The Presidents Bring The Good Times

I didn't hear from this happy bunch for quite a while and suddenly they announced a European club tour. There's no album coming up, so I guess they just felt like playing. And of course with The Presidents of the USA that's a guaranteed fun night. Let the good times begin!

The Presidents of the United States of America at Paradiso Amsterdam, March 13 2012 (Ronald Says 7 out of 10)
Just some time after that a Dutch band, called Hit Me TV, announced that they were going to play in Paradiso as well, to present their brand new album on that same night. That was a bit unfortunate, since I would have loved to see them play as well. They were starting 30 minutes earlier on the small stage so in the end I got to see them play a few songs. It was barely enough but I liked it a lot and hope to see a full show soon.



Time for The Presidents to hit the stage. They start off with a few of their hit songs to get us in the mood. Then front man Chris Ballew announces that they will play their whole first self titled album. He puts the needle on the record and off they go. The atmosphere is great, people are dancing, jumping, stage diving and crowd surfing. And most of all every one is having a good time.



Of course there's nothing new. No new songs, we've heard all of their songs a million times before and a lot of us probably have seen them play those songs quite a few times as well. But there's still that contagious pleasure and energy that this band is showing, that makes their gigs so much fun. Ballew is the always cheerful and charming host while drummer Jason Finn and guitarist Andrew McKeag are just all smiles the whole evening. They allow people to climb the stage, share some peaches from a can (they were put there by a man) and have girls walk a fashion show. There's just no bad vibe in the room when this band is playing.



After playing the first album they treat us to some more hits and an encore. After twenty eight (!) songs it's the end of the night. Maybe they are not the hippest band, or not playing the most creative or complicated music, and you know what you're gonna get. But that's why it's so damned good. Can't wait for the next time.

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Setlist
1. Love Everybody
2. Volcano
3. Lady Bug
4. Some Postman
5. Jennifer’s Jacket
6. Kitty
7. Feather Pluckn
8. Baby You’re A Rich Man (The Beatles cover)
9. Lump
10. Stranger
11. Boll Weevil
12. Peaches
13. Dune Buggy
14. We Are Not Going to Make It
15. Kick Out the Jams
16. Body
17. Back Porch
18. Candy
19. Naked and Famous
20. Mach 5
21. Video Killed The Radio Star (The Bugles cover)
Encore:
22. Froggie
23. More Bad Times
24. Supermodel
25. Finished off More Bad Times
26. Tiki God
27. Kick Out The Jams reprise
28. Ace Of Spades (Motorhead cover)