While electronic rock band Solence has been around for over a decade, they have not embarked on their own headline tour in all those years. That is, until now. While they’ve supported many other acts on tours across Europe, the release of their latest album, Angels Calling, finally led to them going on tour as headliners. On the 3rd of May, the tour made a stop in Utrecht’s TivoliVredenburg.
Doors to the Pandora stage opened around 18:30, and quite some eager fans had already lined up for the show. While the room never fully filled, fans were standing everywhere, including on the balconies, as they waited for the first support act to take to the stage. At 19:15, the Stranger Things theme song began to play over the speakers as the crowd anticipated the start of Written by Wolves’ set. The cinematic rock band from New Zealand consists of lead singer Michael Murphy, guitarist Davie Wong, drummer Karl Woodhams, and keyboardist Oli Lyons, although the latter was not around for this European tour. Murphy took to the stage in a black glitter suit, with the other two present band members also clad in black, and the three of them immediately began with ‘GIVE ‘EM HELL’ and ‘MISERY’. “Utrecht, (…) I think I’m in love with you,” Murphy said afterwards, “Here’s a cheers to every single one of you motherfuckers”. The band continued with a rock version of Sia’s ‘Elastic Heart’, followed by their own song ‘Not Afraid to Die’. In between songs, Murphy highlighted multiple times how important it is to let go and forget the “fucked-up shit” when the “world’s on fire outside”. Written by Wolves ended their set with ‘GODDESS’ and ‘BURN’ before leaving the stage.
Next on the line-up tonight was Welsh rock band Dream State, which consists of lead singer Jessie Powell, guitarist Aled Evans, bassist Jake Bowen, and drummer Tom Connolly. The band opened their set with ‘Bloom’ and ‘Bittersweet Scars of My Past’, and the crowd excitedly clapped along to the latter. In the dressing rooms of the TivoliVredenburg, signs can be read by the artist saying that if the crowd is making a “U” sound, they’re not booing the artist. Rather, this is a sound made out of Utrecht pride. Powell apparently loved this idea so much that she initiated the audience making the sound and gesture themselves multiple times throughout the set. Powell also initiated a circle pit and wall of death during ‘Chin Up Princess’ and did the Macarena during ‘Words Unsaid’. Powell and her bandmates were clearly having fun, and so was the audience. When asked who had heard of Dream State before, quite a few people raised their hands, some even wearing the band’s merch. During the second-to-last song, ‘Taunt Me’, Powell made her way to the front of the stage to hold the hand of an older fan in a wheelchair, making for an adorable moment. Finally, the band ended their set with ‘Primrose’, asking “those who are able to” to crouch down and jump back up when the beat kicked in.
Finally, around 21:00, the introductory song to Solence’s set began to play over the speakers: ABBA’s ‘Dancing Queen’. A very different genre from the rest of the music played tonight, but the crowd loved it nonetheless as they got ready for Solence to appear. “Can you hear me?” it sounded over the speakers as the music faded out. “I wish you welcome to the Solence experience. This is not a performance; this is controlled chaos. (…) I want your voice, I want your sweat, I want all of your energy. I want everything”. When the voice stopped speaking, the four band members took to the stage: lead singer Markus Videsäter, guitarist David Strääf, keyboardist Johan Swärd, and drummer David Vikingsson. They began their set with the title track from their latest album, ‘Angels Calling’, followed by the iconic track ‘Good F***king Music’. At the end of this song, Swärd and Strääf got to play center stage for the first time out of several tonight. “Next on the Solence agenda is for us to sing a little bit together,” Videsäter said afterwards, as the band continued with ‘Where Were You…?’. In the middle of the song, Videsäter asked the audience, “are you ready for Solence’s first breakdown of the evening?”. He encouraged the audience to mosh or dance if they wanted to.
Besides being the lead singer, Videsäter also deemed himself the host with the job to give the audience the “full unedited fucking Solence experience”. It was time for a little experiment he called “anger management”, where he asked the crowd to scream as loud as possible. This was followed by another keyboard and guitar moment before the band continued with ‘Death Do Us Part’. “We’re not only world-class entertainers,” Videsäter stated. “We’re also educators!” And what was Videsäter going to teach the audience? To count! This way, he introduced ‘4 Good Reasons’, a song he wrote about someone he really dislikes. The next few songs on the setlist were played back-to-back, with this section ending with ‘Best for You’. During this song, the first crowdsurfer of the night made it up onto the stage.
Ten songs in, it was time for a song to be played that is, to this day, still very special to each of the band members. Videsäter explained that they released this song, ‘Heaven’, back in 2019, and that was the moment they felt like they could do this for real. They continued with ‘All of the Pain Must Go’, followed by an extended version of ‘Blood Sweat Tears’. In between the songs, Videsäter told the audience that when the band started fourteen years ago, they had two goals they wanted to achieve. First, they wanted to put out an album, which didn’t actually happen until 2019 with the release of Brothers, as it turned out to be very hard. Second, they wanted to play headline shows, and everyone in attendance tonight was lucky enough to attend the first-ever Solence headline tour. More crowdsurfers appeared as they played this meaningful song, which was followed by a drum solo. Vikingsson finally got his time to shine as well.
Only two more songs were left to be played tonight. Solence played a cover of Imagine Dragons’ ‘Warrior’, followed by their own song ‘Animal in Me’. “All good things must come to an end,” Videsäter said. “The Solence experience is one of those things”. A respectable mosh pit opened in the middle of the room during this supposedly final song. The band thanked the audience, but did not actually leave the stage as Videsäter said: “you didn’t think we were done, right?”. Of course, Solence had to end the show with ‘Who You Gonna Call? (Solence)’, the audience shouting back the band’s name every time the question was asked. As one final ABBA song began to play over the speakers, the four band members high fived and held the hands of their fans, personally thanking as many people as possible for coming out tonight.
