On September 3rd the first stop of Davina Michelle’s European & United Kingdom ‘Afterparty Tour’ took place at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, the Netherlands.
But before an afterparty starts, there needs to be an actual party, right? Well, say no more, because DJ Joyliana understood the assignment by turning Poppodium 013 into one giant club, getting everyone to dance and bring back childhood memories by playing a wide range of songs by the Spice Girls and ABBA, as well as Roxy Dekker, a well-known artist among the youth in the Netherlands, and Natasha Bedingfield’s ‘Unwritten’. Joyliana perfectly knew how to unite all the generations through music.
After DJ Joyliana, the DJ booth made room for the living room of Davina Michelle. A couch on the left, balloons in the air, champagne bottles, spilled wine and confetti on the wooden floor, wallpaper with pink flowers, vintage lamps, some of them knocked over on the floor and a mirror with “Welcome to the afterparty pt. 1 xxx Davina <3” written on it with red lipstick made it look like the party had been going on for the entire night.
Michelle Davina Hoogendoorn, alias Davina Michelle, entered the stage in a beautiful pink tulle skirt combined with a shorter dress and Heels covered in butterflies, referring to her tattoo, which she shares with her grandma Davina and which was also the inspiration for the logo of the band. Kicking off the night with ‘Pinky Swear ’, a song about reuniting with your long-lost best friend from her newest album AFTERPART1, which is the first part of her double album, the crowd at 013 showed they were ready to party. Singing along to every single word, celebrating Davina and the messages she spreads. Spreading important messages with the world is one of the things you can find in songs like ‘What A Woman’, a song about the celebration of women and their strengths, as well as the fight for equal rights. By asking the crowd to put two hands in the air if you’re a woman or if you support strong women, 013 filled the air with a few thousand hands supporting everything that ‘What A Woman’ is about.
After the fans united by celebrating women, she took a moment to welcome the fans and encourage everyone to sing along to every song they know, as well as adding a fun little extra to the afterparty by throwing four party poppers into the crowd. The Goal of these party poppers? Allowing four lucky fans to pop them whenever they felt like it was an extra moment to celebrate something with some extra confetti during the concert, before continuing with ‘Hoe Het Danst ’, another well-known song by the Dutch audience, and ‘I Love Me More ’, a song about self-worth.
Introducing the newest member of the band, Carlota, Davina explained that there was only one song she really had to be able to play if she wanted to become a part of team Davina Michelle, referring to ‘Duurt Te Lang’ an original dutch song by Glen Faria which she covered in a Dutch tv program called ‘Beste zangers’ causing her big breakthrough in The Netherlands in 2018. To this day, ‘Duurt Te Lang’ is a song that even gets dragged-to-the-concert significant others or parents to scream along from the top of their lungs.
Most of the songs she played so far were older songs, which she later explained were filled with memories for the fans, the band, and Davina herself. Another song special to Davina was the surprise song she picked for that evening, the song that started it all and made her realize she needed to quit her job and completely focus on music: ‘What About Us’ by P!NK. She uploaded a cover of this on YouTube way back in 2017, with Noah Seelmann on the piano, which was also her breakthrough internationally after P!NK herself reacted to her cover in a video by Glamour.
The ‘Afterparty Tour ‘ focuses on AFTERPART1 and the celebrations of the things we often don’t celebrate. Every single song of this album was played, and even when the album was just one week old, the fans knew every single word to it. They were probably the loudest during ‘Round I Go ’, which was written about the never ending circle of making promises to yourself for a better life but continuously failing to keep these promises because the things you promised were unrealistic. Another clear favourite was ‘I Can’t Even Hate You Anymore’. Davina explained that she wrote this about how someone can bring you so much anger, causing you to only be close with this person because of the anger you feel for them, realizing the only way to let go of them is to let go of the anger, even when you actually hope that person will realize what they have done to you.
Though most songs of AFTERPART1 have quite a deep meaning, ‘My Oh My’ shows the more fun side of the album. The song talks about not always making the best decisions, but having fun with the direction they’re taking you in. While the song started with Davina on the couch, the outro changed into a small dance break with guitarist Wesley Nuis and the important message that these kinds of choices can only happen if both people give consent, causing the perfect opening for ‘I SAID NO SIR,’ where everyone was clear about one thing: no means no.
During the show, more songs from her debut album, My Own World, and Higher, had been put on the setlist. They were combined with lots of dancing and jumping on couches. Throughout the show, parts of Davina’s outfit slowly disappeared, causing there to be a little change in her attire every few songs. Wesley and Carlota also got their moments to shine by performing several powerful guitar breaks. However, the main takeaway of the night was the one thing no one can deny: Davina’s vocals, which never failed to deliver. The singer inspired awe in those in attendance. Her talent clearly shows she deserves a spot in the international music industry with her music and this tour.
Davina ended the night with ‘Still Champagne’, a song she wrote on the day she received the news that a loved one was diagnosed with cancer and was given a short amount of time to live. A song that focuses on the beautiful moments in life as well as the dear memories that shaped her into the person she is today. Everyone in 013 raised their glass to celebrate life, and the message Davina and her band will continue to spread over Europe and the United Kingdom: “Life is beautiful, and the fact that we can live the way we do is something very special which needs to be celebrated”.
