Last year, Lithuanian alternative rock band Katarsis took part in the Eurovision song contest in Basel. Despite placing ‘only’ sixteenth in the final and singing exclusively in Lithuanian, the band has gained a huge amount of fans throughout the entirety of Europe. Back in November, the band went on their first-ever European tour in response to fan demand to play outside their home country. On the third of March, the band returned to Amsterdam, the Netherlands, for a second sold-out show in the city, this time in Melkweg’s Oude Zaal.
Doors to the venue opened at 19:30, and the queue was substantial, with fans rushing into the room as soon as they could to get the best spot. The room quickly filled to the brim, the anticipation building up until the intro track of the band’s debut album, Žiedlapis tau, started playing over the speakers at 20:30. One by one, the three members of Katarsis took to the stage – lead vocalist and guitarist Lukas Radzevičius, guitarist Alanas Brasas, and drummer Jokūbas Andriulis. They opened the show right away with ‘Dega’ and ‘Niekas’, with Andriulis motioning with his drumsticks for the crowd to clap along during the latter. As soon as the song was over, Radzevičius took the time to address the fans. “It’s crazy, there are so many of you here,” he said before thanking everyone for coming. Throughout the night, the band would play a combination of older singles and the entirety of their debut album. While they’ve played songs such as ‘Surasiu’ and ‘Malda’ at the album release event in Lithuania, it was the first time playing these new tracks elsewhere, as this was the tour’s opening night.
Before playing ‘Laikei tu mane’, Radzevičius asked the crowd if they had “energy to dance?”. In response to the loud cheers, he said: “let’s try that then!”. Not only did the crowd dance, but they also clapped along to the hypnotizing beat. “That was intense,” Brasas said afterwards, referring not only to the previous song but also to having to play with a broken pinky finger. Many fans had already noticed that it was a cast, and he explained that he had broken it while playing dodgeball – ouch! He didn’t let this stop him, however, as the band continued with the energetic ‘Kada’. Fortunately, there were also some moments during which both Brasas and his band members and the audience could take a breather. An example of this was the song ‘Nebepaleidžia’. “Can we get it dark now?” Radzevičius asked beforehand, and the stage lights dimmed to create a haunting atmosphere as the singer sang the ballad.
In the middle of ‘Praradau tave’, Radzevičius passed the microphone to drummer Andriulis, so that he could address the crowd as well – and he did so in Dutch! “Goedenavond, hoe gaat het? Dit is ons tweede concert in Amsterdam,” he said to very loud cheers, despite half the crowd probably not even understanding it, as there were many internationals in the Melkweg. Katarsis’ fans had come from far to get to this show, with one fan holding up a sign saying that she’d travelled over 1500 km. As soon as the last notes to ‘Praradau tave’ sounded, Radzevičius stated that he didn’t know what to say, as he was feeling “lots of emotions”, to which a fan responded, “just sing!”. This made the singer laugh before the band continued with ‘Likę tik randai’ and ‘Ji netrika’. For the rest of the set, song after song was played, ending with the amazing run of their Eurovision song ‘Tavo akys’, followed by the cover ‘Balta meilė’, and finally, the new track ‘Neleisk man’. Katarsis took their bows before leaving the stage. Of course, the chants for “one more song” started right away, and the audience was treated to a second, even more enthusiastic rendition of ‘Tavo akys’, with the audience ‘Tavo’ing’ harder than ever before.
Surely, this was an opening night that both the band and the fans would never be able to forget. The setlist was amazing, the energy was through the roof, and Radzevičius’ vocals were impeccable. Hopefully, a third Amsterdam show will happen in the near future, because the fans surely showed that this city knows how to bring the party.
