Forever is a Long Time to Miss Tonight Alive’s Last Night of Tour in Haarlem

After going on hiatus at the end of 2018, Tonight Alive has only done a handful of shows around the world. The Australians decided to do a handful of shows in Europe this May, two of which were festival sets at Slam Dunk. The final show of this short ‘reunion’ tour took place at the Patronaat in Haarlem, the Netherlands, with the Irish Greywind supporting them during the three headlining shows.

The sibling-led band Greywind has had quite the rapid ascent into the scene over the last couple year, supporting Waterparks on their UK tour just a couple months ago as well. Their fast climb is more than justified, after experiencing them live this Wednesday evening. For lead vocalist Steph, in a striking yellow jacket and red gloves, dominating the stage seems to be second nature to her, moving around between guitarists Paul and Jake almost constantly. The theatrical and expressive movements of the entire band, as well as their jokes with the crowd in between songs, makes the show so extremely enjoyable, that it comes as a surprise they’re already done after just seven songs. Their set marks their first time playing in the Netherlands, and here’s to hoping they’ll be back here for more as soon as possible.

Tonight Alive has a special relationship with the Netherlands, as their shows in Eindhoven were the last ones they did in Europe back in 2018. Now closing out their short European tour in the Netherlands once again, with their only mainland Europe show of this run, it’s clear to see why. The love between band and crowd is unmistakable, from the very first seconds until the unfortunately unavoidable ending of the show. The venue doesn’t offer a barrier, making the fans all the more close to the band, which results in a lot of handholding from singer Jenna McDougall, Cameron Adler leaning over the fans with his bass a bunch of times, and more close interactions all throughout the show. The acoustic moment for “For You” (written as ‘special song’ on the setlist tonight) and “Come Home” (a song they haven’t played live since 2016) gets Jenna sitting on the edge of the stage, a front-row fan holding up her mic. The crowd interactions come to a head during their cover of Little Lion Man around the end of the set, where the vocalist stands in the middle of a bustling circle pit. Even though the 1000 capacity venue is nearly sold out, every fan in the room gets to feel special; it is written on McDougall’s shirt, after all.

The love for their music and fans is so clear, you wonder why they ever even went on hiatus. They radiate positive energy, and if you ask their adoring fans, they’ve never sounded better either. The human beings that make up the band are clearly mentally in a better place than ever before, and it’s evident throughout the show. Jenna’s voice sounds especially clear and well-rested, noticeable in how easily she pulls off a snippet of Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” (during the end of their own “The Other Side”) and the crazy high notes in songs like “Wasting Away.” The men of the band are all smiles as well, just as comfortable and excited to be playing together again. Matty Best, whom they (temporarily?) got back from Sleeping With Sirens for these shows, might be bound to his seat behind the drums, but Cameron and guitarist Jake Hardy spend plenty of time playing towards the drum platform as well, clearly really loving their time spent together this week.

Live music is supposed to make you feel connected, make you feel something more. Whether you came to the show with a loved one or by yourself, from 20 minutes away or from different countries to be here, everyone in the Patronaat feels connected through this band’s music. This isn’t lost on them either, really emphasizing this between songs. Jenna talks about the record The Other Side as a catalyst for this too, as they never expected their songs to resonate so much with people from so far away (she notes it took them 30+ hours to make this trip) and how grateful they are that it still has this much meaning to everyone all over the world, even years later. By the last song, they urge the crowd to show how much we want to see them back here soon.

There aren’t any new shows announced so far, so hopefully Haarlem’s ecstatic response gave them enough reason to not let this be the end of it all again. One can only hope they’ll have a few more surprises in store for us in the near future, but if not, we’re all so happy we got to have this night.