On Stage: Tusky @ Sugarfactory

I loved the rock band John Coffey and it was really too bad they disbanded a few years ago. Their live shows were legendary and the energy of the band was simply hard to resist. Fortunately from its ashes rose Tusky, with John Coffey's guitarists Alfred van Luttikhuizen and Christoffer van Teijlingen (now on bass), completed with drummer Bas Allein Richir and John Coffey guitar-tech Sjors van Reeuwijk. The music is still punkrock but more straightforward powerrock than John Coffey. Think about a mix of early Foo Fighters and The Offspring and you get the idea. Time to see how if this band can live up to the live reputation of its illustrious predecessor.

Tusky at Sugarfactory Amsterdam, November 16 2018

The debut album of the band Rated Gnar is promising enough just from its cover art. A pink background with a cheerful but at the same time disturbing hairy male cartoon figure and the Tusky logo as its head. Just as the cover art the songs are both cheerful and energetic but also heavy, powerful and a bit aggressive. Enough to raise your fist to any way. As if it comes as a surprise, on stage this combines into a lively rock show that checks all the right boxes.

Van Luttikhuizen and van Teijlingen have seen many stages of all kinds of sizes during their time with John Coffey. This is clear from the convincing way they play at the front of the stage and act as if they are playing a much bigger venue than the small Sugarfactory. This translates into a big ball of energy and a fired up crowd. People are crowd surfing, moshing and even form a wall of death. The music does the rest and it is clear everyone inside here is having a great time. When van Teijlingen asks for a circle pit around the sound table, people obey willingly and start running around the sound engineer who is desperately fencing off the expensive equipment. He's smiling though as he knows it is just innocent play and he knows how these shows go down.

The catchy punkrock songs are a perfect soundtrack of course for a wild night on the dance floor and Tusky's music can be regarded as such. It is rock music to have fun with and have a good time. This is exactly what the band is showing on stage as well, simply four guys having the time of their lives playing in a rock band. That's exactly the way I like it. Like their album art, Tusky is a band that is about simply having fun, but with a rough edge. John Coffey is dead, long live Tusky!



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On Stage: MIEN @ Sugarfactory

The members of new band MIEN may sound familiar, since the band consists of The Black Angels‘ Alex Maas, The Horrors‘ Tom Furse, Elephant Stone’s Rishi Dhir and The Earlies’ John Mark Lapham. They met on several different occasions which resulted in this collective, who are looking for a The Velvet Underground with Nico sound, reimagined by their respective bands. The result is a psychedelic journey rooted in the sixties. The group is now on a small tour that also crosses my hometown.

MIEN at Sugarfactory Amsterdam, September 25 2018

The show has been moved from the Melkweg to the smaller venue Sugarfactory. It is obvious why when I enter the small hall just before the show starts. Less than fifty people are in here and there still is plenty of room. It is nice to be up close to the band though who are on the same level as the crowd.

During the performance, visuals are projected on the back curtain to accompany the psychedelic music. There isn't a lot of light to show the band as they are performing mostly in dark blue lighting (which explains my dark fuzzy pictures). The sound isn't great during the show although it gets a bit better halfway. Especially the vocals which are full of reverb, are hard to pick up. Of course it is part of the psychedelic sound, but they seem to be drowning in the rest of the music, which is especially dominated by loud drums.

It makes it hard to get into the music, which should be right up my alley. I love all those bands, and I think this combination is quite interesting. Rishi Dhir is playing bass but sometimes switches to his beloved sitar, which simply is an instrument that goes perfect with this kind of music. But tonight the several layers aren't really blending together and the music misses its effect. Instead it all starts to sound alike. The band isn't really connecting with the small crowd, who mostly are waiting for something to happen. The last couple of songs sound better and we get a trace of what is possible: a psychedelic new wave version of The Velvet Underground. Too bad it is only a small part of the show that sounds good enough.

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On Stage: Yasmine + JAGD @ Sugarfactory

The two promising bands Yasmine and JAGD were both competing in the local band competition Amsterdamse Popprijs in 2017 where JAGD came out as the big winner. Now they are teaming up for a series of gigs where they are appear to be competing again.

Yasmine + JAGD at Sugarfactory Amsterdam, March 30 2018

There’s no real fight tonight of course, it’s just the theme of this series of shows. Screens are showing old boxing fights and both bands perform in a boxing ring. It looks pretty cool, although maybe not very practical sound wise, but the bands are really close to the crowd.

Yasmine
First up are Yasmine, who play garage pop songs. The group doesn’t like to make it easy for themselves or their audience. Their songs are clever and require a bit of work to get into. The three musicians are obviously very skilled and the songs have interesting structures and themes. Singer and guitar player Kevin van Moorsel is pretty good at small talk with the audience and is convincing as a front man. It will be interesting to see how far this band can go.



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JAGD
It looks like JAGD has a fast growing fan base as the hall has filled up some more. The band doesn’t waste any time and sets fire to the place right away with their contagious punk rock songs. It’s impossible to stand still when these guys and girl fire up one catchy rock tune after another. The 80s new wave twist works very well and the rhythm section adds plenty of groove that give the songs the right amount of spice. Singer Nanne van der Linden’s rough vocals bring even more fire and it doesn’t take long for a mosh pit to appear in front of the stage. By the end the fans in the pit have completely lost it and are literally flying through the room, including the band's guitar player Jos Neering. JAGD knows how to throw a good party.



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It’s good to see bands like this team up, since they can use all the help they need to play plenty of shows and hopefully in the end work their way up to an established spot in the music scene. Both groups have shown plenty of potential to get there, so tonight everyone wins.

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On Stage: together PANGEA

Whenever the garage rock band together PANGEA is coming to town you better make sure you catch them, since they are guaranteed to bring the place down and will give everyone a good time. So when they were visiting Amsterdam again I made sure I was not gonna miss them and made my way to the Sugarfactory.

together PANGEA at Sugarfactory Amsterdam, February 1 2016



Supporting act of the night is the new garage rock band St. Tropez. They started out as a bit of a mystery but not for very long when people found out it was the reincarnation of Dutch rock band Go Back To The Zoo. A little while later they announced that GBTTZ no longer exists and they were focusing on their new group. Tonight the band proves this is a good choice. Although with GBTTZ they made quite a few catchy songs that was appealing to especially a young crowd, St. Tropez seems to fit the group better. Bass player Lars Kroon now also is the lead singer of the band and is doing a good job at it. He jumps off the stage a few times to dance in front of it or to do a wild stroll across the floor with his bass still strapped on. According to the band they have written many songs and their performance tonight makes me look forward to hearing them.



The crowd is warmed up quite well by the time together PANGEA takes the stage, so right form the beginning a pit forms that will stay there for the entire show and will only grow bigger. The band makes clear why they are such a good live band that people like so much. Their songs have a lot of variation ranging from catchy pop songs to wild and rough garage rock songs with heavy riffs.



The band is touring in support of their new EP The Phage and we can hear a few songs from it. I don't think the people in the pit really care which songs they play, just as long as they keep playing. Half of the people in the small venue is dancing like crazy to the uplifting rock songs, while stage divers are constantly climbing the stage and crowd surfers keep going round. Their big hits 'Badillac' and 'Too Drunk To Cum' are greeted with cheers and excitement by the young crowd. In the end the band can only watch this scene approvingly and be pleased. Another victorious night and another place they have played to pieces. Unfortunately the dark and smoky venue makes it impossible for me to shoot decent pictures, so that's why you the crappy ones. See you again next time guys!



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