Valentine’s Day can be spent in numerous ways, whether it’s with a romantic partner or your platonic love, doing something you love always is a good idea. On February 14th about 650 people gathered at the Melkweg OZ in Amsterdam to spend their evening with none other than Sleep Theory. With most of the shows on this run being sold out, you can definitely say their first ever EU/UK tour has been overdue and a great success.
Opening up the evening on this tour is The Pretty Wild, a metal band from Las Vegas. The band consists of two sisters, Jyl and Jules Wylde, along with their drummer Nick Taylor and guitarist Mason Wright. After they walked out on stage and started their first song of the evening, “PARADOX,” they quickly had to restart due to some technical difficulties. The crowd didn’t mind and waited patiently for the issues to be resolved and the band could start over. After playing “OMENS” and “bLAcK oPs (m@n!a)” the band took the time to talk a bit to the crowd and dedicated the next song, “button eyes,” to the ladies in attendance tonight.
The crowd seemed to love the energy from the sisters and were already moving to the music, before “living ded” Jules spoke how they usually tell people to move for the song, but Amsterdam was already doing a great job. Amsterdam of course was up for the challenge and opened up a mosh pit. Up next was one of Jyl her favorites to play: “vessüL (SiNGULAR!TY).” They ended their set with “sLeepwAlkeR,” which has done some numbers on social media and is easily their most streamed song. The crowd took in all their energy radiating through the venue, returning it just as enthusiastically.
At 9 PM it was then time to really get into it after the crowd had successfully been warmed up. While the band has only been around since 2019, their music has also done its rounds on social media, especially TikTok. Sleep Theory consists of vocalist Cullen Moore, bassist Paolo Vergara, guitarist Daniel Pruitt and drummer Ben Pruitt. Their set started with “Fallout” followed by “Enough” and “Parasite.” Their catchy songs surely had a positive effect on the crowd, who were happily singing along and visibly enjoying it. Before “Just A Mistake” Moore told the crowd he needed everyone in the building to start jumping.
While their set mostly consisted of songs from their latest album, Afterglow, some covers also snuck their way in. First up was “Can You Stand the Rain” from Boyz II Men, followed by *NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye.” For the latter Moore stated they were definitely not feeling too cool to play this song and hoped the crowd also did not feel too cool to enjoy it. These two higher energy songs were followed by the album’s title song “Afterglow,” which was a slower song allowing the crowd to catch their breath for a bit.
Before the next cover on the set, Paramore’s “My Heart,” Moore explained how this band came to be where they are now. It started back in 2019 as a solo project for Moore, but after hearing Paolo Vergara play this cover, he decided he wanted to make music with him. The song then started with Vergara’s vocals, bringing him back to where it all started. Moore joined in and the crowd participated as well. For the last cover of the evening it was one that surely the ladies would recognize, as it was Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer.”
While not talking too much between songs, as Moore said the crowd came “for live music, not talking,” he did ask for the crowd to participate in specific songs. For “Stuck In My Head” he wanted everyone to wave their hands back and forth, and so they did. The last two songs of the evening made for a loud ending, with the crowd singing along the loudest they have the whole evening. During “Numb” while the lyrics “Going blind now, Turn the lights out” were sung, the venue turned dark. When the lights came back on Moore was squirting two water bottles over the crowd. For one last time this evening Moore wanted to feel the venue shake, of course “Static” was the song to make that happen.
Sleep Theory still has plenty of mainland Europe shows to go, which are followed by a tour throughout America. Dates and tickets can be found here: https://sleeptheoryofficial.com/tour
GALLERY: Sleep Theory with The Pretty Wild at Melkweg OZ in Amsterdam, Netherlands (February 14, 2026)
