It’s been two years since BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUT last played in The Netherlands, but luckily for us on Saturday, September 13th, they made a stop at Altstadt in Eindhoven on their short EU/UK run. Their latest album WHERE DID ALL THE BUTTERFLIES GO? was released on September 5th, leaving plenty of time for the fans to get familiar with the lyrics of all the new songs.
Doors opened earlier than planned, giving the waiting fans plenty of time to get merch, grab a drink and secure their spot. On both sides of the stages were staircases leading up the stage, but also acting as a block for the band members to jump up on. First up was British band Stereo Cupid, who got to open the first few shows of this tour. While the ceiling fans were working as hard as they could, Stereo Cupid made it their mission to get everyone hot and sweaty. The band consists of vocalist Ralph McCarthy Schofield, bassist Bruno Rogelj, drummer Jamie Nunan and guitarists Match Montana and Luca Arshad. From the second their set started, it was pure British Rock ‘n’ Roll chaos that set the room on fire.
The staircase platforms were used plenty, with Schofield jumping on top of them and singing right at some people at the front during the first song already. In their best Dutch they introduced themselves and later repeated their band name plenty more times, making sure no one would forget it. The song “Stargazing” was introduced as a bit of a shouty and jumpy one, and definitely one to party to. While the band members already weren’t wearing too many layers, one by one they took off their shirts, leaving just Arshad and Nunan left in the outfits they walked out on stage with. “Now what we don’t do is stop, which is shit for me, but great for you” said Schofield before urging the crowd to get closer to the stage. The staircases leading on and off the stage were great for the band members to get closer to the fans, with Schofield, Montana and Arshad all getting off the stage to get into the mosh pits. Unfortunately for them we only got 30 minutes of their energy and this was their last show of this tour, but we honestly can’t wait for them to come back and play a longer set.
A little later than on the schedule, BEAUTY SCHOOL DROPOUT made their way through the crowd, which resulted in lots of screaming fans, to the stage. The band consists of lead vocalist Cole “Colie” Hutzler, bassist Brent “Beepus” Burdett, producer/guitarist Bardo Novotny and drummer Colton Flurry. They opened their set with “FEVER,” which is also the first song of their latest album. You know the set is about to be good when you see the supporting band in the crowd going absolutely crazy as well. Hutzler was a bit too excited to play the new songs and introduced the second song as “TWO OF US,” Novotny went along with it and started playing that one, until Burdett called them out on starting the wrong song. We would get to “TWO OF US” in a bit, but first to be played was “ON YOUR LIPS.” During “XXX” Hutzler unfortunately took Novotny’s guitar to his face, resulting in a bloody wound. The band of course just kept going like nothing happened, it is a rock show afterall.
Novotny loved the staircases, spending a lot of the set there getting closer to the fans on his side. He got so close that fans did have to watch out a bit so they wouldn’t suffer the same faith as Hutzler. For the song “Starphucker” none other than Royal & The Serpent joined the band on stage to play the song. Conveniently she is also Burdett his girlfriend and making video content for the band, giving the fans the true experience of the song exactly how it was recorded. The band also gave a shout out to the bartenders, who were having a great time enjoying the show, clapping along and swinging the lamps hanging above the bar.
Their set ended with three older songs from their 2023 album WE MADE PLANS & GOD LAUGHED: “WE MADE PLANS & GOD LAUGHED,” “A$$A$$IN” and “FIGHT MODE.” For “FIGHT MODE” everyone gave all their last energy, turning the middle of the floor into a big jumping pit, where the members of Stereo Cupid could also be found genuinely enjoying their time. The charm of small venues like this is how intimate the shows feel and how as a fan you can really feel the appreciation from the band for showing up. Let’s hope it won’t take them another two years before they come back, and that they can play a bigger stage next time so Hutzler doesn’t have to suffer from another guitar to his face on the cramped stage.
GALLERY: Beauty School Dropout with Stereo Cupid at Altstadt in Eindhoven,Netherlands (September 13, 2025)
