On Stage: Claw Boys Claw @ Paradiso

35 years ago Dutch rock band Claw Boys Claw was founded and have been a welcome guest at stages across the country ever since. They earned that reputation by playing lots of shows and working hard. Now they are taking it a bit more slow and release an album every five years or so. When they do, they get back on the horse and tour around all those stages, something that can't be missed.

Claw Boys Claw at Paradiso Amsterdam, March 28 2018

Because this group still knows how to put on an extremely good rock show. This year saw the release of It's Not Me, The Horse Is Not Me - Part 1, an LP that shows this band is still on top of things and is only getting better. Singer Peter Te Bos and guitar player John Cameron are the two members that have been with this band for all those years. Their chemistry hasn't worn off for a bit and the two keep on writing smart rock songs with that wonderful slow and heavy blues feel and a punk edge.

On stage that chemistry is still there as well, magnified by the other two members bass player Marcus Bruystens and drummer Jeroen Kleijn. Tonight we see a band that is in top shape, playing a two hour rock show that doesn't have any weak spots. Te Bos is dancing around the stage with a big smile on his face, joking with people at the front once and a while, having a wonderful time himself. His vocals are still very strong, not showing any wear and he still takes his usual walk through the crowd. I love the way Cameron plays his guitar, bopping up and down like a real life bobblehead.

A little boy wearing a "super kid" shirt is sitting at the side of the stage looking at the band in awe. With big eyes he's watching the crowd of mostly middle aged men going mental in front of the stage. Once and a while people will dance wildly all the way to the back. In the song 'Super kid' the boy stands up, pointing to his shirt with a big smile. Te Bos of course walks over to the boy and sings with him for a short while.

This is exactly what a night with Claw Boys Claw is all about. People of all ages sharing a moment of amazing rock music and enjoying the hell out of it. The band can't leave before they play two encores. closing the night like they always do with The Stooges' 'I Wanna Be Your Dog'. I guess this band is the Dutch version of The Stooges, fronted by a rock icon that is not slowing down. Let's hope there will be many of these moments still to come.

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Setlist:
01. It's Not Me, The Horse Is Not Me
02. Seaweed
03. Dakota Chill
04. Troglodyte
05. Suck up The Mountain
06. Hammer
07. Throw Me A Bone
08. Red Letter
09. Bite the Dice
10. My Beautiful Carpet
11. Sleepwalking
12. Shakes
13. Polly Maggoo
14. In A While
15. Weatherman
16. Indian Wallpaper
17. Wild Voodoo
Encore 2:
18. Echo Echo
19. Rosie
20. Superkid
21. Locomotive Breath
22. So Mean
23. That's Life
Encore 1:
24. Ellah
25. I Wanna Be Your Dog


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Three Times Fun in Effenaar Eindhoven

In the nineties Claw Boys Claw rocked the Dutch live scene, Bettie Serveert was one of our favourite alternative bands and Hallo Venray was making its way up in the low lands. Now a few decades later in a new century they are still around and are playing a rare triple bill night in Eindhoven.

Hallo Venray, Bettie Serveert, Claw Boys Claw at Effenaar Eindhoven, January 10 2013



Hallo Venray
It's been a very long time since I have seen Hallo Venray for the last time. They were relatively successful in the beginning, but chose a different road afterwards. One that may commercially be less attractive, but was more interesting in a creative way. Tonight they are focusing on their upcoming album SHOW. It's a bold choice and especially in the beginning this pays off with nice songs. After that first part, the songs are going down in tempo and this also slows down the performance. Since they are unknown songs to most of us, it is hard for many people to stay focused. Hallo Venray prove however still to be an interesting band that doesn't like to take the easy road.

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Bettie Serveert
Up next are Bettie Serveert who released a new album Oh, Mayhem! last year. It's a solid rock album and they play a few songs of it tonight. Mixed in are some of their greatest hits of the past twenty something years. This band has also changed a lot in this time. The line up is different and their sound is now more heavy on the rock side. This is pleasing many of the people tonight who are mostly well into their forties. Bettie Serveert still is one of the favorites to this crowd.



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Claw Boys Claw
You can leave it to Claw Boys Claw to close the night with a bang. The band do what they can do best and have been doing from the beginning: give it all they've got until beer is flying around, everyone is eighteen again and has a big smile on their face. Like the other two bands they too have a new album which was almost a year ago. It's the last show in support of Hammer and it's clear they want it to end in style. Together with many of their big hits they do exactly that.



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These three bands prove that although their real glory days may be behind them, they still have plenty to offer and shouldn't be ignored. There's enough to see and hear that new and younger bands can learn from.

