Gig review: Personal Trainer at Rescue Rooms

Before being inspired into movement by the power of Personal Trainer, local soft rockers Drury Hill offered their musical services to help the crowd limber up, relax their muscles and dust off the day’s troubles. Their jangly pop melodies acted like a sweet essential oil and a head massage to ease in an evening of pure enjoyment. There were some really pretty, delicate melodies here to lose yourself in, and I’m sure as the band continue to get some more miles in, they’ll only continue to impress. It was endearing to see how grateful they were to be there in front of Personal Trainer’s eager fanbase, which only made it all the sweeter to fall under their spell for a while. 

Opening with their reverberating, room-filling track Upper Ferntree Gully, Personal Trainer set their intentions straight away - bouncing between atmospheric plucky riffs and gnarly distortion. The band used the full range of the colour wheel during the night, and that started right here with brooding screams from frontman Willem Smit but also driving riffs and colourful synths.

Moving into I Can Be Your Personal Trainer, the singalong properly started. This is the sort of song that you could imagine being plucked along around a - it’s simple and effective. It was welcoming, inviting and almost served as a different kind of introduction if the delicious whiplash of the previous performance (in the best way) hadn’t already told you what you needed to know about Personal Trainer. They’ve got all the charm you could ever want from a DIY band combined with the tightness of a band far more established than they are at present. 

One of the great things about watching Personal Trainer perform is that it’s so clear that they all love being up on that stage. No matter what combination of band members, no matter where they are, they’re consistently always happy to be there which makes everyone else feel like they’re a part of the gang. They’re an incredibly warm, friendly and inviting band which is felt without words but confirmed anytime Smit addresses the crowd with a bright smile and a really refreshing sense of humility. 

The night never really hit a lull, which was in large part due to the real diversity of their back catalogue as a band already. The funkalicious groove of Intangible was a whole lot of fun, allowing for some lovely brassy moments from Mart Boumans and Abel Tuinstra on saxophone and trumpet. The cascading synths of Rug Busters became very quickly embedded in my head and remained there for the train journey home - swirling around in there as well was the refrain of Round, which feels like it was designed to go around and around in your frontal cortex. A good friend of mine accompanied me for this particular musical outing with absolutely no context and no expectations for the band. Throughout the night though, I’d glance across to see them rocking out on the air drums along with the band - isn’t it great when a music recommendation is well-received?

Ending on a high note with the triumphant The Lazer, the room erupted into dance for the final time - a track that’s quickly becoming an indie classic for those in the know. Rescue Rooms punters were able to disappear off into the night with a little more joy than they entered the room with, injected with the energy of this delightful, dopamine-inducing Dutch outfit. Definitely a band to try and catch on the festival circuit, pint-in-hand out in the sunshine.

Personal Trainer performed at Rescue Rooms on 1st May 2025.

@personaltrainertheband