On Stage: Helemaal Melkweg

Amsterdam venue the Melkweg has its own festival where you're able to wander through the whole building and experience the broad cultural spectrum they have to offer. It's an evening filled with music, movies, theater and expositions. One of the bands playing tonight New Cool Collective happens to be one of my favourites, so I don't need a lot of persuasion to join my friends.

Helemaal Melkweg festival at Melkweg Amsterdam, February 28 2015

The festival is off to an early start which is hard to make so we arrive at the venue just before New Cool Collective is about to start.



New Cool Collective
Last year the jazz collective released two albums, one with Dutch singer Guus Meeuwis and one by itself. That last one is in line with the rest of their catalogue and the focus of tonight's performance. The groovy record gets the best live treatment you can get as is to be expected from this unique band. Even though the festival has sold out, it spreads the visitors out all over the place which means the big hall isn't overcrowded like with sold out shows. Instead we can move close to the stage and have a great view on everything that is happening.



The band is tight as usual and impresses once again with their stunning play, swinging solos and the sheer joy of playing together. Fortunately they are allowed to play quite a long set which enables every single one of them to shine in the spot light. For me this band's performance makes this night more that worth it.

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But it's not over yet. This night is only just beginning. Unfortunately the Dubioza Kolektiv is playing at the same time as New Cool Collective but also has filled up the small hall completely. It looks like they threw quite a party since we see sweaty people with big smiles afterwards.



Memphis Soul Revue
Instead we catch the end of the Memphis Soul Revue which has a top notch band and some great singers lined up. By the time we get there we see Tameka "Big Baby" Goodman, background singer for Snoop Dogg, kick off her part of the show. Her big appearance and strong voice are impressive, carrying plenty of soul. In between Peter Corn is singing a few songs, but his voice doesn't appeal to me. By playing only soul standards it also never really gets very exciting but instead even becomesa bit boring. It feels like watching a very good cover band doing their routine, so we decide to have a beer instead.



TenTemPiés
Fortunately there's one more performance scheduled. Amsterdam band TenTemPiés are closing the live part of the program tonight. Although they are a band from this country, there music is a lot more exotic, which is no wonder with the Chilean influences in this group. Their cheerful music and enthusiastic performance starts Spring early this year. The crowd is more than willing to join in on the sunny festivities and so the festival goes out on a high.

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But it's not over yet. There's more dancing to do during the Jazzbop event where there are only happy faces showing and bottles of beer. Great combo of course.



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Liberation Day Ends In Tropical Party

Dutch Liberation Day on the 5th of May is a bank holiday only once every five years. So this year I had to work and couldn't see any of the bands that were playing during the day. But at night I went down town straight away to check out some of the bands playing in the evening.

Ten Tempiés
We kick it off with this band that is playing a mix of rock, ska with a latin-american flavour. The songs are in Spanish which isn't a surprise since singer Maurino Alarcón is originally from Chili. It gives the songs an extra touch. I don't speak Spanish but I read that the lyrics are about social abuses and injustice. Their music reminds me of a band called La Pegatina that I saw on Lowlands last year. It is hard not to move your booty to this music.



Case Mayfield
This singer/songwriter was warming up the crowd for Happy Camper in April. It isn't a big crowd watching which probably has to do with the location. He only plays three songs but once again I'm impressed with his singing and quality of his songs. Afterwards I heard he wasn't feeling too good about himself and his performance at all. Imagine when he is. I hope he will bring out a record some time soon.



Houses
After seeing them as a support act in the Melkweg earlier this year I was curious if a second performance would be just as interesting. And I'm not disappointed since they are playing a tight set. Their songs sound interesting enough and I would love to listen to more of their music. They are working on their first album right now and it should be out in September. I'll be sure to catch that one.



Jungle By Night
These young guys are the ones to close the stage at the Nes square. They have been able to reach out to quite some people in the past months. Many have heard of them by now and the small square fills up quite quickly. And they know what everyone needs right now. Within no time they have everyone moving and the warm night turns into a tropical party. The boys are loving it and it's great fun to watch them play and enjoy their catchy afro beat tracks. It's impressive that such young musicians are working on afro beat jazz songs and can turn it into something modern that appeals to so many people.

And so this year's Liberation Day ends like it should: with a great party.

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