After a glorious second day of the festival the last day promises to be a real killer. Temperatures are going to rise into tropical measures and today has a program that may kill me. Can't blame a guy for trying.
We want to see the first band of the day, The Homesick. Although we are running a little late, we should be able to see the second half of their show. Unfortunately we run into the huge line at the entrance and by the time we make it through, the band has already left the stage. We're a little bumped, but a cold beer should be able to change that.
Fortunately this band from Rotterdam is about to take the stage and I know we will be good. They made one of the most fun records of the year and the band already proved to be a true energy bomb on stage. Today the foursome look thrilled to be playing this festival and deliver an even more energetic performance than ever. Their songs are adrenaline filled garage rock anthems where the young men are putting all their heart in. Singer Jeroen Reek is all over the place with a big grin on his face when he's not sticking out his tongue. Needless to say that this sparks a cheerful party early on the day where the band gets the well deserved circle pit they asked for.
We have hardly caught our breath when the next young Dutch band climbs the stage. Their songs are a bit more heavy and borrow a lot from bands like Pavement. This bunch looks just as much pleased to be playing here and continue the festive atmosphere started earlier by the previous bands. The band's power play approach works well and their fine songs do the rest. Some of them are true gems filled with little twists and turns to keep you on your toes.
This Stage Five bears nothing but quality bands today. Zeal & Ardor promise a mix of Negro Spirituals and black metal. This can either turn into something good like strawberries with chilli peppers, or into something awful like burnt steak with whipped cream that's gone bad. Fortunately it' the first one and we witness a true revelation. The singers sing in harmony like in Gregorian chants and then the music explodes into powerful and dark metal with delta blues intermezzo's. It works really well as the songs are full of dynamics and are performed really well. Only the drummer is sitting at the back while the rest of the band are all lined up at the front. This makes this all even more impressive. These are the kind of acts you want to discover on a festival.
We head to the main stage where the temperature has risen to “bloody hot”, turning the open space with yellow sand into a desert that most people want to avoid. It won't get a man like Timothy Showalter down and he brings his usual charm and stage presence. The songs on his latest album may be more standard rock tunes, but he is still able to tell a heartfelt story with a lot of heart and soul. No one cares about the smouldering heat and Showalter delivers once again.
Keyboard player Kamaal Williams, aka Henry Wu, collaborated with drummer Yussef Dayes which resulted in the wonderful jazz album Black Focus. They were supposed to go touring together but something must have happened and now they are doing separate tours around that same album. Today we see Kamaal Williams together with drummer MckNasty (Joshua McKenzie) and bass player Tom Driessler. If you think it is weird to have a jazz band on a music festival like this, think again, since it is a vibrant performance with plenty of crazy break beats and grooves that make everyone dance. The musicians challenge each other where MckNasty plays with a huge grin and stands up regularly from his drum kit. The exciting music draws plenty of curious people inside Stage Three and turns it into another highlight on this amazing day.
And we still have a few big ones coming up, because here's Soulwax totally blowing away Stage Two with their Transient Program For Drums And Machinery that already knocked me off my feet two times, the last time only a couple of months back in Paradiso. The stage setup is still the same with three drummers and a lot of equipment that looks like the bridge of a spaceship. Playing a lot of music from their excellent new record From Deewee, the two Belgian brothers treat us to a hot dancing party with percussive and powerful dance music. Too bad we have to leave before the end if we want to have a decent spot for Radiohead.
This legendary band are like the holy grail of any festival right now. With their new album A Moon Shaped Pool they are currently touring the world, playing a set of festivals this summer. You never know where they are going or what they will play, because every night it's a different set. Tonight we get treated to a more quiet and mysterious side of Radiohead with a setlist that holds a few of my favourites like 'Street Spirit' and 'Pyramid Song'.
