On Monday, November 4th, Self Deception struck down at De Helling in Utrecht. It is just the beginning of the ‘Destroy The Art’ tour, which has a few more dates in November, four dates in December and four more in February 2025. They are supported by Eyes Wide Open and TheCityIsOurs. Unfortunately for us, and the band, TheCityIsOurs’ van broke down on the way to Utrecht, making them unable to make it to the venue to perform.
An hour after doors opened, it was time for Eyes Wide Open, who suddenly got the opening slot of the night. They had two fog machines lining the front of the stage, which they were not afraid to use. A few people in the crowd knew the band and were happily singing along. From ‘End Of Days’ to ‘Watch You Bleed’, the crowd was participating wherever they could, clapping and headbanging along. They ended their set with ‘Cross My Heart’. The band had a great energy on stage, doing everything they could to get the crowd warmed up for the headlining band.
Before Self Deception made their way to the stage, ‘Europapa’ by Joost blasted through the speakers, getting the whole venue to sing along. A robotic voice was heard, introducing the night we were about to witness. The band consists of vocalist Andreas Olsson, drummer Erik Eklund, guitarist Ronny Westphal, and bassist Patrik ‘Hagge’ Hallgren. They started their set with ‘Blood & Scars’, immediately getting the crowd to sing along.
While you might not expect the colour pink with music like theirs, it was prominent everywhere you looked. With Hagge being completely dressed in pink, feather boa included, Ronny his pink guitar strap and Andreas with pink lines on his microphone. Of course you could also get yourself some pink merch.
Their set was split into five parts, with the band walking off between each one and the robotic voice taking over again. Andreas asked the crowd to say “Hi Andreas” after everything he said in that moment, which he practised a few times before saying “Hi, I’m Andreas and I’m an alcoholic” to which the crowd replied with “Hi Andreas”. They then started playing ‘Intoxicated Haze’.
While the crowd kept peacefully headbanging along, the mosh pits really started going to ’Hysteria’. Afterwards, they kept on going for most of the songs, with Hagge even jumping in and getting everyone to run around him at one point.
After ‘Holy Water’ the band walked off the stage again and a guy with a mask and light up glasses started sweeping the stage, acting like the night was over. He rallied up the crowd to start chanting “We want more!”, which resulted in the band coming back for three more songs.
The last two songs of the night, ‘Smoke You Out’ and ‘Fight Fire With Gasoline’, got the energy through the roof and resulted in the biggest mosh pits of the night. The second their last song ended, ‘Baby Shark’ blasted through the speakers, turning the venue into a little dance party one last time.
