On Stage: Wolf Alice at Bitterzoet Amsterdam

It's been quite a year for British band Wolf Alice. Their long awaited debut album My Love Is Cool was received very well and landed them a spot on Glastonbury and numerous other festivals and even got them a Mercury Price nomination. Within no time they outgrew the smaller stages and are now moving to the bigger clubs. Fortunately they were booked in Bitterzoet before that, so this is the last chance I get to see them in a small club.

Wolf Alice at Bitterzoet Amsterdam, November 24 2015



Needless to say the venue was sold out weeks before the show. In the meantime a new show was announced in February in the much bigger Paradiso. So everyone here tonight kind of feels lucky to be able to see this band on the rise in such a cosy environment. They kick it off in style with 'Your Loves Whore' and right from the start it's clear this band has spent many miles on the road. Every song sounds very convincing and the group is playing like a well oiled machine. The mix of grunge and electronic music works very well and sounds great tonight.



Wolf Alice is clearly able to write very good songs, since the album doesn't have a weak one on it. And so it already sounds like a greatest hits setlist. It does take a while though before the crowd gets wild. Singer Ellie Rowsell doesn't talk to crowd a lot, but bass player Theo Ellis is the one that will occasionally shout out or try to fire us up. But although everything sounds great, there isn't a real fire starting. A small pit is forming in front of the stage where people are dancing and jumping, but the band could have picked it up a notch to really make this room go wild. All the ingredients are there, but they just forget to light the explosive mix.



Maybe it's because they play the same setlist every night and are starting to run it like a routine by now. It's something you can forgive a young band like this, who want to play as good as possible and can't solely rely on experience. Of course they don't have that many songs to choose from anyway. Besides it's only a minor detail in an otherwise flawless show. Rowsell's voice is strong and clear and the sound mix is pretty good tonight. Before the encore Rowsell leaves the stage at the wrong side of the stage and probably spent the break in limbo. When she returns she's giggling about it and it's nice to see these young musicians still have a whole new world to discover. In the end we've seen a band who already is too big for such a stage and may even play the large venues and festival's main stages in a few years.



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Setlist:
01. Your Loves Whore
02. Freazy
03. Bros
04. You're a Germ
05. Lisbon
06. Silk
07. The Wonderwhy
08. Storms
09. 90 Mile Beach
10. Swallowtail
11. Fluffy
12. She
13. Moaning Lisa Smile
Encore:
14. Blush
15. Giant Peach


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On Stage: Speedfest at Klokgebouw Eindhoven

For the tenth time Eindhoven band Peter Pan Speedrock are organizing their Speedfest festival, that focuses on everything heavy. Things took an ugly turn last week with the Paris terrorist attacks that cast a dark shadow on the music scene and took away one of their headlining bands Eagles of Death Metal.

Speedfest at Klokgebouw Eindhoven, November 21 2015

The schedule was shuffled a bit to deal with the empty spot in the line-up and security was increased. It causes a bit of a delay when entering the festival which was announced by the organization days ahead of the festival, but the seemingly long line moves fast. We arrived a little later than planned anyway and unfortunately therefore have to miss some of the early bands.



Scorpion Child
We can still catch the last bit of Scorpion Child's show, a hardrock band from Austin, Texas who made the big step across the pond this year. Their retro style hardrock, on the heavy side of Led Zeppelin, is not a bad start of the day. Solid guitar riffs on heavy grooves support the howls of singer Aryn Jonathan Black. It definitely got us warmed up for what's more to come.

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Backyard Babies
A big skull, the logo of the band, is grinning at us from the back drop behind the Swedish Backyard Babies, but at the same time red LED lights are running around the amps on stage. This means it's time for some sleaze rock from this group that has been around since 1987. All these years pay off in a tight show that is a mix of hard rock and punk, but always with some tongue in cheek. Their sound reminds of Guns N' Roses a lot, but more importantly the band is playing very convincingly and with a lot of heart. They showcase all rock poses known to men and make use of small risers at the front of the stage to go through them. It results in a very entertaining show and positive vibes across the hall.

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Nick Oliveri's Mondo Generator
I was disappointed with Nick Oliveri's latest album and wasn't even planning on going to his performance today. Fortunately my friends wanted to go, so I find myself at a surprisingly tight show with lots of stoner. The former Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age bass player is going through his whole long music background and is playing a mix of stoner and metal. Of course the name "Mondo Generator" comes from the Kyuss era, but especially the stoner songs sound great, with heavy grooves, laid down by the three piece band, sounding very tight. Oliveri shows why he was so important for Kyuss and Queens of the Stone Age in the earlier days.

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Giuda
Unfortunately it leaves little time for Giuda who are about to wrap up their show. The Italian band play retro style glam rock in the style of T. Rex and The Sweet and are doing a good job at it. Both band and crowd are all fired up and singer Tenda's voice is strong. Hopefully next time I will be able to watch them longer.

