After a sold out UK leg, the American band Sleep Theory made their way to Amsterdam for their first headline show in mainland Europe. The Valentines day show had been sold out for some time, proving there were plenty of fans looking to have a good time that evening.
The night started pretty quickly after doors. Support act The Pretty Wild has their own active fanbase, all of them showing up as early as possible to get a good spot in the venue. The Las Vegas band, featuring the sisters Jyl and Jules Wylde, only started in 2022, but they’ve already gained a solid following thanks to their viral TikTok ‘mosh cough’. The crowd went absolutely crazy through the entire baddiecore set, but of course most of the pit energy was reserved for ‘sLeepwAlkeR.’ It was going to be hard for the headliners to top how enthusiastically the crowd responded to them.
The two women have very distinct vocals, with one mostly doing the angelic singing and the other taking on the demonic screams and raps, and this distinction reflects in the way they’re dressed too. The contrast works really well in their music and stage presence, and surely we’ve not heard the last of these sisters.
The previous week in the UK found the American headliners of Sleep Theory in pretty large venues, with the absolutely packed Melkweg OZ a lot more intimate. The venue didn’t offer a barricade, which gave the fans the opportunity to interact with the band members more. Vocalist Cullen Moore kept interacting with the fans packed up against the stage, even grabbing a fan’s phone for a minute or two to take a video with it. Unfortunately for the most dedicated fans, this also meant getting slightly blinded by the lights on the edge of the stage, the production design not really taking their proximity into consideration. Getting to be up close and personal with the band members probably did soften the blow for them though!
Sleep Theory has a similar trajectory to The Pretty Wild. The American band formed in 2019, with their debut album Afterglow having been released in May 2025. They’ve skyrocketed into fame in the span of the last year and a half because of the song ‘Static’ going viral on TikTok. Before the audience got to experience that massive hit live, they were spoiled with a long setlist consisting of 19 other songs.
Moore explained halfway through the set that he prefers to not yap too much, treating the fans to as many songs as possible instead. Since they’ve only released one record, they also performed a handful of covers, including songs from Boyz II Men, *NSYNC, Paramore and Taylor Swift. Moore did talk a little bit about their origins before starting Paramore’s ‘My Heart’, explaining he met bassist Paolo Vergara playing that song at an event before starting the band together. The song proved to be the perfect way to slow it down about halfway through the show, especially on Valentine’s Day. There was more romantic energy hanging in the air of the venue, with the crowd also lighting up the room with their phone flashlights at one point.
The setlist built in momentum. The night started out pretty mellow with the more R&B sounding songs, building up the tension throughout, and the band played the heavier metalcore songs later on in the evening. By the time they played Stuck In My Head, the audience was fully engaged and dancing along. Before starting their last song, Moore teasingly warned the audience about the heavy use of autotune, but no one really cared all that much, going all out one last time for the sweeping ‘Static,’ which brought the night to the perfect close.
The tour will continue through Europe for the next two weeks, ending with a show in Cologne. Most shows of the tour have completely sold out, but there’s no need to worry about missing out, as the band will return to Europe in summer for a bunch of festivals too!
