Upon arrival at De Helling on May 1st, the vibe for the sold out Wodan Boys show feels relaxed. The venue fills gradually as people linger over drinks on terraces in the city centre. Even so, the first fans gather eagerly by the doors, clearly ready for what the night has in store.
Opening the evening is Fellatio, a post avant garde krautpop disco punk trio made up of bassist Pepijn Kolsteren, singer Abel van der Heiden and drummer Fonz Gofers. The set begins with Abel standing right at the edge of the stage, staring blankly into the crowd while the band builds a funky disco punk beat behind him. The tension rises slowly before the first song truly kicks in.
The audience gently responds with light head nodding and swaying, as Abel reveals a striking and unusual stage presence: peculiar poses, unbroken eye contact and a half dressed appearance, which makes for a performance that is hard to ignore. He moves across the stage and into the crowd, fully committed to the act. So committed in fact that at first glance the audience seems stunned and a little uneased, but subsides quickly as they like the rough and unpolished sound of the band that matches the raw and open nature of the performance.
Abel switches between standing on stage and walking through the crowd as he tries to get the gravity of his words across to the audience. Apart from asking the crowd to step in a little closer to the stage there is no introduction, no song announcements, just one long musical spectacle that draws the crowd in and ends with a brief farewell, thus leaving them with a sense of affection for the fever dream that is Fellatio.
After a quick changeover it’s time for Wodan Boys. The band arrives on stage as ‘Smack That’ by Akon is playing over the speakers and loud cheers erupt. The band jumps straight into their first songs ‘Validation’ and ‘Bells’ before introducing themselves and asking if the crowd is ready to dance with them, leading straight into ‘Djokovic’.
In response people begin dancing, jumping and headbanging, with a few even attempting to start a mosh pit. The band shares their appreciation for Utrecht, calling it one of their favourite cities to play, before moving into ‘Flying Solo’. Guitarist Mikkie B Wessels tells the crowd that after a little discourse, they’ve finally decided on a name for the new song they’ll play, as it’s now called ‘Blindsided’. With ‘More Entertainment’, the first proper mosh pit takes shape, and the energy continues to rise. The crowd is fully engulfed and claps along to the intro of ‘My Oh My’. By the end of the song, Leadsinger and guitarist Thomas van der Want, whispers a “thank you” into the mic. He continues to tell the audience their first time playing in Utrecht was a few years ago on Record Store Day for about fifty people and jokes that the bigger venues are due to finally having friends.
The set is slowed down a bit with ‘Blue Blood’, offering a short breather. The song has Thomas singing with a spotlight on him as Mikkie B sits off to the side guiding him with guitar. Drummer Olivier Lucas and Bassist Timo Prins join them again on stage. They make a public announcement encouraging everyone to step forward to make space for those further back, joking that scarves that are thrown into the crowd is a reward for their cooperation. The set quickly picks up again with ‘Horiffic’ and ‘Karaoke’. Mikkie B shares an anecdote about how Golden Earring demo ‘Don’t Be Silly’ found its way into their set.
With two thirds of the set done, both band and audience are soaked in sweat, with Mikkie B even checking if the crowd has any energy left, but the crowd cheers and shows no signs of slowing down. Thomas asks if everyone is ready to let go completely, and the crowd responds with a circle pit. He thanks everyone for making the show sell out and gives a shout out to two lucky audience members who managed to get in for free, dedicating the next song to them. ‘Geezer Glam’ becomes a performance in itself, with Thomas parading the stage, dancing and singing directly to people in the front rows, while the rest of the band share playful moments.
For ‘Build The Wall’, seemingly the last song of the night, the audience is split in two for a wall of death. Their timing is a little off, but that doesn’t stop their enthusiastic participation. With Timo thanking the crowd it seems the band is ready to leave the stage, but Mikkie B asks the crowd if they want two or three more songs and as the crowd yells three he jokes “so five?!”
The show gets led into an impromptu encore with the crowd clapping along to ‘Thunderglove’ and the band speeds through ‘Attack Defend’. They rile up the crowd to scream their band name and additionally their final song ‘Wodan Boys’, as they coax one more wall of death from the crowd, that Mikkie B joins. As the outro track plays, each band member gets a moment in the spotlight before they wave goodbye and leave the stage, bringing an energetic and lively evening to a close.
