By Jase Walker
Tonight’s show over at De Helling in Utrecht is a prime example of my mantra of never missing a support act for any show I ever go to. I first came across Joywave as supports to PVRIS in Manchester’s Gorilla back in 2019 and ended up absolutely rinsing their back catalogue for months afterwards. Support your support acts folks, you never know when one may end up a firm favourite and with any luck, you’ll see them stomping around on their own headlining shows further down the line.
Joywave return to this side of the Atlantic, a new album under their belts and a zip around the ÜK and Europe, culminating at the penultimate date here in Utrecht. Supports being Quarters Of Change who’ve been with them for this jaunt over the past month or so. It may be cold outside, but it’s always warm in a bouncing music venue, so let’s have it.
Quarters Of Change opt to walk on with strong flood lights painting them as silhouettes from behind. These are just a real good old slice of American indie rock, some small inflections of that Midwest emo vibe in there but generally easy listening and a pretty chill vibe. They’re quite playful with use of reverb to create a kind of radio-esque live sound. Quite pleasing to have a pretty solid bass guitar pounding away in the background that I can feel bouncing around in my chest while the main guitars occupy a much higher space in the overall mix.
Admittedly the one member that really stands out to me in this band though is the drummer, they are playing some really damn tasty grooves that add some fantastic colour and flavour to the music. Don’t get me wrong I’m really enjoying this sort of flowy, fun music otherwise but this is a serious case of the drummer standing out to me above the rest because holy shit, this guy can groove.
These lads have put on a good show to get tonight started, it’s been great watching them. Their guitar players bounce off each other quite well and it’s obvious they enjoy working with each other. I was a bit amused when they said “thank you Haarlem” when they’re in Utrecht, but as far as gaffes go, it’s pretty minor. Safe trip home to New York City lads!
The backing floodlights reappear while a monologue plays over the speakers prior to Joywave taking the stage. The moment that first note hits, I get a feel for the sound they’re rolling with and the bass shakes my chest and the atmospheric reverb saturated guitars give me shivers. This is what is truly fantastic when you go from seeing a band as support to their own headline show, the sort of personal mark you can put on it is what solidifies a bands identity to me.
Opening with ‘Graffiti Planet’ before bouncing along to ‘Scared’, the mood is clearly elated in this room and people are here to sing and dance along to some groovy funky stuff courtesy of Joywave. What a fantastic mix they’ve got for this show as well, strong but not overpowering, exceptionally clear, bass is strong enough to bounce around in your chest cavity, guitars and keys nicely balanced and all underpinned by some groovy drumwork.
This sort of mash up of synthpop, funk, indie rock and a bit of playful tongue in cheek lyrics mixed in with some starkly aggressive bits is what really drew me to Joywave the first time and getting to see these again after a fairly extended time. ‘Sleepytime Fantasy’ definitely shows how well the new album has landed with people as the response of people singing and dancing along is extremely evident as I look around. ‘He’s Back!’ Should be pretty clear who it’s about but of course poetic license is used to make it at least slightly ambiguous despite the clearly direct satirization of a particularly notable ÜS political figure. Honestly I feel like I’ve blinked and an hour has shot past before I even realized it. We come to the final drive of four songs remaining and along with some other bands recently, see encores as a pointless stylistic choice. Well, there was an encore kind of, ‘Destruction’, again? Brave move but the crowd seems to jam with it anyway!
Being able to see these again after so many years has been a real…joy, hah, geddit? I’ll get my coat.
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