Australian metalcore band The Amity Affliction performed in Melkweg in Amsterdam on the 9th of December as part of the EU/UK leg of their ‘Not Without My Ghosts Tour’. They did not bring just one, not two, but three support acts with them: Mugshot from the United States, fellow Australian band Alpha Wolf, and the Canadian band Comeback Kid.
While the doors opened right on time at 18:00, Mugshot started their set slightly later than planned – approximately ten minutes. The hall was steadily filled with the still incoming crowd as soon as the band took to the stage. They immediately got the people moving, opening the moshpit only a few minutes into their set. Lead singer Ringo Waterman made sure to use the time to shoot out the EP the band has recently released, entitled Cold Will, in between singing their songs. Backing vocals and interludes were provided by guitarist Michael Demko, adding some extra dynamics to the otherwise relatively simple set. Due to the amount of instruments and technical devices on stage, movement was limited. Only Waterman was able to really move around from the left to the right side of the stage, making use of the slightly raised platform at the front. Despite this, and while it was the band’s first time in The Netherlands – in Europe even – they managed to warm the crowd on the floor up for the next three acts, causing quite some moshing. The audience on the balcony seemed slightly less excited, as they did not respond when Waterman asked them how they were doing, but this was definitely a wakeup call for these audience members – it only got more fun from that moment onwards. At the end of the band’s – seemingly shortened – set of twenty minutes (rather than the planned thirty), they encouraged everyone to meet them at the merch table in a few minutes.
After an interesting playlist featuring Olivia Rodrigo amongst other non-metal musicians, the second act of the night, metalcore band Alpha Wolf from Melbourne, Australia, started their set right on time at 19:20. There were definitely several fans of theirs in the crowd and the energy was great amongst both the band and their audience. The music boxes on top of the platform had been removed, leading to the band having way more space to move around and using this to their advantage. At one point, guitarist Sabin Lynch even gave his guitar to one of the attendees up front to hold while he adjusted some stuff for the next song. This made for an iconic moment, especially when lead singer Lochie Keogh only asked for it back several moments later – right before telling the crowd to split the hall right down the middle. Time for the first – and only – wall of death of the night. The interaction between band and audience was lovely to see – the mosh pits from Mugshot had majorly evolved into a spectacle, and after Keogh asked people to go sit on someone else’s shoulders, the crowd surfing started as well. Especially the band’s track ‘60cm of Steel’ led to major cheers amongst the fans. The band led their set to a wholesome ending by making the crowd form little hearts with their hands and waving along to the music.
After another twenty minute wait, the third and final support act, Comeback Kid, took to the stage, entering after the introductory song ‘In the Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins faded away. The Canadian band is known for their hardcore punk anthems that they have been making for over 20 years. They referred to the fact that their music is not as heavy as that of the other acts by joking about bringing their ‘emo shit’ to this metal show. Nonetheless, there were lots of people in the crowd who had come out to see them and cheered loudly upon their entrance. The full 45 minutes of their set the audience spent moshing and trying to get as close to singer Andrew Neufeld as possible every time he came down to the barricade to sing with the fans. They got everyone to sing along to their track ‘Wasted Arrows’ near the end. During the final song, ‘Wake the Dead’, Neufeld jumped into the crowd to surf on top of the energetic fans.
After several hours of live and recorded music, from hardcore to punk to pop rock playing over the venue’s speakers, it was time for the night’s main act: The Amity Affliction. The curtains that had been hiding part of their set-up for the previous few bands were removed to reveal a set of led screens in front of a raised platform near the back of the stage, on which drummer Joe Longobardi was seated with his drum kit. Guitarist Dan Brown also walked to the top of this platform, but came down several times throughout the set to provide backing vocals where necessary. Lead vocalists Joel Birch and Ahren Stringer stationed themselves on the stage in front of the platform to open with ‘Death’s Hand’. The crowd got up immediately to scream along to the lyrics and move around to the heavy instrumentals. The band itself did not stand still themselves either, with Stringer using the small platform at the front to jump around.
While vocalist Birch spends most of his time with his mic in his head, making use of the stage as much as possible now that the ‘downstairs’ drum kit from the previous acts is out of the way, he occasionally makes use of a stand to sing songs such as ‘Drag the Lake’. During other songs, Birch goes upstairs or to the side so that Stringer can take centre stage. He shines especially during ‘Not Without My Ghost’ (originally a duet with the artist phem), but also during ‘All Fucked Up’ where he sings most of the song. The crowd makes use of these slower songs to crowd surf all the way to the front of the venue, riding the waves of people up and down.
Neither Birch nor Stringer spend a lot of time in between songs to speak to the audience, but rather move easily from song to song. However, they do request the audience to sing together during ‘Pittsburgh’ – and they do so beautifully. The Amity Affliction is known for their dark yet meaningful lyricism that many of their fans can relate to, and during moments like this, that was especially noticeable. After two more songs, the band went off and back on the stage to do the encore: ‘Soak Me in Bleach’. This made for another sing-along moment, with the crowd singing the song’s first verse all alone as loud as possible before Stringer and Birch joined in.
Overall, the almost 1500 people in attendance were treated to a night full of mosh pits, crowdsurfing, jumping, singing, and screaming. Such a strong line up of acts will not soon be forgotten by their audience.
