Live: Billy Talent in Amsterdam
There are only a handful of bands I would queue for for hours, and Billy Talent is not one of them. The gig was due to start at eight and I made it to the venue for about half seven. I was surprised to see that I was by no means the last person in line: it seemed that more music fans were unwilling to sacrifice their sunny Tuesday for the chance to be front row at this particular gig. Surprisingly, I was able to make it quite some way to the front without the use of my elbows or my steel-toed boots. I thank the youthfulness of the crowd, whose ages fluctuated between fourteen and eighteen I would say. It was obvious that this was their first proper punkrock gig and they were unaware of the etiquette, making them as meek as sheep. My suspicion was confirmed when Fall Out Boy’s Thnks fr th Mmrs was played while we were waiting for the gig to start and everyone, but everyone, started singing and dancing along.
Support act: Nailpin
The support act – Nailpin, a punk quartet from Belgium – was the perfect start to the evening: in true irreverent and non-conformist punk fashion, their set was introduced by The Muppet Show’s signature tune: “It’s time to play the music...” For me support acts generally fall under the 'thirty minutes of my life I’ll never get back' category, but Nailpin it has to be said were very good. Good, but fairly unoriginal. If you hear their music for the first time and wonder how it can be that the tunes sound strangely familiar, it may of course be that you heard their songs before and never knew the band’s name, but it is more likely to be because they have yet to emerge from the shadows of more illustrous bands; they sound very like the bands that inspired them. That being said, they never disappointed for a second. I was dancing along halfway through the first song and their boundless energy did not let up for the remainder of their set. They got the crowd going in an instant. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for more tourdates, as I want to hear more of this band and cannot wait for their impending maturity and independence: they’ll come into their own one of these days and I want to be there when it happens.
Billy Talent
With the crowd loosened up and in party mode after Nailpin, it wasn’t difficult for Billy Talent to put the icing on the cake. They arrived to a roaring welcome from a packed venue, which proves they have a hardcore following in The Netherlands. Hopefully the uninitiated who somehow missed their previous two gigs in Amsterdam (one of them opening for My Chemical Romance in June of this year) left this wonderful gig as fans-for-life. I have no doubt they did: this was a gig of a lifetime and certainly one of the best punk gigs I was ever present at. The members of Billy Talent understand their craft very well indeed: they know that a band is only as good as its live performance and, oh boy, do these men know how to put on a show! After only two songs singer Ben Kowalewicz’s shirt came off because he was sweating profusely.
Halfway through the concert I made my way to the bar in the back: it was proving too hard to take notes amid a dancing and moshing crowd. Also, I was in desperate need of a beer or two or three. The venue is so small and cosy that I actually had a better view from the back. Oh, and what do you know? There were old people there as well! By ‘old people’ I mean people nearer my age who were as bemused by the majority of teenagers as I was. It seemed they had all congregated in the back. I felt instantly more at home with men and women in their twenties and thirties. School children have an unnerving habit of staring you down if you do not show up to a concert in the standard-issue uniform of striped fingerless gloves, pierced bottom lips and the latest emo-haircuts with obligatory pink streaky bangs. Whereas the kids in front started squealing and mourning their carefully assembled outfits when beer was poured over them by accident, a man at the bar whose arm I inadvertently burned with my cigarette only laughed and joked that “at least it hadn’t come off and was still attached to his shoulder”. He then spent some time chatting to me and asking me what I was writing. Sir, if you read this: thank you for restoring my faith in the unity and general good humour of punk fans of a certain age.
In the meantime, Billy Talent were giving it their all, jumping, screaming and playing their hearts out. They performed their entire second album to great appreciation of the crowd who were screaming and jumping along. When their set ended, no one left because everyone knew there was more to come. They hadn’t even played their greatest hits Red Flag and Fallen Leaves yet! After a few minutes they came back out and leapt into Nothing To Lose with as much energy as if it were the first song of the concert. Ben’s voice never faltered once; he sounded as chrystal clear as at the opener This Is How It Goes.
The same cannot be said for the fans (yes, we were every single one of us fans after that gig, even the ones who didn’t know what to expect): all had trouble speaking after that, be it from pure emotion or from screaming I dare not say. A combination of both I like to think. Ben promised us solemnly that as soon as they had finished work on their forthcoming record (cue the crowd going insane) they would most definitely bring it to their 'favourite city in Europe' (cue the crowd going even more insane).
Verdict: The feeling’s mutual, Ben. We love you and your band as much as you love us. If you promise to bring Nailpin out with you next time, I’ll be there. And I’ll queue for once.