On Thursday, 22 November 2018, the concert of G.L.A.M.S took place at the Dolhuis in Dordrecht. A small group of fans started lining up early already, some dressed neatly and in full “costume” while others had opted for more comfortable clothing to fight the cold weather. Different styles, but they all came together for the same goal. Due to some delays, the fans had to wait a little longer outside the door than planned though.
The first band to take the stage was The Empyrean. They clearly had a lot of fun on stage and went through great effort to share this with the fans. Despite the majority of the audience being new to this band they were enjoying the show and it clearly showed that The Empyrean was sharing their fun with these fans. Pulling funny faces and jumping, all of this to get the audience to join in. Which some did, too.
Next up was the French band Kinderfield. With their mask they brought a mysterious atmosphere to their entrance, amplified when the drummer turned on the laptop for their background music. The moment the singer, the only one without a mask, entered the stage, the atmosphere changed. While fans were curiously standing by at first, some of them started to loosen up and started to bang their heads, jump and screaming along with the band as encouragement. The singer also jumped into the audience quite often, all in an attempt to involve the audience in their show, giving them a great warmup for the main act of the night. It was instantly clear that Kinderfield came across a lot more professionally and fine-tuned than The Empyrean.
When G.L.A.M.S entered the stage the fans that clearly came for Mikaru and his support members became a little more enthusiastic. People approached the stage and stood closer together. It was during one of the newest songs, The Beginning of the End and during Call My Name that the fans were at their full power. There were more screams, singing, dancing and even waving along with great enthusiasm. The atmosphere felt very open and easy going, like a group of people enjoying themselves. There were fans who stood with their arms crossed all evening, but that didn’t spoil the fun of the other fans.
The singer and driving force behind G.L.A.M.S, Mikaru, turned to the fans during the end of the main part of the show with a worried expression on his face, asking: “Can you all still get home?”, to which the fans responded with gestures like “kinda”, because it got pretty late in the meantime and people were starting to doubt if they would make it to the last trains home if they would stick to the end of the show. Which they would love to do, so the band decided to play their encore without a break like they normally do. The group photo with the band posing on the stage and the fans in the background really finished the evening as a memorable one for the fans. A few stuck around for the signing session while others calmly left the venue.
All in all, it felt like a very intimate show. People didn’t see the band as Mikaru and his support musicians, but as a whole. Which is, of course, a result of the guys knowing each other and their movements. Even though this was the fourth stop of their tour, meaning they were pretty warmed up to the European fans. Despite the small stage and the occasionally unpleasant sound quality, it seemed like everyone enjoyed themselves. It felt good, G.L.A.M.S-good, like the fans, are used to from them. It felt safe, warm and comfortable.
Was the support act needed? Probably not, but the fans didn’t see it as a problem because they all stayed indoors near the stage and nobody left during the other shows.
The setlist of the night existed of:
1. Dragonfly
2. Sailing Away
3. Forgive Me
4. The Beginning of the End
5. Call My Name
6. Our Sad Song
7. The Other Side of the Moon
8. Our Freak Show
9. Rainy Highway
10. Rosy Life
11. Try to Live
12. Man in Underworld
13. Be Alone
14. The Light of My Life
