True fans of the blog will know that Bitterzoet isn’t exactly my favorite spot to watch live music in Amsterdam. It has however hosted two great shows so far: These New Puritans and Titus Andronicus. TA was on a double bill with Surfer Blood who played last, but the more lasting impression was made by the 5-some from New Jersey.
When I got my ticket it was just for Surfer Blood. Their song “Swim” is #1 over the first 4 months of the Explorer 23 and their album is good, although at times uneven. So was their show. Frontman John Paul Pitts has looked into Ezra Koenig’s book of stage presence and moves and the band is youthful and fresh as the album is. “Swim” & “Catholic Kids” are great songs and potential anthems but the overall quality of the songs just doesn’t cut it compared to opener Titus Andronicus, who’s excellent 2nd album I’ve discussed a few weeks ago. It was a very pleasant surprise that they were added to the bill. As if you’re buying some fries in a restaurant and getting a juicy steak with it for free.
Starting with “A More Perfect Union” the band took off and never looked back. Bitterzoet’s stage is too small for a band with this energy. You can’t even fit 4 guitars on stage, the bass player had to stand sideways to leave some room for the jumping around of the other members. A collage of guitar sounds, piano and at times violins let to beautiful noise, broken at times by awesome breaks. You never know when a song is ended before the next one starts. They leave you guessing. The high energy led to some jumping around in the room too where a few glasses did not live to see the end. Yes, another great use of the Bitterzoet glasses: a potential danger for enthusiastic dancers next to being a nuisance during quiet shows.
Playing songs from both albums the power was more in the energy than in the songs itself, for that the lyrics were not easy to understand and the theme of the second album, war, didn’t quite get through to most of the audience. Highlight of the night, and one of the highlights of the year, was when singer Patrick Stickles joined the dancers on the floor during “Titus Andronicus” shouting ‘Your Life is Over’.
Surfer Blood may have more mass-appeal and hit-potential but the band that made a much bigger impression was Titus Andronicus. Both bands will hopefully play bigger venues next time around.
Showing posts with label bitterzoet. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bitterzoet. Show all posts
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Sunday, May 2, 2010
No Fluffy Bunnies, These New Puritans in Bitterzoet April 28th, 2010
That Bitterzoet wasn’t even sold out for These New Puritans is beyond me. But then again confusion and uneasiness seem to be an emotions linked to TNP like feeling nothing is to let’s say… Matchbox 20.Touring to support their fabulous ‘Hidden’ album the foursome left an impression that will not be forgotten easily. If it was a great show? I couldn’t honestly tell you. Depends on what your definition of a great show is. If a concert is supposed to make you feel more happy afterwards than they failed miserably, if a concert is supposed to evoke strong emotions than they passed with flying colors and it will easily be one of the best shows of the year so far.
My biggest question beforehand was how they would recreate the sounds and atmosphere of the album and most of all the beats. With one tight drummer and one smashing drums half of the time while working samplers at the same time this was no problem. Battery songs is what frontman Jack Barnett calls them and ‘Attack Music’, ‘Three Thousand’ and ‘Drum Courts’ made you feel like you were at one time back in the late 70’s at a Joy Division concert but at the same time in that dancing scene from the Matrix movies. Keyboard player Sophie Sleigh-Johnson’s never changing facial expression definitely added to a more gothlike atmosphere. A band playing this tight is a sight to behold and summons up memories of Battles and Shellac. The amount of improvisation is something I did not expect at all. Loops with last longer or shorter, the guitar sounds was different but it all came together.
Barnett was at most times inaudible, due in part to huge echo on his microphone. If you didn’t know what the album was about you could still feel that it wasn’t about daisies and fluffy bunnies but about something more serious. Confusion was only added when Barnett kept saying it was the last song for about 5 songs.
War is serious but will also leave you with scars for the rest of your life. TNP is serious and it will leave a scar for a very long time.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
These Days.... Tallest Man on Earth in Paradiso
Wanted Barman for Bitterzoet.