The band plays the perfect soundtrack for this hot day in June, while the sun is setting and more than 20,000 people are completely quiet. This band is painting with music notes, carefully placing them while the image slowly reveals itself, but the meaning is left to your own imagination. The band plays a stunning version of 'Exit Music For Film' with Thom Yorke's emotional vocals, whose cry outs in between songs are incomprehensible and awkward.
Tonight this band asks quite a lot of effort from the crowd, since this is a set that will be appreciated a lot by the true Radiohead fan, but may be a bit hard to get into for others. It explains the divided reactions after the show where some are completely over the moon and others expected more hit songs. For me it has been a dream ending to an amazing three days of gorgeous weather and wonderful music.
Best Kept Secret got criticised by many people last year for a good reason, including me. They failed at many levels and couldn't handle the bad weather and big crowds. However they took all that criticism seriously and totally worked it out, proving they are able to have this number of visitors and deal with them. This fifth edition simply was almost perfect in every sense and this festival has totally set the standard for me, which is a well deserved and huge compliment to the organization. At the same time they have raised the bar very high now and it's going to be interesting to see how they can cope with that next year.
As the end of the year is upon as the obligatory end of the year lists appear as well. So here's the one I sent in to FestivalInfo in the end. I was thinking of just publishing it here in alphabetical order since they're all great albums and the order isn't really important. And of course there are lots of other great albums that came out this year and I only heard a small part of them. So don't attach too much importance to this list of any of the lists. They are only there for a bit of fun. Let's remember all the wonderful musicians that left us this year and hope 2017 will be a better year. Have a good one and see you on the other side.
You must have been living under a rock if the news about Radiohead's new album A Moon Shaped Pool didn't reach you. An immense buzz surrounded the rumours about new music and when it was finally announced together with a tour, the internet exploded. Now you can even get a bit tired of all the Radiohead news when music news sources seem to bring you every small detail as headline. Of course all critics wanted to get their reviews out fast and couldn't stop raving about the new LP. So is it really that good?
With this band you know that they are probably the most favourite group of the whole alternative music scene, if that is a thing, and can make you a bit sceptic. Noel Gallagher said: "If Thom Yorke fucking shit into a light bulb...it'd get 9/10" and it seems that's not too far from the truth. But when you listen to the new record, you know he didn't shit in a light bulb at all, since it's stuffed with wonderful music.
All the critics are simply right this time. Right from the start with album opener 'Burn The Witch' you kind of know they did it again and delivered a master piece. The lush strings that we hear in it are the common thread running through the album. In general the arrangements are simply beautiful and well thought through. Every song gets exactly what it needs. The guitar and stylish drums in 'Present Tense', the piano and strings in the sad 'Glass Eyes', it's all spot on.
Like 'Burn The Witch', some songs did already pop up years before and simply took a long time to finish. The band played 'Ful Stop' before and now made it onto the record with it's buzzing bass. And all the time there's the fragile voice of Thom Yorke, creating this scenic slightly melancholic world like on 'Daydreaming'. 'The Numbers' may be one of the best songs Radiohead ever came up with. It starts with weird noises and a ringing piano slowly unfolding itself, where halfway the strings kick in until it ends the way it started.
Mostly the record has a melancholic feel to it with some sad moments. It ends this way as well with 'True Love Waits' which is a dark sad song built around piano sounds. People that once loved Radiohead but couldn't follow the direction leaving their rock sound behind, will not really like this album either. But for anyone that can appreciate anything they did from OK Computer and Kid A on, it is possibly their best one since those two illustrious predecessors. Once you start listening you can't stop and it has ended before you know it...so you start playing it again.
Leave it to Radiohead to create a buzz around a new album and accompanying tour. Rumours about a new record had been going around for months and when they cleared their social media accounts it was pretty clear something was about to happen. Still it was quite a surprise when new album A Moon Shaped Pool dropped so soon and their European tour was about to start in a few weeks. Demand for tickets was very high but still I managed to get my hands on them for the opening show in Amsterdam at the W.A.S.T.E. website in the pre sale. Lucky me indeed!
