On Stage: Afterpartees

Young guns Afterpartees from the South of The Netherlands managed to cause a bit of a stir last year with their energetic performances, catchy rock songs and their no nonsense attitude. I experienced this myself at the Best Kept Secret festival. Now they have finished their first album Glitter Lizard and are going 'round the clubs to present it to the world.

Afterpartees at Bitterzoet Amsterdam, January 24 2015



When we arrive at the venue, the band are already on stage and have eagerly started their set. It is typical for this band, that are playing with so much fun and go at it totally open-minded. Singer Niek Nellen tells us he was sick earlier this week and this has affected his voice. This is obvious and sometimes you wonder if he may lose it completely tonight. But it doesn't get him or the rest of the band down. On the contrary, it only makes them more determined to get this somewhat tame crowd going.



Their album has really great rock songs on it, but the production is a bit too slick to my liking. It loses the energy of their live performances, which doesn't make the record a representation of what they are capable of. This doesn't mean the record is bad, since it isn't. It's actually a lot of fun but live it all just comes together better. Full of swagger Nellen is chatting with the crowd, trying to fire them up while his band mates are enthusiastically handling their instrument.



With songs like 'Red Bull' and 'Girls Like You' the band show they know how to write seductive rock songs with lots of hit potential. And the young rockers show they can treat existing songs with the same approach by playing a great version of Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Off'. A smoking version of Iron Maiden's 'Fear Of The Dark' proves these guys can play! If you're in for some rock 'n roll and a fun night, then Afterpartees is your next favourite band.



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