By Jase Walker
I did a bit of checking and I went back over my gig history and it’s been two years since I last saw Acres in this exact same venue, as support for Resolve. They’re now back again to headline this show in their own right, nice to see a bit of progress eh? Quite a tour package they’ve brought with them too, Wayside, What Lies Below and Lifespark.
Admittedly I feel like Lifespark got a bit of a raw deal on set times tonight given they’re playing 15 minutes after doors so the crowd is a bit sparse to say the least. To their credit though, they’re not letting that deter them from throwing themselves into their set which says a lot about their integrity.
They sound pretty damn solid too, a nice solid meaty sound that delivers some great poppy metalcore that reminds me of the likes of Caskets and Normandie. They clearly like leaning into the boyband vibe by covering Take That’s ‘Patience’ too: I’m totally here for it.
For a band with such an early start, they’ve got their work cut out for them to get themselves across and put the work in to warm the crowd up and it really shows that they enjoy what they do. This is exactly how you leave an impression on a crowd that’s decided to turn up early despite not knowing you.
It’s a pretty ballsy move from their singer to get a circle pit running around him as well: fully go hard or go home. You gotta act like you’re meant to be there and I think Lifespark really went above and beyond and that, uh, spark right there is exactly what you want to see.
Sadly the crowd is still a bit sparse by the time What Lies Below kicks things off, won’t lie I am a bit disappointed in the turnout for excellent bands like this. Either way things are rolling and the big riffs hit and the show is underway.
These guys err much heavier on the side of low tuned grooves and much more aggressive vocals compared to the openers. Feeling a bit closer to the likes of Silent Planet and Invent Animate with a bit of two-stepping action thrown into the mix.
This line-up definitely has a bit of nice variety while keeping in the vein of a similar-ish niche. It’s not all just grooves though, some solid uplifting choruses and tasty guitar work added in as well.
This is the sort of band that people falling on either side of hardcore or metalcore could both get into with equal measure. It’s also worth noting that they haven’t been deterred by the sparse turnout either.
The mix could be a little bit better too, the drums are pretty overwhelming and at times flatten the guitars but seems to be a pretty standard thing for American -core bands these days.
Overall though, I definitely enjoyed them despite the downsides which don’t really fall on the band anyway. They put a ton of energy into their set and I think it’ll come back to them four-fold, a name I’ll remember for future for sure.
Time to slow the vibe down a little bit with Wayside as we move from hard riffs to much more chilled shoegaze. It’s great seeing these return to the Netherlands after a bloody great show with Blanket a while back in Utrecht. I do love their live sound, it smothers you with a wall of sound that feels so warm and comforting.
Seeing shoegaze as a genre picking up such speed over the past few years has been a real treat for me as I love music that mixes heaviness with a dreamy vibe.
As much as I’d like to avoid drawing parallels to Deftones since it feels like low-hanging fruit, the influence is undeniable. Amongst the various echoes though is Placebo, a band that often doesn’t get as much recognition for their impact on the dreamy sounding alternative music scene.
It’s a shorter set than before but by no means disappointing, while they’re a bit of a shift in terms of vibe compared to the rest of the lineup I think exposure to wider audiences is pretty important. They’ve travelled so far from their home country and it’s admirable that they’re able to keep at it considering the cost.
Welcome back to the Netherlands, Wayside, hopefully I will see you again soon.
Finally it’s time for Acres to wrap up the night. I’m ready for some delicious riffy synthy metalcore! I feel like shows like this are proper tests of a band’s mettle, a sparse crowd due to competing shows can show how a band reacts. Not just that though, the crowd that’s turned up tonight is also determined to make the most of it. Yeah there’s gaps but this is just space to throw yourself about with a bit less consideration for whether you’re going to wipe someone out.
I’m happy to hear that my favourite, ‘Into Flames’, is still present in the setlist with its lovely spacey melody and big chorus. Seeing how Acres run their own headliner is fantastic though and I’ve been hoping for this for quite a while now.
While it’s a shame that the turnout tonight in Utrecht has been a bit lacking, it hasn’t stopped them putting the work in as they would do on a busier show. They’re a band that’s put in immense amounts of work over the past few years, having seen them a few times when I still lived in the ÜK I felt strongly that they were on the cusp of properly striking out on their own and tonight’s show really nails that.
I don’t doubt they’ve had a rough deal with the clash of shows in the same city but they’ve given everything they could on a mid-week show against another big show. They’ve endured it and the people that’ve made the commitment to see Acres tonight have still seen a pretty fantastic performance and I don’t doubt this’ll be the sort of show they talk about in the future.
Acres put the work in, making some great music and still put their time into giving the fans what they want come whatever may. Genuinely, kudos to Acres for hitting their set hard despite Guilt Trip drawing the turnout away. Great show and I hope the rest of their tour is fantastic.
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