Needless to say all eyes are on the Heineken Music Hall tonight for the return of the band that is so big but at the same time doesn't feel like a big stadium act. The choice for this middle size venue that can hold around 5500 people is a good one, since it won't turn into a mass event and even can get quite intimate but still will do justice to the undoubtedly visual and musical spectacle that we’re going to witness tonight. And of course they need the room for all the fans that want to see their favourite band.
The band kicks off with new single and album opener ‘Burn The Witch’ which is instantly followed by a few more songs from the album in the exact same order. By the time we come to realize this and think that they may play the full new album integrally, ‘Morning Mr. Magpie’ follows. Once again the lighting and visuals, although modest, are wonderful and creative without taking the focus away from the music for a bit. The sound is spot on and I'm once again impressed by this band that manages to recreate the complicated and layered songs with such precision. They have chosen for the two drummer line-up again which is so important to be able to play the complex rhythmic structures but at the same time keeps it organic. Thom Yorke’s voice is clear with those almost out of key falsettos that give the songs the tension and emotion that you hear. And so we see the usual faces on stage without a string section as people were speculating because of the lush strings on A Moon Shaped Pool.
The band looks in great shape and there's so much joy on the faces of the musicians. It's clear they are happy to be back on stage and there's plenty of room for joking around and simply having a good time. Still it is the beginning of the tour and not everything runs smoothly. Yorke is even falling out of character when he gets the giggles. Smirking faces when things almost fail or someone actually does mess up, although nothing really serious. When the technique fails on them a few times, the band doesn't lose their cool but simply keeps on playing. Even when Jonny Greenwood’s guitar problems seem to take longer to get fixed, Yorke says they will start the song anyway and he can join whenever he feels like it. This band has seen it all and doesn't even blink when these things happen.
Radiohead is a one of a kind band and you know every show is unique. Simply because every setlist is unique and will hold a few rare gems, for example ‘Iron Lung’ tonight that didn't make a setlist for a long time. Many fans will even go a few nights in a row and experience a different show every time, that are hard to compare. Haters are gonna hate, but Radiohead remains a unique experience that surprises and grabs you every time. Maybe tonight’s show wasn’t perfect but it was certainly good to see this band return to the stage.
Setlist:
01. Burn the Witch
02. Daydreaming
03. Decks Dark
04. Desert Island Disk
05. Ful Stop
06. Morning Mr. Magpie
07. There There
08. The Daily Mail
09. My Iron Lung
10. Videotape
11. Identikit
12. The Numbers
13. The Gloaming
14. Lotus Flower
15. Everything in Its Right Place
16. Idioteque
17. Bodysnatchers Encore:
18. Bloom
19. Present Tense
20. Paranoid Android
21. Tinker Tailor Soldier Sailor Rich Man Poor Man Beggar Man Thief
22. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi Encore 2:
23. You and Whose Army?
24. Reckoner
If there's one band who has been pushing boundaries and keeps reinventing itself it has to be Radiohead. The band from Oxfordshire released The King Of Limbs already 1,5 years ago, but decided to wait a bit longer before visiting our small country. After radically changing musical direction a few times before, this album may have been hard on many a fan. I actually quite like it despite many critics calling it one of their less good records. And I was sure they would play many songs of it.
Radiohead at Ziggo Dome Amsterdam, October 14 2012
Unfortunately we end up late at the venue and have to miss Caribou who played first. We can find a spot somewhere halfway the field. Last time at the Pearl Jam concert we had seated tickets, so this is the first time that I'm in the field at this brand new venue. One thing is clear right away: the stage isn't high enough. Although I'm quite a tall person, I have to try my best to see the top of the stage. Throughout the concert I can only see the musicians from their knees up. A smaller person will have a hard time seeing anything at all.