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ITGWO 2013 Day 1: Back In Paradise

After two years it feels like coming home when we get off the ferry. We arrive at the wonderful island Vlieland for another edition of that one of a kind festival Into The Great Wide Open. As soon as you get on the boat the fun is starting. Only happy faces and good vibes. The sunny and warm weather don't hurt either.

Into The Great Wide Open 2013 Day 0, September 5 2013

We get to the island a day before the actual festival is starting. There's already a short program with some bands playing the night before. I didn't realize, it even started earlier tonight than last year. The boat we booked simply doesn't arrive on time so we have to miss DAAU. I hope to see them again soon.



Bed Rugs
Instead we kick off with Belgian band Bed Rugs who treat us to some great psychedelic rock music and long jams. Their inspiring performance is lively with all members looking active and focused. The enthusiastic percussionist sure is having a good time. The band even knows to impress a few young kids who are sitting down on the floor, marvelled by what's happening on stage.

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We spend the rest of the time outside, sucking up the atmosphere of the festival while downing a few cold beers.

Into The Great Wide Open 2013 Day 1, September 6 2013

When we wake up it's sizzling hot. It's impossible to stay in our tent any longer. But this island has a solution for that: the sea, one of the many things that makes this festival special. A swim in the cold sea definitely cools me down and I feel revived. We ride around on our bike a bit, have some coffee and then make our way to the Sports Field stage for the first performance of the day.



The Kik
The Kik's front man Dave von Raven is no stranger to this festival. He played here a few times before and also was the MC on a few editions. Now he's here to open up on the main stage. Their light beat music with happy lyrics is a nice way to start the day. Von Raven of course is chatting with the crowd a lot in his usual fasion. He's overdoing it in the first half though. It prevents their performance from gaining tempo. In the second half his chat sessions are shorter which helps. The band is trying to be too funny sometimes, especially when they play two party songs that don't fit in their repertoire. They need to go easy on the jokes otherwise there's a chance of turning into a gimmick.

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Sheep, Dog & Wolf
Totally different is Daniel McBride from New Zealand. He's a young multi-instrumentalist that is using loop stations to build layered songs. His album Egospect is full of freaky and jazzy tracks. Live he's performing with a drummer. He's playing guitar and saxophone by himself, while building his loops. It is hard to get into and that turns out to be too much for a part of the crowd. There's quite a lot of chatting in the back of the beautiful "Naar Buiten" stage in the woods. Now and then it comes together though and you hear and feel the great music that you'll find on his record. Hopefully he can find a way to show that more convincingly on stage.

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Jacco Gardner
The same thing is happening for Jacco Gardner today. His dreamy psychedelic sixties inspired music seems perfect for this festival. But the sunny weather this afternoon is slowing down his songs. It sounds too lazy and proves too much for the crowd who can't keep their focus. Maybe in the dark in the woods this would have been a more inspiring performance. Now it gets lost on the sports field, no matter how cool his drummer is. The dreamy songs just won't stick today in the sunshine.

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Bent van Looy
Das Pop front man Bent van Looy is at the right place on the stage in the woods. There are two electric piano's at his disposal, that he's using to perform the songs that he wrote when he lived in Paris. His charming personality and short tales to explain his lyrics are a successful combination. The convincing performance of the slightly melancholic songs on his fine solo album are keeping the crowd focused. He may not be the world's most gifted singer, but he makes up for that in charisma. The lush surroundings are doing the rest.

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Earth Mk. II
Jacco Gardner produced the album of new band Earth Mk. II. It is a nice album with psychedelic songs influenced by the same era that Gardner is drawing inspiration from. Their songs have more modern and pop influences though and cannot really compete with Gardner's work. Live on stage their performance isn't exactly inspired. The band members look quite static and shy. Master mind of the band is Hugo van de Poes, buddy of Gardner with whom he played in The Skywalkers. Van de Poes is also singing at the same time, which doesn't help for a more lively performance. The vocals aren't really spot on either. His voice is a bit monotonous and their performance is becoming quite weary in the end. It's clear this band needs to go and play many more shows to grow.

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Valerie June
It seems everything The Black Keys' Dan Auerbach touches these days turns into gold. He produced Valerie June's album Pushin' Against A Stone and gave it his unmistakable sound. The blues and country songs themselves however aren't that great and the performance itself a bit boring. June's voice, which is quite shrieky, is even getting on my nerves after a while.

