On Sunday, November 26th, it was time for Of Mice & Men to rock the stage of a sold out Melkweg in Amsterdam. They did not just bring one, but two support acts with them, those being Defects and Caskets from the UK. It’s been four years since the band last played here, so the fans were eager to get the chance to watch them again.
The doors opened a bit later than planned, due to the venue having another show on the same night. Defects started their set twenty minutes later, but they were ready to give a kick ass show. They encouraged everyone to meet them at the merch table after their show. Their latest single ‘Broken Bloodlines’ goes out to everyone who had people pull them down in life. This is also where the first little mosh pit of the night started. For their last song the band wanted to see the room spin with a circle pit, everyone who was not in the pit needed to put their first up in the air.
The changeover playlist was very non-metal, but got everyone hyped. From the Vengaboys ‘We Like To Party’ to Haddaway’s ‘What Is Love’. Next up on stage was Caskets. “If anyone came to dance, this is your song” singer Matt said before starting the song ‘More Than Misery’. For this song, guitarist Craig put away his guitar and did the vocals together with Matt. The band was very grateful to be on this tour and thanked Of Mice & Men and their crew. The crowd clapped along happily and sang their hearts out for ‘Lost In Echoes’. They ended their set with their biggest song ‘Glass Heart’.
Kicking off their set with two older songs, ‘Bones Exposed’ and ‘Would You Still Be There’, Of Mice & Men set the tone for the night. The moshing started right away and barely calmed down through the evening. “Amsterdam you are incredible and your voices sound amazing!” singer Aaron Pauley shouted out. After the two older songs, it was time for ‘Castaway’ from their latest record ‘Tether’. The setlist ranged from songs released in 2012 all the way to their latest record released in 2023, which was a nice mix for long-term fans.
“You want to hear some heavy shit? Some bang your head shit?” is how the song ‘Warpaint’ was introduced. This is also where the first crowd surfer of the night came up. During ‘Earth & Sky’ a shoe was held up in the middle of the crowd, which someone lost during one of the many mosh pits. It gained the attention from the band and they paused the song to find the owner of the shoe. Guitarist Phil Manansala gestured to throw the shoe to him and so they did. Once the shoe was on stage, they continued the song where they left it. Afterwards the owner of the shoe was found. The set ended with ‘Second & Sebring’ where the crowd sang along as loud as they could.
Let’s hope they will not make us wait four years again, because we would like to experience a show as great as this a lot more.
