‘LOWLAAAAAAAANDS, wajo, cancer a lot of people here!’ Yes Abel van Gijlswijk, they all come for Hang Youth. It is of course otherworldly that your politically engaged punk band is on Pinkpop. Van Gijlswijk adds some more fuel to the fire: ‘I’m sure there are VVD members in the audience here.’ A loud bellow comes from the audience. But luckily that doesn’t matter. Punk is a universal language that even the VVD members in the audience can enjoy.
Just a short rewind: Hang Youth appeared on the scene in 2020 with the album BOEL AAN DE HAND. They quickly became a band that topped the lists of must-see live performances. That was postponed until after the big C, but luckily they were able to do a lot of TV appearances. Frontman Abel van Gijlswijk was also busy with a solo record and being the boss of hip-hop label Burning Fik. Now that the festival season has finally started, Hang Youth can go wild again. And how: Down The Rabbit Hole and Lowlands are in the offing next to Pinkpop. It remains a bit strange, a band that speaks out so explicitly against big business plays at such a big festival as Pinkpop.
But fuck it, you have to get your money somewhere. And it is also a mega cool show. Numbers of up to one minute are flying around your ears. And if you’re lucky you can sometimes crowdsurf. With ‘THE DYCHES MUST HIGHER (NO CRAZY)’ the audience is taught a beautiful YMCA-like dance. And during opener ‘Tax Service’, a spectator even has a blue envelope with them. Twenty songs later, Abel crowd surfs and the audience sings en masse ‘LEG DE ZUIDAS IN DE AS’. Even if some people think something different tomorrow, it’s wonderful to see how everyone agrees with Hang Youth for a moment.
THE MOMENT
Hang Youth goes off for a while but comes back on quickly, because they have one minute left. Enough to play TAX OFFICE one last time. The circle is complete, now we have to play flat for the rest of the festival season.
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