Tramhaus live. Patronaat, Haarlem 24 April 2025

Photo: Wout de Natris

By April 2025 Rotterdam band Tramhaus has become a mean music machine. The new has worn off and the beast is revealed. It may not be that the band does that much different. It is the growth, the roar and big beat that has been unleashed over the past months since the release of 'The First Exit'.

This to me is the difference between the release show in Paradiso on 5 October last year and today in the Patronaat. The songs obviously are played with more routine and this allows for the extras. Little accents, more sonic soundscapes, all played with a lot of comfort and confidence. The weaving of the two guitarist seems to have been developed to perfection and allows for an occasional foray into unchartered territory. It makes Tramhaus a better and even more interesting band.

The good thing is that the members still smile at each other, perhaps because of an unnoticed mistake or an inside stage joke, which seems like a good thing to me after having spent so much time together over the past months and years. While again having to play the same seventeen songs Tramhaus' oeuvre consist of every night. No doubt this number will grow in the near future.

Photo: Wout de Natris

Once again I noticed how old on average the audience was. This is a  band of 20 somethings playing for 40, 50 and 60 plus old people. Is postpunk a genre that allows grey haired (and bald) man and women play like they are young again or catch up like myself? I'd say that this level of excitement ought to draw in the youth of today and have us somewhere in the back. It was the grey crowd pogoing up front, as if there's no tomorrow. And rightly so, keep doing it while you can, folks!

There is not that much more that I can add to what I wrote in October last. So I'm adding the link for you to peruse that text should you have missed it last time:

https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2024/10/tramhaus-live-with-neighbours-burning.html

Tramhaus won over Haarlem with ease. Tramhaus is a powerhouse, so now go out and catch the 20 and 30 somethings as well. I will be here next time, faithfully at the back.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght