SPRINTS live, with Marathon. Melkweg, Amsterdam Thursday 12 March 2026

Photo:WdN-vdB

I am not an avid track sports watcher but I do remember finishes of marathons where a few runners have stayed together despite the distance and have to sprint to win, after 42, no doubt gruelling, kilometers! That is why today you read first about Amsterdam's Marathon (the band not the marathon) and then about SPRINTS.

There is one thing both bands have in common and that is the gigantic growth since I saw them last. Marathon in 2022 and SPRINTS in 2024. Especially the former band was near unrecognisable. From an enthusiastic but a bit shy band that could play its songs in a very neat way, to a rocking machine capable of blowing an audience of its collective feet.

On the basis of the band's debut album, 'Fading Image', I wished the band to do a Tramhaus, tour the world and conquer it. The two postpunk band certainly have some corresponding points. Some musical references are identical before the differences start to set them apart and the two female, three men line up. Marathon was not just here in the Melkweg but supports SPRINTS for the whole of the European tour. So, it was not just boasting saying that we were about to see a great show. Marathon knew already.

Photo: wdN-vdB

Maybe I'm mistaken but in my recollection Marathon was a four piece band and here there were five on stage. Three guitar players of which one doubled on a synth. Together they piled layers of guitars with hosts of effects on them creating a wall of sound that without earplugs would have been devastating to my already fading hearing. Louder than the main act, without losing any quality in the mix, as support slots at times have.

In bass player Nina Lijzinga the band has a power woman who commands the stage, parading with her instrument. This allows singer/guitarist Kay Koopmans to totally submerge himself in creating even bigger walls of sounds seemingly becoming one with his guitar (snares), pedals and amp.

In two of the instrumental parts of songs something weird happened. I could hear a vocal melody and almost was able to understand the words, almost. It sounded like a deep dark, multitracked voice of the dark metal persuasion. Nobody was singing, unless it was the drummer, who I could not really see. So, was it my brain suggesting an addition to the two songs or an effect or sample? I'm inclined to the former suggestion, but perhaps the band can provide an answer.

What ever it is, Marathon played a great show and showed it is ready to conquer the world. In April it will do its own tour of Holland, so go and see them!

Photo: WdN-vdB

SPRINTS delivered on all but one front. From the very beginning the band left no doubt it was here to turn the Melkweg on its head. And it did, without having to work too hard for it. Although close to me people shouted "harder" ("louder") in Dutch after the first two songs. That was a first for me. Throughout the show it did become louder, but not as loud as Marathon. SPRINTS was ready and showed the progression it made in the past two years since the show in Tolhuistuin. SPRINTS has become a machine, but one with two different members. I'll come back to that.

Front woman Karla Chubb is even more the front woman than she already was. This is her band and she carries that burden with ease. She was everywhere (see top picture) and very present. In fact, Dublin and Ireland may have a new Bono. She is not afraid to speak her mind and to stand up to all things wrong in her view. Everyone will have to wait until she has shared her message(s). In the meantime, the band played one great song after another, with great energy. Normally, the next stop in NL is the Afas and I'm sure that where for Wolf Alice this step was not completely working, Karla Chubb will be all over Afas as well.

Photo: WdN-vdB

As I wrote, one thing was not as good. In guitarist Colm O'Reilly the band had a second front person, who attracted part of the attention and was vocally important. That is the part the band is missing in 2026. A song like 'Literary Mind' does not have half the power it used to have, which is a shame, as to my ears it is one of the punk grage rock anthems of the 2020s. Nothing negative towards guitarist Zac Stephenson by the way, as he played his parts excellently. He remains more in the shadows of the stage. And who was the bass player? Not Sam McCann.

Having that out of the way, what remains is a great show. SPRINTS in 2024 was ready for a next step and with album 'All That Is Over' and this show that step has been taken. In 2026 the band is ready for yet another step. Great things may lie ahead for SPRINTS and I got to see them in smaller venues. It may be the last time that all the women can be asked to come on stage, with a few men not being able to restrain themselves and joined uninvited. No encore, SPRINTS went out with a bang.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght