high level. One of our highlights was the performance of the track Chris Watts, whose heinous crime has been documented in the Netflix documentary American Murder: The Family Next Door. The song is a little more calm than most of their discography and perfectly highlighted what SKYND’s vocals are capable of doing. Hauntingly beautiful.

The performance was something special, both musically and visually. Please enjoy Eva van den Bosch’s photos right in the gallery below and make sure to catch SKYND on the road.