On Sunday, May 11th, Mark Ambor played a sold-out show at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. It was a nice and sunny day, fitting perfectly with his music. A mirror decorated with the tour name was standing in the hallway, making a perfect spot for everyone to take their mirror selfies in for their next instagram post. Just three weeks ago he played at Melkweg in Amsterdam, where he also played almost exactly a year ago. All those shows had been sold-out, so the step up to Poppodium 013 was definitely needed. The venue is almost twice the size of Melkweg and he still managed to sell it all out.
An hour after doors opened it was time for the support of the night, which was Zinadelphia from Philadelphia. Her stage name is a combination from her first name, Zina, and where she is from, Philadelphia, as she explained herself. It was just her and her bassist on stage, which made it feel very intimate. The mic stand was decorated with some feathers and tassels, adding a cute touch. She started off with her guitar for the song “Cosmos.” She is heavily inspired by jazz, funk and folk, which make her songs a nice mix of genres. For the next song she proudly held up a magazine to the crowd, which she made herself for her song “The Magazine.”
Watching the support on a tour is a nice way to find your new favorite artists, but sometimes you just wish to be able to sing along as well. Luckily she played “Rolling In The Deep” by Adele next, which everyone knew and was able to sing the lyrics as loud as they could. Her set ended with “Love Over Glory,” but before she left she told the crowd she would love to meet everyone at the merch table afterwards. She only played for half an hour, but treated the fans to a cute and nice start to the evening.
The staging was set up almost like a campground, making it feel like you’re sitting around the campfire singing songs with your friends. Light up lanterns were strung along the back off the stage, with the band on small platforms with wooden fronts. While the venue was filled with 3000 excited fans, the setting of the evening gave it an intimate feeling. Just before Mark Ambor went on stage, “Viva La Vida” by Coldplay started playing loudly over the speakers, indicating that the show was about to start soon. Ambor was joined by his band, Alex Maddon on the keys, Parker Sundby on the drums and Alex Mak on the guitar. Their set started with “I Hope It All Works Out,” which immediately got the crowd singing along. For “Academy Street” the crowd had set up a fan project, which made the venue light up in blue lights.
The excitement was clearly seen on Ambor’s face, who could not stop smiling. “My name is Mark Ambor and welcome to the Rockwood tour! Sorry I can’t stop smiling, this is my biggest headline show ever … I’m coming from a small town in New York called Pleasantville. Back in Pleasantville we have a park we go to and that park is called Rockwood. Rockwood is a place you go when you and your friends have no other house to go to, it’s a place you go to watch the sunset, have a picnic… The important part about Rockwood is that it was an escape, it’s a place where the weight of the world fell off your shoulders for a second. So tonight Tilburg, it’s our job in this room to try to escape together and have a little fun. If you want to sing tonight, sing. If you want to dance tonight, dance. There’s no judgement in this room.”
Most of his songs are made by just him and his guitar, so the set also included an acoustic part. During this he played “Someone That’s Better” and one of his personal favorites “Second Best.” Next Ambor wanted to get up close and personal with his fans, making his way to the middle of the crowd where he played a mashup of his own song “I Hate That I Still Love You” and Coldplay’s “Yellow.” It’s always beautiful to see an artist who trusts his crowd enough to stand between them, along with a crowd who is respectful enough to let it happen safely.
Before playing his newest song “Who Knows” a fan at the front dared him to a game of rock, paper, scissors. He then lost the game and had to give her a guitar pick, which was not as bad as he thought it would be. Ambor wanted to make the night special and decided to play the unreleased song “Tomorrow.”, which he had only played at a few VIP’s before. Just before the encore it was time for another fan favorite: “Good To Be.” For this one Ambor played the ukulele, showcasing his skills as a musician even more. After the last line of the song “It’s so good to be alive” he added “Yes, it is Tilburg. I love you!”
When Ambor came back on stage for the encore, he had changed into a soccer jersey from the local team. This resulted in loud cheers, while some boo’s also could be heard from the die hard soccer fans. The Dutch flags kept on making their way to the stage and at one point he had three of them scattered around: one hanging from the lantern string, one on the mic stand and one draped over the piano. After they played “My Love!” fans started chanting for “Our Song,” which is unreleased but he has been playing it at multiple shows. He of course could not resist and gave the crowd what they wanted. The supposed ending of the set was his biggest hit “Belong Together,” which was definitely sung along the loudest of the evening. The fans then put in another request and Ambor once again could not tell them no, making “Sky is The Limit” the ending song of the evening. For this one the whole band sat down at the front of the stage, truly making it feel like campfire sing along. Nearing the end of the song Ambor jumped down onto the barricade, getting close to his much beloved fans. A small guitar part of “Belong Together” was played again, before the piano keys were slowly drowning out and the venue went dark.
Fans of course did not forget about Ambor his announcement he made during the show, where he said he would be coming outside to play a few songs. The back of the venue was soon filled with the fans eagerly waiting. During the wait more and more fans kept coming and sang some Dutch songs to kill some time. Ambor and Mak popped up above the fence with their guitars, treating the fans to three acoustic songs. “Good To Be”, “Who Knows” and “Belong Together” were heard again, which were sung along just as loud as during the concert inside.
GALLERY: Mark Ambor and Zinadelphia at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, Netherlands (May 11, 2025)
