This morning I had breakfast before making my way into the city to meet my friend Jonathan who lives near Amsterdam. I’ve known him for years but we’ve hardly met so while I was in Holland, even though it wasn’t the same city, we made sure we met up.
We met at Dam Square before exploring the city, having a few coffees and then ending up at a cafe on top of a tower overlooking the city which had some great views. It was great to chat for a while and catch up on things while seeing more of the city but it was soon time to make my way back to the hotel to meet up with my friends ready for the Within Temptation theatre show.
There was no need to arrive early as this show was seated but we left in plenty of time to make sure we found the venue and so that we could chill with some drinks at the bar. After purchasing some merch we made our way up to the first floor where there was a bar with a great balcony ovelooking the city. I decided to be classy with some rose wine while the others had other drinks.
The first half of the show was a slower, acoustic gig comprised of rarely played songs with a video background which was great as I’ve only ever seen full sets from Within Temptation. There was a storyline that followed the specially filmed video which made the theatre tour extra special compared to your average show. It was also very civilised with everybody sitting in their seats clapping after every song compared to the usual cheering and rock hands. After the first half there was an intermission and time for a few more drinks on the balcony.
As soon as the second half started everybody stood up and rushed forward although this wasn’t really an option for us on the balcony. The second half was a full band show playing many new songs along with a selection of hits from the past. It was such a great show, with such good energy, and at the end we all stood up and gave a very long standing ovation.
Setlist Part 1
The Last Dance
Bittersweet
Overcome
Restless
Sounds of Freedom
Our Farewell
The Swan Song
Say My Name
Never-Ending Story
Setlist Part 2
The Promise
Ice Queen
Caged
Iron
Lost
Faster
Stand My Ground
Mother Earth
Encore
Sinéad
Stairway to the Skies
We were all pretty exhausted by the end of the show so we slowly made our way back to our hotel. The most direct way was straight through the red light district and it was quite an eye opener as this was the first time we had been there at night.