By Jase Walker
It’s the final day of November but things aren’t slowing down just yet as I get myself along to Melkweg in Amsterdam for Japanese metalcore outfit, COLDRAIN! I’ve been kicking myself about missing these at Download festival a few years back but it’s better late than never I guess, especially with a headline show.
We’re roughly at the halfway point of the tour and with Revnoir and Noisemaker as supports for the journey, Melkweg’s OZ stage is going to be bouncing tonight. It’s also looking like a sold out show as well so this should be a solid evening for the bands to remember too! The stage itself before the bands even get on there looks pretty packed with equipment already so I would guess that Noisemaker will need to be a bit careful of where they’re standing during their set!
There’s some really loud people down the front that are clearly super happy for Noisemaker, which is great to see and uh, hear right from the start. I’m actually mad impressed how they managed to get the entire crowd jumping from the first song as the opener too! This is actually bonkers, everyone is fully into this from the first song and even the singer dives into the audience to get people bouncing.
This is absolutely incredible work from the very first moments of the show, I don’t think I’ve ever seen an opener and audience act like this so quickly! Chants, clapping, jumping around, it’s all kicking off in a way that you would expect an already warmed up crowd seeing the headliner would be! The band themselves seem almost surprised by how much of a reaction they’re getting too with the singer often taking a moment to look around before cracking a wry smile and continuing onto the next thing.
Every now and then I’ll see a band that absolutely oozes the sort of vibe that they’ve just got “it”, a sort of spark that indicates they’re going to be massive and Noisemaker have it. I genuinely cannot think of a single opener act I’ve seen before that have kicked off a show in this way and had a crowd going so wild for them so quickly. As we near the end of the set, some people down the front hand the singer a Dutch flag with the bands logo printed on it and what looks like small messages written on it also. What an absolutely fucking spectacular start to the evening, Noisemaker are absolutely bloody fantastic.
A pretty speedy changeover and it’s time for Revnoir, a band I have heard a lot about and it’s time for my first run in with their live show finally! Something about their live look comes across as the French response to Dayseeker.
The crowd is still fully intent on joining in with any interaction and happily gets stuck into Revnoir without skipping a beat. I do wish the guitars were a bit louder though as they’re competing a bit with the drums for volume. They’re not wasting any time with demanding a wall of death which the room responds to with zero hesitation as a void appears in the middle only to converge shortly after. They’re certainly keen on getting more of this action, as shortly after another one follows with an even wider put opening up.
Revnoir themselves on stage are effortlessly cool, every member looking super sharp as they belt out massive songs one after another. I’m glad I finally get to see these live as well as I’ve had a passing interest in them for a while as it’s impossible not to when the RADAR festival community buzzes about them a lot so I wouldn’t be surprised to see them there next year. The solid mix of poppy vocals, Loathe adjacent riffs and backing synths that remind me a lot of Dayseeker and Imminence is exactly where my comfort zone is right now. I feel like I’ve done myself a disservice by not really digging into their music prior to the show but I’ve got no bloody excuse now I think!
Another great set for tonight’s show and I think Revnoir are going to see some great returns being on a tour like this, now to go pester RADAR Festival to book them for 2026.
As COLDRAIN steps up to take the stage I find that I’m standing directly in the way of a massive strong stage lamp and get fully blinded as if I’ve just looked directly at the sun, ow. The moment they get on stage the room erupts into screams and cheers, it’s go time and the crowd follows on with singing the chorus at an absolutely deafening level, incredible!
The energy of the crowd is once again absolutely unbelievable, the band themselves barely have to provoke them to do anything because they’re already clapping along, singing the words and generally going nuts. Their singer apologizes for being super sick and even fully offers refunds if people aren’t happy with the show which is very nice but holy shit, how he can even get on stage is amazing. To his credit, he might be sick but he still sounds bloody great? Anyway, on with the show!
Similar to my amusement at HANABIE a short while ago, there’s clearly a few people in the crowd that didn’t expect moshpits at their Japanese band show, so uh, sorry, it’s a metal show so join in or move. Crowd surfers, ever intensifying pitting in the middle that grows larger by the minute.
Their singer is clearly struggling a bit with the high vocal passages but the other members of the band are doing what they can to help out and fill in which is fantastic to see. I’m genuinely in awe of how hard he’s pushing through to still make this show happen. Another void opens up and this time the drop goes so hard that the ensuing crush causes a wave through the audience that surges straight through to the far side of the room, drawing more people into it. I’ve really picked a hell of a spot because I keep getting flashbanged by their incredibly powerful flood lighting and I can barely see the band sometimes because they’ve got a bunch of portable suns on stage with two of them aimed almost directly at my face.
For what it’s worth the crowd clearly doesn’t give a shit that his vocals aren’t quite on point due to being sick, this entire audience is jumping around in unison from the front quite literally to the bar and doors at the back. Admittedly I might have been waiting for ‘Mayday’ the whole set and by the looks of the massive pit that’s kicked off I guess everyone else was too!
As we hit the end of the main set their singer talks through how he’s feeling a bit more and apologizes again for the state of his voice and how the crowd has really surprised him tonight with how actively everyone has been singing the words when he couldn’t. It’s been quite a ride through this show and the band has truly dug deep and put everything on the line to make sure this show has still happened and I cannot overstate just how much the audience has appreciated and done everything they can to be as much of a part of the show as the band.
For the encore they’ve apologized for only being able to do the one song which is already incredible in its own right. I have no idea how he has the grit and determination to pull through this when I can barely summon the strength to get out of bed whenever I’m sick. To have still done the show in this state, still been so keen on talking to the audience and singing as much as he can is an unfathomable level of determination. They promise that they’ll be back with a bigger show for Amsterdam and anyone with a ticket still will get in for free on the next show as a way of saying thanks for tonight.
COLDRAIN you have truly been fantastic, you may not think so yourselves but if you’re reading this, you absolutely killed it and I wouldn’t miss another show for anything. I have no idea how you managed it but you did and you did yourselves proud, I hope you recover soon.
- Photos courtsey of COLDRAIN/@yamada_mphoto
- All written content © Über Röck 2025.