By Jase Walker
Welcome back, it’s 2026 and literally nothing about my attitude to traveling to the other end of the country for a show has changed one bit. Tonight I’m back in Eindhoven at Dynamo for arguably one of the most stacked lineups for my particular palette I’ve seen in quite a while! Resolve are out on a headline tour again with quite the undercard of Windwaker (making their European debut), Ashen and Tropic Gold. Each band brings their own style of pop tinged metalcore and I couldn’t think of a better way to use an evening to spice up dreary January.
First up tonight is Tropic Gold whom I’ve had the pleasure of seeing pretty often over the past year and I wouldn’t pass off another chance with this big energy three-piece. I do wonder if the drummer will be doing some Pokemon card pulls on camera again, so I’ll be keeping an eye out for that.
Just as every time I’ve seen these three before, they kick things off and immediately go right for the throat! They’re putting some real work in getting themselves out across Europe so often and I don’t think they’ll be sticking around opening slots for much longer considering the graft they’re putting in as well as a bloody fantastic live show that sounds unbelievably fat for a three-piece band.
I don’t think the crowd has quite woken up yet considering it’s Friday as they ask the crowd to make some space for a pit and.. well, the drop hits and nope, not happening. It’s the risky play openers make, can be hit or miss but I don’t blame Tropic Gold for giving it a shot!
Obviously as the opener for a four band stack they’ve had to take care to waste as little time as possible and cram as much as possible into the short set they’ve been granted, some crowd participation but mainly get the biggest bangers in their bag out, sound fucking great and act like you own the stage.
I’ve really gotta get to a headline show from these, I’ll bet it’s a great show with their own proper stamp on it.
Next tonight is Resolve’s fellow countrymen in Ashen, another great band that I’ve had the fortune to see before at RADAR festival and quite buzzed to be seeing them again! These always seem to remind me a lot of Northlane with their similar vibes in song writing style and performance.
Easily one of the fattest low end sounds on a band though, the bass, guitars and drums all go so hard on the deep sound that constantly shakes my legs and chest but the best part is that it’s not even remotely muddy. The venue’s starting to properly fill up now which is great too and the energy is gradually picking up as the hype and beer levels build up as the show goes on.
Ashen tries once more to get the crowd to open up and although a wide circle appears, the participants are somewhat hesitant about getting stuck in but it’s a start! I really cannot get my head around how monstrous Ashen sound though, every single groove is felt by making my jeans feel like they’re dancing around my legs without any input from me!
It’s great seeing how animated they are on stage even if it ends up in a couple of close calls with swinging their guitars around, at one point the bass player and one of the guitarists trade bumps but laugh it off quickly before continuing. A second attempt at kicking a pit off goes much better with less hesitation but I get the impression people aren’t quite fully there yet.
Either way, Ashen have smashed out another fucking great set and similar to Tropic Gold, I really want to catch a headline set from these!
And for main support tonight, a band I’ve been absolutely fucking dying to catch live and what better time to do that than their debut European show? It’s Windwaker!
Leading with my favourite song of theirs right out of the gate, ‘Sirens’, I’m already made up with this and there’s so much more to come! I’ve also noticed that their synth player is set up with the most cyberpunk setup I’ve ever seen!
I’m caught between trying to pay enough attention to catch some specifics about the show but I just can’t stop myself from getting completely wrapped up in the show. They sound fucking fantastic and I’m screaming myself hoarse keeping up with all the words from my 2024 AOTY and I’m gonna love it.
Windwaker themselves seem almost caught off guard about the crowd response and how many people already know the band, from my point of view it’s been long overdue already but welcome to the continent lads. As far as circle pits go though, the crowd is now a LOT more enthusiastic about this and fans out to run around without even being prompted by the band, we’re fully awake and cooking with gas now folks.
Another massive sing-along with ‘Break The Rules’ sees the crowd getting even more loose and throwing themselves around, Eindhoven has clearly been keen on seeing these and they’re fully letting the band know about it. Wrapping up the set, I can definitely say without any doubt that their first ever European show has been a resounding success and hopefully sets the bar for the rest of the tour: absolutely stellar stuff and I absolutely am smug as fuck getting to see it first.
And finally, time for me to get another fix of Resolve! These guys step up to the plate every single time without hesitation and get better each show, so of course I’d be here on the other side of the Netherlands for them!
One thing that always stands out to me about Resolve is good god they always look so damn stylish while killing it on stage… a Paris fashion show could never be so damn metal.
Resolve tear into Eindhoven with dizzying intensity, it’s the first date of the tour so time to make a splash and set the bar as high as they can. I’m quite happy that “Seasick Sailor” is still in the set too, it’s a bloody great song and I’m happy they’re not done with it just yet. They’ve got a full room of people who gladly wave their hands in response to being asked if they’ve seen Resolve before. The fact that these guys are starting to build such a strong following is testament to the amount of work they’ve been putting in over the past few years, they tour tirelessly but the results speak for themselves. Looking further down the front of the crowd I can see constant waving arms and people jumping about and having a bloody great time screaming the words back at the band too.
I’m genuinely excited to see what Resolve does to up their production though, I feel this show was hampered a bit by the limited lighting set up in Dynamo compared to some of the other shows I’ve seen them do, De Helling in Utrecht especially.
Tonight’s set has been a fantastic exploration of Resolve’s catalogue though, it’s much more varied than previous sets I’ve seen them perform which I guess is a nice advantage when you’re not specifically touring in support of a new album and the like.
One thing that stands out the most though, Resolve are now a band that is clearly quietly confident in themselves and comfortable in what they have going on and a work ethic that will see them continue on the path to ever greater heights.
Sadly similar to before with some of these trips much further afield, tonight’s show runs much later than normal so I’ve had to scoot off a bit early to make sure I can get home on time.
Overall though, Resolve are on a solid track as they strive to build a name for themselves and seeing them regularly go out on headliner tours with strong supports as well as their own support slots on much bigger tours is a big show of their hard graft. Putting out consistently fresh sounding material that is backed by solid live performances. I hope the rest of the tour is fantastic and others get to catch this immense package when it comes to their backyard, incredible stuff.
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