Blanks @ Hole44, Berlin

11 September 2023

Dutch musician Blanks is apparantly a YouTube star with a pretty dedicated fanbase. I was not aware of this – I just knew a few of his songs from the radio – so I didn’t have a lot of expectations when I went to his concert in Berlin. The venue, Hole44 in Neukölln, was one I hadn’t been to before and it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. It’s much nicer inside than you would expect from the outside; it’s the perfect size, the stage slightly higher than usual in these small venues so you really had a perfect view from everywhere in the roon, and the sound was great.

First up was the support act Nnoa. I am not a very patient person and therefor I’m usually not a big fan of support acts – they just add to the waiting time before the main act that I came to see. (Unless the support act is the one I came to see, of course, which does happen often.) And on a Monday night? Zero patience. Her music was also not something I’d usually listen to. But three songs into her set, she’d won me over. A pleasant voice, cute songs and a confident-but-not-arrogant performance. And she has a new song out, so go listen through this link!

After a half hour wait, it was finally time for Blanks. The band came on stage and started playing. Then Blanks himself came on stage and ooooffff. With his suit and sunglasses, my first impression was of an Alex Turner wannabe. His (very dedicated) fans are going to hate me for this, but I got some major slimey vibes from the Dutch arrogance and moving around like he was some kind of rock & roll star. But I was there to enjoy the music – and the music was very enjoyable! Despite his rock moves, the music is pure pop. Most of it not even very original; a lot of songs sounded vaguely familiar, reminding me of other songs. Like Bittersweet, which sounded to me like a more upbeat version of Chef’Special’s Nicotine, the way the title word is sung in the chorus very similar. Several songs sound like they were heavily inspired by The Weeknd, there’s some Cage the Elephant vibes in the Higher instrumentals and Nobody Knows sounds like a Twenty One Pilots song. But it’s fun! I have to admit, this was probably the most excited crowd I’ve seen this year. Every single person in the room was dancing, a lot of fans singing their little hearts out as if they were at a Taylor Swift or Harry Styles concert. Only much, much smaller – the venue had a capaity of 400, but there was plenty of room left. And not nearly as good. Blanks’ voice is not his strongest point and sometimes not all that pleasant to listen to; it’s dangerously close to being squeaky high and annoying. More like a Wish version of Harry Styles. But he’s certainly not lacking in (misplaced) confidence, which did annoy me a little bit sometimes.

Before the song Lost in the Moment, he did the little “Everyone get on your knees, and when I say jump, you all jump” thing. When the band is Kensington and they’re about to play Let Go – now that is one of those amazing concert moments. Lost on the Moment was…. anti-climactic. It’s not his most jumpy song, so a strange choice to try this before this particular song.

Overall, it was a good night. Nothing amazing, no goosebump moments, not the best concert of my life. But fun. And his fans definitely had the time of their lives.