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Claw Boys Claw
We get close to the stage for these old rockers. Enforced with drummer Jeroen Kleijn they look and sound better than ever as they already proved earlier this year and on their latest record Hammer. Like a diesel engine they are slowly warming up. The first couple of songs are lazy songs with heavy riffs. Combined with the baritone voice of Peter Te Bos it is their signature sound of "swamp" rock.

Halfway the engine is running smoothly and full force. Songs of the new album sound just as good as the old ones. There's even a pit forming in front of the stage. Te Bos, although in his sixties, still is a rebellious boy. He jumps into the crowd like he always does and takes off the top part of the wooden festival logo at the side of the stage. It is the word "great" which he puts down at the front of the stage. When he climbs on top of it with a big smile, the only thing missing is the exclamation mark: great!



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Chic ft. Nile Rodgers
Later than planned living legend Nile Rodgers takes the stage during the sound check. He's taking pictures of the crowd and the festival site. The big smile on his face is looking promising. There's plenty for him to laugh nowadays, since he's totally hot again after his collaboration with Daft Punk. When the band takes off he explains that they are not a cover band. All the songs we're about to hear are simply his. It may sound arrogant, but it is not a superfluous pompous statement. Many people may not be aware of it.

Despite the soundcheck the band faces many technical problems in the beginning. They stop for a while to get it fixed. After that the field turns into a full on disco party. All his big hits by David Bowie, Madonna, Sister Sledge, INXS and of course Chic make it into the set. The band is throwing a fully orchestrated disco show, played by great and professional musicians. It's a very tight band with the wonderful grooving bassist Jerry Barnes. Both female singers have a strong voice and take solos by turn. When the band finishes DJ St. Paul drops the one song he agreed never to play live without the original performers: Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky'. Needless to say this keeps the party going for a little longer.

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While sipping a last beer on the camping site at our tent, we see lightning in the distance while the clear sky is showing thousands of stars. Fortunately the thunderstorms are far away and the rain never reaches the island.

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Into The Great Wide Open 2013 Day 2
Into The Great Wide Open 2013 Day 3

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Men Are Boys Again With Claw Boys Claw

There are a few certainties in life. The sun rises in the morning, the pope is a catholic and clowns are scary. Another one is that a Claw Boys Claw show is always great fun. We've known that for thirty years now. So with a new record out and a club tour it's time to meet our friends again and prepare for an old fashioned good night of rock 'n' roll.



Claw Boys Claw at Paradiso Amsterdam, May 31 2013

The fan base of Claw Boys Claw has grown older with the band. While singer Peter te Bos is in his sixties, most of the fans are now in their forties and fifties. Where they had to find babysitters ten years ago, now some of them are bringing their kids to the show. And so a dad is carrying his daughter on his shoulders while he's carefully bobbing to the music. A CBC gig is the perfect place to take your children to anyway. It's a safe and pleasant place with only happy people and you'll know that they'll be hooked for life on CBC. The foursome start out on a quiet pace. Singer Peter Te Bos and guitarist John Cameron are the hardcore members of the band. Bass player Marcus Bruystens started playing when they reincarnated in 2007. Last year they completed their line-up again with drummer Jeroen Kleijn, who happens to be one of my favourite Dutch drummers.



It doesn't take long for the band to pick up the pass. Te Bos is moving around the stage in his familiar somewhat awkward locomotion, smiling for most of the gig. Cameron is looking like a wobble head at the front of the stage, with his body moving to the groove while his curly hair is jumping up and down. It can be tempting for a thirty year old band to mostly stick to their hits. But CBC doesn't and has mixed in many songs of their outstanding new album Hammer. Although maybe most people don't know these songs, it's hard to tell which are old and which are new songs. They're all equally well received and the growing pit that formed in front of the stage is dancing just as hard to all of them. Ageing forty year olds turn into teenage boys again, while they are pogoing like in their prime years.



A CBC technical rider will have a 25 meter microphone cable on it. Simply because Te Bos will always jump off the stage and start walking around the venue in the middle of a song. This time Bruystens is joining him and the crowd doesn't even mind carrying him for a bit. Te Bos begs Cameron to join in and eventually he is crowd surfing as well. Half way the show Kleijn is the only one still playing on stage. If he could have picked up his drum kit he would have jumped off stage with it as well I'm sure. Before it's over we get treated to two encores and after 'Superkid' and Iggy & The Stooges cover 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' the two hour show is over. Lights switch on again and the balding and grey haired crowd, who are also a bit more heavy around the waist, make their way out to relieve their baby sitters. But the twinkle in their eyes is still showing the young kid inside, that was allowed out for a while tonight.



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