Text + photos by Rene Rosierse
October Drift, the band with one of the best live reputations, made their return to Rotterdam’s Rotown. They previously supported The Slow Readers Club and IST IST in Rotown, this week they returned for their own headline as part of the ‘Blame The Young’ album tour. During their first two shows they left quite the impression and got all the respect they could from their audience. So it was strange to see that for their headline Rotown was only half filled.
However, they didn’t hold back for those that did attend, and showcased the enthusiasm that gained them their great live reputation! The band started their set with ‘Demons’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Wreck’ from their highly acclaimed ‘Blame The Young’ album. From there straight into ‘Webcam Funerals’, the single that finally gained the band some radio airplay in The Netherlands. The band was on fire and so was the crowd, crowd pleasers such as ‘Waltzer’ and ‘Airborne Panic Attack’ were perfectly mixed with ‘Blame The Young’, ‘Wallflower’ and ‘Everybody Breaks’. The die hard fans were treated with ‘Oh The Silence’ and ‘Cherry Red’ from their debut album ‘Forever Whatever’.
In his usual manner, singer Kiran Roy used the entire venue as his stage and also guitarist Daniel Young wandered through the crowd during one of his great solos. After ninety minutes Kiran, Daniel, Alex Bipsham (bass) and Chris Holmes (drums) left the stage. Without encore, but a great night nonetheless. October Drift played their headline show in a venue perfectly suited for them; Rotown Rotterdam. Everyone that missed out, will eventually regret this, mark my words. Those who were there, me, will find this one in their top ten of best gigs from 2024.
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