By Eden van der Moere
Who has not heard of Kensington these days? While the band was founded in 2005, Kensington’s rather impressive journey to the top of the Dutch music industry started in 2008, when the band was named “3FM Serious Talent”. Two years later, their debut album Borders was released and a very successful club tour followed. In 2012, Kensington released their second album, Vultures, and from that moment on, they became an unstoppable force in the Dutch music circuit. Vultures was named “best Dutch album of the year” by OOR and won a 3FM Award for Best Album. Kensington’s excellent live reputation also started to grow, which brought them a 3FM Award for Best Live Act, a Serious Talent Award and a MTV EMA Award for Best Dutch Act. Only last month, Kensington’s third studio album Rivals was released, and their upcoming concert at the Heineken Music Hall in 2015 is already sold out. In only a few couple of years, Kensington has grown from an unknown band to a household name.
On the final day of Zeeland Nazomerfestival, Kensington performed at the Abbey Square in Middelburg and proved that they are indeed great enough to sell out the HMH. They are professional and ambitious, with a clear vision of the band’s image. The stage was subtly lit and smoke circled across the floor as the first guitar riffs blasted through the speakers and the four men climbed the stage. Niles Vandenberg behind the drums, Jan Haker on bass and Eloi Youssef and Casper Starreveld on the front of the stage, both on guitar and vocals. Together, they formed a strong front, all wearing black skinny jeans with a certain hipster-feel.
Although Kensington’s performance was short (they only played for an hour), it was polished, professional, and passionate – the trademark characteristics of Kensington’s exquisite live performances. Their songs, ranging from the epic rock ballad “Ghosts” to the sing-along stadium anthems such as “Don’t Look Back” and “Streets”, are accessible to the greater public, while still being qualitatively good. The songs from their second and most famous album, Vultures, particularly provoked the most enthusiastic reactions from the crowd. Finally, when the hit-single “Home Again” started to play again, during which the classic confetti canon was shot into the audience, the atmosphere sparkled with excitement and hands reached towards the sky.
Apart from the opportunity to see great performances, it is also amazing to see how ZNF brings the people of Middelburg together. ZNF really is an event that everyone can enjoy, from the elderly couple holding hands at Blaudzun, to the group of kids standing on tiptoes to catch a glimpse of Kensington. For a few nights every summer, people are drawn to the Abbey Square, to the great music and to the warm atmosphere.
To me, the most impressive aspect of Kensington’s performance was to see how they have grown in the past few years. In 2012, the band performed at De Spot. Back then, Kensington was still a young, but infinitely ambitious, band from Utrecht still a little shy and uncertain on the stage. They have come a long way since then and that is noticeable during their performance at Zeeland Nazomerfestival. Frontmen Eloi Youssef and Casper Starreveld are now fierce and confident, connecting with the audience.
Back in 2012, I remember Eloi to be rather reluctant in communicating with his audience, while Casper took every opportunity in between songs to talk a little nonsense. At ZNF, the men have become equals. Eloi made the audience scream, yell, jump, and pump their firsts into the air and in comparison to his statue-like presence in 2012, this is a complete turn-around. It seemed as if the main vocalist finally grew fond of the stage, while Casper was still joking around in between songs. Together, they ruled the stage. Who knows where they might go next?
Eden van der Moere, class of 2017, is an Arts & Humanities major from Goes, The Netherlands.
