Kayla and Ryan and all the Dutch People

When I went through the orientation package they gave the international students at VU University a month ago, I didn’t really expect to find any great swag amongst the pamphlets and whatnots. But I like the looks of something that says “Free Ticket,” and even moreso when I saw that one of the concerts covered by said free ticket is Lifehouse in September.

First thing is to make sure that this is the same Lifehouse whose members were once the kings of the early-2000s era MuchMusic. Turns out it was the same dudes whose “You and Me” inspired many an MSN messenger status in the pre-Facebook era, and when Amber gave her ticket to Kayla for good measure, it seemed like an infallible Tuesday night thing to do in Amsterdam.

We showed up at Melkweg—a spacious hall that was once a dairy, transformed in later years into a prime entertainment venue in the heart of the city—located near the Leidseplein, a bustling square of neon lights illuminating fast food joints and clubs. A bit of a mecca for the Amsterdam nightlife, if you will. By the time we arrived, a lineup of umbrellas stretched down the alley, and I was basically sure that I had misread the fine print somewhere along the way, and there was no way we were recreating any junior high musical moment tonight unless we ended up, forlorn-like, at a karaoke bar.

Sure enough though, the guy at the door pointed us to the box office, we swapped our free tickets for actual printed tickets for Lifehouse, and we were ushered into a concert venue resembling a warehouse—at one end the stage, along the other the bar, and the floor stretching in between. At capacity, I daresay you could squeeze a few hundred people there—as it was, the masses clumped near the front, but there was enough room to avoid feeling claustrophobic, and even the worst vantage point wasn’t bad.

The opening act was Raglans, a crew of Dublin rockers with an indie vibe. I’d call it Rogues-meets-Arkells, and they were tight. The room initially reminded me something of the Rock House in St. John’s, but Melkweg’s acoustics or sound system (or both) gave it the upper hand once the music started. You could pick out enough of the songs to actually be able to sing along before the end of the song, which is an oft-overlooked luxury at live shows.

At one point, the lead electric guitarist switched out for a mandolin, and started shredding on that little beast. This isn’t a band that just appeared out of the woodworks—their self-titled debut went to number 5 in the Irish charts when it dropped last year, and they’ve supported the likes of HAIM and the Fray before traipsing around Europe with Lifehouse.

Last night, incidentally, was the first night of the tour, so there was a palpable energy and enthusiasm on stage. What a way to kick things off—check these guys out, seriously.

By 9:00, the Lifehouse banner graced the back of the stage, our drinks were refilled, and the band hit the stage. Let’s not pretend that I would have recognized any of the dudes in the band if I ran into them out by the canal, but that post-grunge sound was pretty familiar.

I didn’t know Kayla when she was 13, but I think I got a glimpse last night. She knew every word—or at least made it look like she did. I couldn’t hear much over the din of the crowd, but she still gave the band a run for their money, the way she was singing her heart out.

Even though lead singer Jason Wade was chawing his gum during the entire set and didn’t have the oomph you’d hope for the first gig since March (and in Amsterdam to boot), the band owned the stage like the professional musicians they are. Much like the lads in Raglans, you didn’t need to know the songs to be able to enjoy the crisp performance.

Of course, some songs you did know. Like “You and Me,” the acoustic-based ballad that peaked the Billboard Top 40 back in 2005.

The entire set list looked something like this:

One For the Pain

Hurricane

Blind

Somebody Else's Song

Stardust

Whatever It Takes

Sick Cycle Carousel

Halfway Gone

You and Me

All in All

Simon

Spin

Nerve Damage

Only One

Runnaways

First Time

Broken

Encore:

Flight

Hanging by a Moment

What jams—and what a way to close out a show, with something that everyone in the house knew all the words to.

Thankfully we weren’t 13 though—we guzzled enough cheap Jupilers to get in the right mood, and were ready to end the night the right way. That’s right: gorging on greasy, gooey pizza.

All in all, I’d call it a pretty good Tuesday night. Though I probably don’t need to go into too much detail about the state of things come Wednesday morning.

Cheers,
rb