On Wednesday, August 20th, Good Kid came down to TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht to play a headline show, with support from the Dutch band Cardigan Inn. While the show wasn’t sold out, it must have been close to selling out since the room was filled with people, leaving barely any unoccupied spaces.
At 8 PM the Amsterdam based band Cardigan Inn was ready to warm up the crowd. The band formed by five high school friends are a dynamic new wave group, who blend ’80s synth-pop with a modern twist that’s fully their own unique style. The band consists of lead singer Pablo Nollet, drummer Igor Jongenelis, bassist Miriam Rumora and guitarists Joe Pilmeijer and Sidney Francis. Pablo started the set without an instrument, but grabbed his guitar for the second song onwards. After their first song ended Pablo checked in with the crowd whether most people spoke Dutch or English. The biggest group of people spoke Dutch, so his talks in between songs were decided to be spoken in Dutch as well.
After playing a few more songs Pablo told the crowd how it was Sidney’s birthday the following day and asked if it was anyone else’s birthday as well. Someone near the front got pointed at and everyone followed by singing the Dutch version “Happy Birthday.” When the song ended Sidney noted how there have never been this many people at his birthday party before. The band had gathered a few dedicated fans who were standing in the front row, dancing along enthusiastically and even doing the macarena.
A little after 9 PM it was time for the headliner of the evening. Good Kid is a Canadian band from Toronto, consisting of lead vocalist Nick Frosst, drummer Jon Kereliuk, bassist Michael Kozakov, and guitarists David Wood and Jacob Tsafatinos. While we already saw part of the stage decorations during the opener, Good Kid their set started with the giant robot smiley inflating at the back of the stage. The band all wore the same shirt, as part of their outfits for “Mimi’s Delivery Service.”
Before starting the 3rd song of the evening, “Bubbly,” Jacob remembered a fan gave him a gift he had to open specifically before playing this song. He opened the package and a bubble blower came out, fitting the title of the song. While he blew some bubbles he noted it would not be enough, so the band turned on their bubble blowers on either side of the stage. Fans in the front row were also blowing bubbles, turning it into a very cute atmosphere. At the end of the song Nick and Jacob were having fun together, Jacob playing his guitar and Nick playing the air guitar, a bit too much fun you could say as they both ended up falling on their backs onto the stage.
While you might now expect anything like a wall of death or mosh pits at a Good Kid show, nothing was less true. For the song “Witches” the band asked the crowd if they knew what a wall of death was, which they did, and if they could do one during the song. It might not have been one you would have seen at a metal show, but it definitely was a cute and softer version of it.
As a true delivery company the band had several packages laying on stage, one with the word “Urgent” written on it. Nick grabbed the box and after the crowd chanted “Open It.” He took out some merch and a slingshot, trying to shoot the merch into the crowd. The first one did not go very far, so the second one he just threw almost up into the balcony.
To warn artists ahead of time, backstage at the venue there’s a sign informing the performers of a special thing the crowd can do when in Utrecht. The sign warns the artists that they are not being booed, it’s just the crowd screaming “UUUU” for Utrecht, even making a U shape with their hands. Jacob had seen this sign and wanted to test it out himself, holding up his hand in the U shape. Immediately the crowd replied with their “UUUU,” which the band found very funny.
There was another mysterious package laying on the stage, this one with “In case of emergency” written on it. Jacob took out a spinning wheel, which is the small version of The Wheel of Chaos they usually bring on tour. The original did not fit on the boat over from Canada, so they had to make do with this smaller version. The wheel had a few options, including: Get Shreked (making the band play Smash Mouth’s “All Star”), Banish Nick (they did not know what that means), Just for Nick: Sea Shanty (Nick loves Irish Sea Shanties), Juggle Knives (Jacob said he would try his best) and lastly Go Home (everyone booed). Nick gave the wheel a good spin and it landed on Get Shrecked, immediately turning the lights into the venue green and getting into the song. The crowd loved this and sang along loudly.
Mimi’s Delivery Service was having a busy evening, as there was another box that appeared on stage. This one had a big paper fortune teller, which after asking the crowd to pick the options ended up on “Crowdsurf Nick.” As there was quite a big gap between the stage and the fans, he hesitated and was a bit scared to do it. Before getting into the crowdsurfing, a spotlight was shining on the drummer while he played a cool drum solo. The band then kicked into the song “Aloe Lite,” where the crowd was already holding up their hands in the air to catch Nick for when he got the courage to make the jump. Jacob started a “Jump” chant, which the crowd immediately joined, and not much later Nick took the jump and landed safely on the crowd, while still singing the song. When he made it back on stage he told the crowd “Thank you for literally and figuratively supporting us.”
Their so called last song of the evening was “Mimi’s Delivery Service,” which was a big party for everyone in the room. Mimi, after whom the song is named, was actually at the show today and after some encouragement from the band she walked out on stage to quickly wave hi to everyone. The crowd sang along loudly and danced around, while Nick grabbed a giant foam wrench from behind the stage.
Of course the band did not play their last song yet, Nick and Jacob walked back out on stage to sing an acoustic version of “Madeleine.” During the time away from the stage the crowd was chanting for more songs, but also held up pieces of paper into the air. The paper read “All songs,” which reminded Jacob that someone gave him a signed petition during VIP, which said to play all of their recorded songs. The band took the challenge and warned the crowd they would not take any breaks and just play the songs back to back. Good Kid did not put in any half work, as they played the full songs of “Atlas,” “Everything, Everything,” “Nomu,” “Drifting” and “Orbit.” They ended their set with “Summer,” for which the bubble machines were blowing again. During this song the biggest circle pit of the evening took place, giving Good Kid even more to be happy about. “This is one of the best venues we’ve ever played, thank you so much”, said Nick before everyone walked off stage.
GALLERY: Good Kid with Cardigan at TivoliVredenburg in Utrecht, Netherlands (August 20, 2025)
