Even though the band has existed for over 10 years, Philadelphia-based Grayscale finally made their way to Europe for their first ever headline tour ‘Live In Colour’, in celebration of their January release The Hart. On November 13th they made their way to play an intimate show in Antwerp’s Kavka Oudaan.
The show tonight starts relatively early at 7:40pm with support act Spare Kid. The band from Antwerp joins Grayscale on three of the dates of this European run, joining them in Haarlem and Paris as well. Since Thursday’s show was on their own turf, they’re looking and sounding very at ease here. It’s a shame the early start means not a lot of people are there to see the pop-punk band, because they sonically fit so well with the headlining band. Spare Kid’s vocalist Quinten Pas talks to the crowd in between songs, praising Grayscale and hyping up the fans for the upcoming set of theirs. The 10 song setlist features two new songs for their upcoming record. Both of the songs are about heartbreak, the first a more melancholic vibe and the second going into the angry stage that comes with it.
The crowd is thoroughly warmed up on this cold November night after the energetic support set, and getting exceedingly giddy with anticipation for the main set to start. A little after 8:30pm Grayscale made their way to the very low stage, which made the show feel all the more intimate and close. The show starts strong, building suspense with the intro track to ‘The Hart’, leading into ‘Kept Me Alive’, a very anthemic song immediately setting the mood and bringing good vibes to this Thursday night.
Every next song brings a new wave of energy to the show, with the sit down/jump moment during ‘In Violet’ as one of the ways to keep the audience engaged and loosening up more and more. Lead singer Collin Walsh endlessly jumps around the stage, but leaving room for the others to shine in their own right, with guitar solos from lead guitarist Andrew Kyne, especially shredding it during ‘Dirty Bombs’. Even though drummer Nick Veno is (obviously) stationary, he’s using every bit of fire in his body, making his mark from the back of the stage.
The first half of the set goes by in rapid succession, giving the fans pure unadulterated rock and roll, Grayscale not wasting any second to play as many songs as possible. About halfway through the show, there’s a moment to slow down during the acoustic ‘Forever Young’, with just Walsh and guitarist Dallas Molster left on stage. By the end of the song, all the flashlights in the crowd come up, spotting some couples romantically slow-dancing to it as well.
Since it’s their first ever European headline, they’re playing a mix of the newer songs and some of the popular older ones. The setlist even featured a ‘deep cut’ with ‘Palette’ off their first full-length What We’re Missing, which was very rarely played live by the band before, and fan-favorite ‘Atlantic’.
There’s very few bands that know how to captivate an audience the way Grayscale manages to do. It’s one of the bands that you simply have to see live to fully be immersed, their music truly thriving on a stage. Anyone seeing them for the first time gets completely enamored by the Philly men, leaving every fan wanting more, even though they already gave us a pretty extensive 17 song setlist. And even with so many songs, the night went by surprisingly fast. Everything about this set and their music just feels so relatable and heartfelt, which is due to the palpable bond between the members as well. At the very end of ‘Not Afraid To Die’, the last song of the night, the entire band huddles around Veno on drums, which is a fitting culmination of the show.
Over the course of the next week, Grayscale makes its way across the UK, starting in Birmingham on November 17th and ending in London on November 27th. Tickets for most of these shows are running low, but are still available through https://www.grayscalepa.com/tour. Don’t miss out on your next favorite band!
