At the start of the year, American singer-songwriter Madison Beer released her third studio album, locket, which includes the major hits ‘yes baby’ and ‘make you mine’. This May, she embarked on a world tour in support of this album, making a stop at Amsterdam’s Ziggo Dome on the 21st. Her fans all dressed up for this special night, the crowd an array of whites, blues, and browns, with multiple people adorned with angel wings and wearing heart-shaped lockets around their necks.
Opening tonight’s show was Lulu Simon, an American singer-songwriter and the daughter of Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkel. She was joined on stage by guitarist Jacob Brown, and together, they began the set with ‘Misty’. “I hope you like [my songs],” Simon stated afterwards. “And if you don’t, lie.” This led to some chuckles from the audience before she said that she wrote the next song, ‘Summer Dog’, about her deceased dog. The chuckles turned into “aws” as the singer sang this emotional track. Of course, the goal of an opener is to hype up the crowd for the main act. Simon decided to do this by playing a cover of One Direction’s ‘Night Changes’, which got most people in the audience singing along. Afterwards, she only had two more songs left to play. First was the friendship break-up song ‘Happy Again’, which she wrote about finally being able to look at a picture of her ex-best friend again without it breaking her heart. Last, but not least, Simon sang the more upbeat ‘Not Crying Anymore’ before leaving the stage.
The night’s second support act was Isabel LaRosa, a Cuban-American singer-songwriter who sold out her own headline show in Melkweg last November. A review of that show can be found here. Just like back then, she opened her set tonight with ‘older’, followed by ‘Pretty Boy’. Joining her on stage were her brother, Thomas LaRosa, on guitar, and Rhys Hastings on the drums. After ‘muse’, LaRosa quickly left the change for an outfit change that she might have been supposed to do on stage, but was struggling with. As soon as she came back, she played her newest single, ‘Hallucination’. During this song, her vocals really got the chance to shine, and loud applause sounded through the audience. She continued the set with a few more songs, including ‘My Girl’ and ‘Home’, before taking the time to address the crowd. She told them how she’d been a fan of Madison Beer for a really long time and felt grateful to be on the stage opening for her tonight. “Did you guys come here to have fun tonight?” she then asked, before moving on to the song ‘Every Life’. Throughout the entire set, which included a total of eleven songs, LaRosa moved around the stage effortlessly, showing off her impressive dancing skills. She closed her set with her viral single ‘i’m yours’, which a lot of people in attendance were familiar with.
Finally, a few minutes past nine in the evening, the introductory video to Madison Beer’s set began playing on the curtain hiding the stage. A white themepark was visible as Beer’s voice played over the speakers: “I call this place the tunnel of love. It twists and turns, and if you’re not careful, you’ll forget which way you came in”. As music began to play, the curtains fell and exposed the stage, which was filled with white stairs, balconies, and a heart-shaped curtain below the right balcony. Beer was on stage with several dancers, who would be joining her throughout most of the songs played this evening. The singer was wearing an adorable light blue dress. She opened her set energetically with ‘yes baby’, followed by ‘15 MINUTES’ and ‘BOYSHIT’. “This is literally a dream come true,” she said afterwards, “Welcome to the locker tour!” She finished the first act of this evening with ‘Home to Another One’ and ‘bad enough’ before leaving the stage.
Another video was displayed, this time on the LED screen at the back of the stage, showing Beer painting the themepark blue. As soon as the singer made it back on stage, she had changed into a white bodysuit with a flowy skirt attached to it to create a longer dress. The second act of the evening began with ‘Reckless’, with the crowd enthusiastically shouting out the iconic lyrics “I hope you both go to hell”, followed by the extended version of the ‘locket theme’. For the first time tonight, she then addressed the crowd by telling them that her last Amsterdam show had been her biggest show so far, and that tonight was yet again her biggest show to date. She assumed she’d feel nervous, but she didn’t at all, thanks to her lovely fans. “You make everything better,” she said, explaining how she feels like she knows everyone in this room. The first few days of the tour had been hard, but the crowds really had a positive effect on her mental health. She continued the set with the fitting song ‘somehow i got lucky’, the audience lighting up the room with their flashlights. The room lit up with flashlights again, two songs later, as Beer played ‘Envy the Leaves’ at the front of the catwalk that extended the stage.
Some more iconic moments happened during ‘nothing at all’, with Beer ‘disappearing’ in the fog and darkness after the lyric “and soon, you’re left with nothing at all”, and during ‘Dear Society’. The latter includes the lyric “I lost my phone in Amsterdam at 5 AM”, which obviously had to be screamed by the crowd in this city. It was then time for the night’s surprise song, as Beer revealed a heart-shaped box that included three options: ‘Tyler Durden’, ‘Homesick’, and ‘King of Everything’. A fan in the audience got to pick one of the three, and they chose ‘Homesick’. A great choice, as evidenced by the loud cheers. Beer finished this act with three more songs – ‘Spinnin’, ‘Selfish’, and ‘you’re still everything’ – before going through the heart-shaped curtain for one more outfit change.
For the final act of the night, Beer walked back on stage in a pink bodysuit decorated with rhinestones, continuing the show with ‘Baby’ and ‘angel wings’. She disappeared through the curtain once more, only to reappear on top of it for ‘for the night’, performing choreography as if she was lying on a bed. This song was followed by ‘complexity’ before it was time for the last few songs of the night. For ‘lovergirl’, Beer made it down to the barricade to interact with her fans, singing to them, hugging them, and occasionally signing things. Back on stage, the singer ended tonight’s show with ‘make you mine’ and ‘Bittersweet’. The confetti canons went off as she made it to the front of the catwalk for the last time tonight, showering Beer and her fans in little white hearts. “Amsterdam, I love you so much!” Beer stated before leaving the stage for the final time tonight.
Written by: Mandy Huibregtsen
Edited by: Sabine de Graaf