When the show takes off, it's greeted with loud cheers. Fortunately there's plenty to see besides the band on the stage. A large video-wall with thousands of lights is showing abstract visuals, while twelve square flat screens are lowered from the ceiling. These panels can be moved in any direction, so that they will change position with every song. On top of the stage there are six more square screens. Small cameras make sure that every band member is showing in one of those screens. The twelve screens sometimes are working as a ceiling, other times creating a surreal image, like autumn leaves scattered around, frozen in time. Once again Radiohead have managed to create a stunning light show and visuals. A job well done by stage designer Andi Watson.
It combines perfectly with the music that is surreal itself from time to time. Kicking off with 'Bloom' of the new record, we get treated to a fine selection of songs. Many tracks of The King Of Limbs and from the older albums especially OK Computer and Hail To The Thief are well represented. Pablo Honey and The Bends are completely ignored. The band has added Portishead drummer Clive Deamer to team up with Phil Selway. This is a wise choice, since the complex rythms of the last couple of albums are impossible to play with just one drummer. Instead of using even more sequencers and samples, the two drummers are doing a great job playing the tough jazzy and breakbeat grooves.
The electronic sounds of the past years translate very well to this live environment. Together with the spectacular visuals, they seem to show us what's going on inside singer Thom Yorke. It's like he's showing us the inside of his brain, the images and music he's experiencing when he wrote the songs. Yorke himself has transformed into a confident front man. Moving around stage in his own, sometimes freaky way, submitting himself to the music, seemingly unaware of 15,000 persons watching him. As if he's just enjoying himself in his own living room. Guitarist Jonny Greenwood is even more involved in his own world. The two are left on stage by themselves for 'Give Up The Ghost' where Yorke is looping his voice on the spot to create his own backing vocals.
Twenty-four songs in total are played including the new song 'Ful Stop' and 'Supercollider'. 'A Wolf At The Door' even made it onto the setlist. In the third encore we get treated to a wild version of 'Idioteque' and then it's over. I'm left stunned, wondering what I've just experienced. Even now it's hard to describe. This was so much more than just a music concert. This was a total experience of the senses. Once again Radiohead have pushed the boundaries of the music world a bit further.
So Coachella 2012 is a wrap. Over the past weekend the visitors could watch some nice performances due to a great line-up. For any one not attending, the festival streamed many shows live on YouTube. Because of time differences and a stupid thing called "sleep" I hardly saw any showmyself. Hooray for the internet! Since many performances are now still available on YouTube. Continue reading for the list (most credits to go LiveXS). The Rapture Explosions in the Sky
Normally I don't do top 10 lists myself. But since I'm a writer for ROAR E-Zine, a Dutch music website, and they asked all their writers to come up with one I might as well post it over here as well.
The hard thing about year lists is, that they seem final, but in reality are just snapshots. So here's my 2011 snapshot:
And then The Black Keys release a great album just before the closing of the year that ends up at the top of my list. They seem to have found the perfect formula for great rock tunes: songs that are great compositions, keep on going and that I want to hear over and over again.
02. Arctic Monkeys - Suck It And See Just like the Arctic Monkeys who took revenge with Suck It And See for the, in my opinion, unjustified moderate response on predecessor Humbug. When they can keep up this level I expect a true classic in one or two albums.
And 2011 is without a doubt dEUS' year. Keep You Close left a big impression and meantime they are doing a true victory tour around clubs and festivals.
With a smart promotional campaign no one could ignore Foo Fighters' Wasting Light. And it's just as I like it: like a hit in the crotch and a kick in the ass.
And there were great Dutch releases, that just missed my list. Happy Camper did make it with its beautiful atmospheric songs and the wonderful varied vocals.
So there you have it. 2011 was a good year with great music and some great gigs as well. I can't wait for 2012! Happy New Year! Read more!
Well, dancing...kind of I guess. The track sounds pretty interesting with high pitched vocals and a groovy drum beat. I'm curious what the album 'The King Of Limbs' is gonna sound like.
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