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The Dictators NYC
Punk band The Dictators are regarded as the missing link between bands like MC5 and The Stooges and the later punk wave in the late seventies. They had a few line-up changes but still have some of the original members including front man Richard Manitoba, guitarist Ross Friedman. They went on a long hiatus halfway the seventies only to return beginning of the nineties. The band, solely relying on their old songs because of lack of new material, shows why they are still meaningful with an inspired performance that breaths their long history. Especially Manitoba, Friedman and bassist Dean Rispler, although grey and older, act like young dogs and show they still haven't lost their touch.

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Crobot
One thing I like about this festival is the number of fresh hardrock bands like Crobot. The band from Pennsylvania has a typical retro hardrock sound with that heavy blues core. They went on tour with Motörhead a few months ago and by the sound of it will have won some new fans over. Singer Brandon Yeagley has an impressive voice and looks like a rabies dog now and then when he has his eyes spread wide open. It certainly rubs off on the crowd and it results in an energetic performance.

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Danko Jones
By the time Danko Jones take the stage, this festival is running at full speed and power now and you can leave it up to Danko Jones to put some more oil on the fire, especially on a festival like this. It is clear Danko Jones himself is feeling like a kid in a candy store, with so many great rock bands around, something he tells the crowd halfway the show. It makes their show even more explosive where bass player John Calabrese is firing up the crowd in his usual fashion with a never fading smile on his face.



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Refused
All fired up it is time for Refused to keep this party going and it's exactly what they are doing. The Swedish band became something of a cult name during their hiatus that started end of the nineties. I was expecting to find more people at their show, but maybe I've just overestimated their popularity. It doesn't matter since the band is still full of fire and is playing an inspired show. Singer Dennis Lyxzén is all over the place and the wild punk songs sound sharp and convincing. Always a band to share their political opinion Lyxzén briefly addresses the Paris attacks at the end of the show, with a well meant short speech. Hopefully they are now here to stay for many years to come.



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After their show is over, there's a moment of silence out of respect for the victims of the terrorist attacks. This is the spot Eagles of Death Metal was supposed to play and it's the only time today the Klokgebouw is absolutely quiet and isn't shaking from the heavy rock grooves. It's a well chosen moment and everyone honours the silence.



Peter Pan Speedrock
Organizers Peter Pan Speedrock are now playing themselves and moved up in the bill to fill up the empty spot. The large turn up for their performance, shows everyone is fine with this change in the line-up. Their no-nonsense straight on heavy rock, reminds of Motörhead sometimes with double bass grooves and blast beats. It's obvious it goes down well with the crowd, who shake their heads and down a few more beers.



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The Vintage Caravan
The festival is far from over after the show of the hosts and there are a few more bands still to come. We watch our last band of the day, The Vintage Caravan from Iceland. The band is playing classic style psychedelic rock inspired by the big bands from that era like Led Zeppelin, Rush and Cream. The band is doing a good job at it, playing heavy groovy jams with great sounding guitar solos. However sometimes the prog rock elements can make it a bit weary and unfortunately singer Óskar Logi Ágústsson's voice isn't really strong. Still it is a nice end to a heavy but satisfying day.



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Today showed that the terrorist attacks in Paris has left its marks in the music scene especially the rock scene. Personally I feel it affected me too, since music has always been my happy place. No matter how I feel, when I play a record, but especially when I go see a band play, I feel energized and happy again. The attacks in Paris violated that world and my happy place. But today Speedfest and all the wonderful people at the festival restored it in all its glory. It also showed that you can't rob us from our music, since it will always bounce back.

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On Stage: Taxiwars at Bitterzoet Amsterdam

Of course Tom Barman is known for one of Belgium's finest bands dEUS, but he keeps himself busy with numerous other projects. We learned about his newest project Taxiwars at the Into The Great Wide Open Festival last September. Their performance there sure tasted like more so we headed to Bitterzoet to get more.

Taxiwars at Bitterzoet Amsterdam, November 13 2015



The cosy venue has filled up quite nicely and we're eager to see this band play. The combination of exciting jazz with Barman's lyrics and vocals are simply a great match. Indeed again the band is convincing and plays a fired up show with plenty to enjoy. Saxophone player Robin Verheyen is mostly playing his tenor sax. The one time he wants to play his soprano it doesn't cooperate and he decides to play part of the song on his tenor after all. It doesn't matter since Verheyen treats us to thrilling solo's that sometimes are crazy free jazz and other times are bop style pieces. But all of the time he knows how to keep it interesting.



Completing the combo are contra bass player Nicolas Thys and drum player Antoine Pierre, who play very catchy grooves, which make the songs hard to stand still to. It also enables Barman to embed his vocals into the groove, which works very well. It's wonderful to see how Barman is clearly enjoying making music in this band, judging from the big smile on his face and the freaky dance moves. When the band is playing solos, Barman moves to the stage to let them take the spotlights.



It's a delight to see top musicians like this make such exciting music together and have such a great time at it. Parts of the music is improvised on the spot which keeps them on their toes and gives them the opportunity to surprise each other. It's another example of how exciting and danceable jazz music can be.



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