Mighty Oaks played a concert at the Ottakringer Brauerei in Vienna with Christof van der Ven as their support.
Seen on: 2.4.2022
[Here’s my review of the last Mighty Oaks show I saw.]

Buoyed by my recent concert experience, the first since this pandemic started, I decided to see the next show I had tickets for, too – Mighty Oaks (incidentally, they were also one of the last shows I saw before the pandemic). And it was a great concert again, despite me feeling a little crowded in that location and with that many people there.

When I arrived at the concert location rather punctually, it was snowing and freezing and there was a long line in front of the concert hall for the Covid checks, and no sign of the stream of people getting in line abating. I almost turned around right then and there, but a certain stubborness kept me in line. It didn’t take that long to queue outside in the end, but until I was inside and had checked my coat, Christof van der Ven – who I didn’t know before – had pretty much finished his set which is a pity for me because having checked out his music now from home, I quite like it.

After he finished his last song, I looked around the hall and realized just how many people were present. I had very much misremembered how big the location was. And it was obviously pretty much sold out. Basically everyone had a mask, but many people also had drinks and had removed their masks for drinking. So I started to debate with myself again whether I should leave. I settled for not removing my mask at all and seeing how things develop once Mighty Oaks start to play.

When they took the stage, things started really soaring, and I have to admit that I quickly started to forget my corona worries. The atmosphere was great, the audience was in a party mood and the energy was just really out there. I often go to concert, but this was a pretty special evening altogether.

There was a bit of heckling (there was a lot of screaming for singer Ian Hooper to take his shirt off) and a lot of interaction in general with the audience. From my last concert, I knew that Hooper likes to talk between songs, and he did. I enjoyed that, even though some of the things he said might have felt a little familiar and may have also been said at their previous show (far from all of it, though).

There setlist was well-chosen and well-paced, and the concert was over much quicker than I wanted it to be. They rounded out their own music with two covers, one an old favorite – Rihanna’s Stay – and another one that’s new to their setlist – Harry Styles’ Watermelon Sugar (see below). Both worked extremely well and had the crowd singing along as much as to their originals.

In short, I was very glad in the end that I stayed for the concert despite everything. Particularly since I tested negative for COVID since (I don’t know how I would have felt if things had gone differently). It was a great show and wonderful evening.

Summarizing: awesome.