After a couple of UK shows, Stand Atlantic made their way to mainland Europe with their first stop being at Dynamo in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. The Australian band is back in Europe after not even a year away, to promote their new record Was Here. Accompanying them as support acts on this run are the bands Slowly, Slowly and Honey Revenge.
You wouldn’t say it wasn’t a sold out show by the look of the crowd on Saturday. The queue before doors is already quite long, which means a lot of people are already in to see the first support act of the evening. Based on the amount of Waterparks shirts in the crowd, a lot of the fans tonight found out about them through their tour last year, where Stand Atlantic supported. Going to shows early, might have you unexpectedly introduced to your new favorite bands.
Slowly Slowly starts the evening off strong, immediately getting the crowd going at the early start time of 7:30pm. Frontman Ben Stewart is moving across the stage constantly, making it so the crowd has no choice but to match his energy. Ben and the other band members also interacted a lot with each other, hugging each other often as if they can’t believe they’ve drawn quite the crowd already, even though they’re quite popular in their own country already. The alternative music scene in Australia is clearly blooming, and bands like Slowly Slowly are proof of it. They’ll luckily be back in Europe in March, with quite some people in the crowd wanting to hear more.
After a couple of minutes to catch our breath, we’re ready for the second band of the evening. Honey Revenge had a quick rise to a bigger platform, having only been a band for a couple of years. Their optimistic pop punk fits with the vibe of the people. Guitarist Donovan Lloyd is a literal ray of sunshine, smiling through the entire set. With having a couple of quips with touring bassist Tay, like grabbing each others instruments or playing rock, paper scissors in between songs, they are clearly having the best time. The bubblegum pink hair of singer Devin Papadol also found her way to the floor for a minute, kicking off one of the many mosh pits of the night. The band has thought about their on-stage presence a lot, as they represent exactly what the music is. The comparison with Paramore is an obvious one to make, as Devin even has their Singles Club logo tattooed on her arm, but the feminine energy matched with her hair, reminds more of No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani, if anything. Neither of those comparisons quite do Honey Revenge justice though, as they clearly found their own sound so fittingly. This will be one of the bands they’ll compare new bands with soon enough.
Around 9:30pm it’s finally time for what we’ve been waiting for. Stand Atlantic just released their newest record ‘Was Here’ a month ago, which is a good reason to celebrate on this headlining tour. Whilst Stand Atlantic started as a ‘pop punk’ band, they’ve grown into a more heavy rock area, with a slightly rougher sound. This newer sound is more prevalent in ‘Was Here’ and ‘f.e.a.r.’ (2022), and most songs on today’s setlist are from these records. The energy on these records asks for a lot of crowd surfs, which starts from one of the first songs. It has been put to a stop by security for a couple of songs, but the ban is swiftly lifted too, but only after a wall of death. The crowd happily complies. The band has the crowd in the palm of their hands, going along in sit-downs, waves, mosh-pits and more.
Halfway through the show we do get to slow it down a little bit, with one of their older songs. Singer Bonnie Fraser has such a powerful and unique voice, fit for the very high energy music, but it truly shines in this slower section. The crowd clearly needed this breather after going so hard during the entire evening, singing along with ‘Toothpick’ and a cover of Train’s ‘Drops Of Jupiter’. They finish the song ‘Toothpick’ with Roos, someone from the crowd. She started off a little insecure, but after getting so much support from the crowd, she really held her own. After this slow interlude, we’re going right back to moshing, having had enough time to catch our breath.
Their new record is not the only celebration tonight. As bassist Miki Rich has his own birthday party on stage tonight, with the crowd singing the Dutch birthday song to him halfway through the show. This prompted more on-stage shenanigans, including their tour members crowdsurfing and banana eating (don’t even ask, we don’t know either). Before starting ‘deathwish’, they emphasize it’s their ’last song’, as it is tradition to pretend it’s over before starting the encore. Since PVRIS’s Lynn Gunn isn’t with them on this tour, Honey Revenge’s Papadol is taking the honors of singing along with the actual last song ‘GIRL$.’
The first headlining show of the European Stand Atlantic tour is off to a strong start with this night, as every band on the bill brought their A game. It’s difficult to keep a crowd entertained AND engaged for over 4 hours, a testament to the importance of (fitting) support acts. There’s still time to catch Stand Atlantic, Honey Revenge and Slowly Slowly in a couple of German and Czech shows the upcoming week. Stand Atlantic will also tour in the United States in October, supporting for A Day To Remember, and with their own headline shows accompanied by Vana and Foxcult. Don’t miss out!
GALLERY: STAND ATLANTIC AT DYNAMO (EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS) — SEPTEMBER 21st, 2024
