British rock band Nothing But Thieves is often pushed in the context of Queens of the Stone Edge and Mews. Yes duh, today’s notable Pinkpop expert thinks: In a lounge like “Everybody Crazy” (under which there is a shower of pink confetti), Josh Homme and his friends are very clearly borrowed. The blue licks and heavy mixing of Forever and Ever More are also somewhat similar, and singer Conor Mason has a voice that can be blatantly loud like Matthew Bellamy can do very well. Oh yeah, and the third album moral panic† That’s a record about internet viciousness slowly but surely poisoning the world (and wanting to break up, baby).

Nothing But Thieves made the kind of rock band there was very little left, a band that could easily sell the Ziggo Dome and has since grown to become the subtitle of Pinkpop Friday. And for that, this hour-long show is a bit boring. Not as boring as reading your five-month-old’s cover-to-cover phonebook, counting from 1 to 725, as you watch a blade of grass grow. Until now… . very boring. Yes, they play their very own rock with a very tight capital, and they have some serious jingles but other than that not much happens on stage. Mason drinks a cup of tea to preserve his voice. He is glad we are here. There is a jam machine that doesn’t start anywhere and doesn’t go anywhere. There are paper clips. twice up. Theres nothing wrong with that. we will.

BUT: We haven’t been able to add many new songs to the rock canon in the past 10 years, and “Amsterdam” by Nothing But Thieves definitely fits. It’s one of those tunes you can sing shamelessly to “YEAH,” some cute songs (“We live and then we die as one. Yes, we all live under the same sun.” rhymes, so that’s the truth). And a pathetic chorus about hitting the same wall over and over, while you lost your heart in Amsterdam. No idea what he means by that, but hey: applaud! Pinkpop swallows them up like sweet cookies.

the moment:
What sets Nothing But Thieves apart from more hardcore rock bands? The band had no problem wrapping up “Impossible” (idea: “I thought it was impossible but you made it possible!”) with a wonderful moment to raise the beer. Just a cuddle!