Vanuit Music Export Rotterdam worden doorlopend ondernemende Rotterdamse muzikanten ondersteund die bezig zijn ook voet aan de grond te krijgen buiten de landsgrenzen. Berthaju vertrok in februari richting de UK voor een tour van zeven shows in tien dagen. Hoe die ervaring was lees je in dit (Engelstalige) tourverslag!

Tour report

We are Berthaju and we had the illusionary dream of going on our first UK tour, not with millions of followers and listeners, but with a lot of motivation, ambition, and the excitement to head on our first big adventure as a band. We’ve been playing together for more than two years and decided that 2025 is going to be our year, starting right in the second month!

In June 2024, we began working on our dream of touring. It all started with a lot of online research. To this day, we have no idea how many emails we actually sent, but somehow, we managed to get in touch with seven different venues/bookers and make a seven-show tour in ten days a reality.

The next step was finding enough support acts for every show. Since we wanted to connect as much as possible with the local music scene, we thought there was no better way than inviting local up-and-coming musicians, artists, and bands to join us.

After squeezing all our gear into our way-too-small tour car, we finally left Rotterdam at 3 AM on February 14th and headed to London. We had never played a show on so little sleep, after so many hours cramped in a car, but somehow, we pulled off an amazing start to our first-ever show abroad, at the Mascara Bar.

Our next stop was Newcastle upon Tyne (Not in Ireland! Something that, unfortunately, caused a bit of confusion among some of our band members).  What can we say? Little Buildings in Newcastle is where the tour really began! We finally got enough sleep, played for some very drunk, indie-rock-loving guys in the front row, and performed in a room full of excited faces. Despite nearly kicking the mic stand off the stage due to limited space, we experienced what it feels like to play for an audience that listens to every word and fully dives into the storyline of our live set.

Edinburgh – The Wee Red Bar

After Newcastle, things got a bit crazy. We were about to play four shows back-to-back, which led to some coughing and sore throats. Returning to Edinburgh (where Bertha once lived) felt like a full-circle moment. We ended the night by signing someone’s forehead (a first for us) and mosh-pitting to the music of the amazing bands The Fat Stacks and Woody & The Dogs.

Credits: RISK MEDIA

Moving on to our fourth show in Glasgow, we definitely discovered the cheapest and best wraps right next to the venue Nice N Sleazy. To our surprise, for the third time on this tour, people had come just to see us play! We realized that people in the UK are always on the lookout for what’s happening in their local live music scene, they truly love discovering new music. For the first time ever, we saw people singing along to our songs. People who weren’t our friends!

After playing our fourth back-to-back show in Manchester at the Lion’s Den, organized by Night Owl Music Promotions (who helped us out a lot with contacts and planning), we finally had a second day off. We spent it writing new music together and shooting a live video for our upcoming single, I Don’t See You Anymore. No day wasted!

Already more than halfway through the tour, we drove down to Nottingham, where we played at Ye Olde Salutation. A venue that had probably never seen purple before. It was the most metal/rock-heavy audience we had ever played for (so much leather and black clothing!).  But to our biggest surprise, Nottingham had the loudest crowd of the whole tour! The audience couldn’t have shown more excitement and appreciation for our set.

Our last stop was back in London at The Gunners, and it was full of surprises. We managed to pull off an amazing show without a proper soundcheck, danced with the entire crowd, and had one of the most unforgettable moments of the tour: During our third song, our drummer thought she was hallucinating when she saw her brother and girlfriend in the audience. And just before the show started, our guitarist’s whole family had also surprised us by showing up to the final show of the tour!

There was no better way to end the tour than with an incredible show, surrounded by family, and having so much fun.

Was all the planning and the endless hours of work worth it? 10000000% YES! And we absolutely can’t wait to DO IT AGAIN! A massive THANK YOU to everyone who supported us, came to our shows, and to Popunie for helping us make our dream come true!

Bertha, Hugo, Chris, Zoë & Senna