Skills needed:
- knowing how to slam a cash register shut
- sort change during quiet songs
- stack glasswork as loud as possible
Benefits:
- people will look at you all the time
- artists will stare you down
- you can drink on the job and be even more oblivious to the reasons people paid money to come to your workplace
Ok, that will be all my complaining about by far the worst music venue in Amsterdam. Why Paradiso ever collaborated with this affront to good music is beyond me. They should be ashamed. Let’s hope it’s better when the punkrock/surfrock bands come and play there.
But now the good part. The Tallest Man on Earth returned to Amsterdam. With a new album coming out in April he once again prowled over the stage. To see him play is not just listening to songs that are great, but it’s an experience in itself. He stares into the crowd, holds his head really close to the audience, walks around stage, kicks over some crate and at one time even walked a few meters into the audience. Playing some songs from his new album but mostly songs from his “Shallow Grave” in a sold-out venue and still getting most of the venue quiet, it’s a feat. In one twitter-feed I read that someone said something along the lines of “I hate it when people feel you need to be quiet during a show”. Well, it’s true. You can yap away about your puny lives somewhere else. Go sit in the smoking room for example. Or just go outside and give your ticket to someone who really wants to see this remarkable artist at work. TMOE knows how to get an audience quiet, if the music doesn’t do it he will stare at you, shooting guitar sounds your way.
He looked somewhat more at ease than in September. He talked more about his day and the city but was also tired. He played one encore, a beautiful version of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” (made popular also by Nico). A great ending to a musically great show. Please return Tallest Man, there’s a few bigger stages waiting for you.
For more about his music and playing read an earlier review I wrote.
Thanks Florine for the video
Skills needed:
- knowing how to slam a cash register shut
- sort change during quiet songs
- stack glasswork as loud as possible
Benefits:
- people will look at you all the time
- artists will stare you down
- you can drink on the job and be even more oblivious to the reasons people paid money to come to your workplace
Ok, that will be all my complaining about by far the worst music venue in Amsterdam. Why Paradiso ever collaborated with this affront to good music is beyond me. They should be ashamed. Let’s hope it’s better when the punkrock/surfrock bands come and play there.
But now the good part. The Tallest Man on Earth returned to Amsterdam. With a new album coming out in April he once again prowled over the stage. To see him play is not just listening to songs that are great, but it’s an experience in itself. He stares into the crowd, holds his head really close to the audience, walks around stage, kicks over some crate and at one time even walked a few meters into the audience. Playing some songs from his new album but mostly songs from his “Shallow Grave” in a sold-out venue and still getting most of the venue quiet, it’s a feat. In one twitter-feed I read that someone said something along the lines of “I hate it when people feel you need to be quiet during a show”. Well, it’s true. You can yap away about your puny lives somewhere else. Go sit in the smoking room for example. Or just go outside and give your ticket to someone who really wants to see this remarkable artist at work. TMOE knows how to get an audience quiet, if the music doesn’t do it he will stare at you, shooting guitar sounds your way.
He looked somewhat more at ease than in September. He talked more about his day and the city but was also tired. He played one encore, a beautiful version of Jackson Browne’s “These Days” (made popular also by Nico). A great ending to a musically great show. Please return Tallest Man, there’s a few bigger stages waiting for you.
For more about his music and playing read an earlier review I wrote.
Thanks Florine for the video
Thursday, February 4, 2010
A Bittersweet Night. Lou Barlow in Bitterzoet
Bitterzoet is a new venue near Amsterdam’s central station. It is small but has the advantage of stairs and a balcony. The first thing I noticed in Bitterzoet are the glasses, made from actual glass. Must mean that they don’t expect too many rowdy visitors. But when Lou Barlow starts playing his first songs and the entire crowd gets quiet the biggest flaw of the venue becomes painfully clear. The bar is located a few meters from the stage and the bartenders make almost more noise with the glasses than Barlow does with his guitar.
If Lou Barlow plays alone prepare for a very intimate set. Almost all the people in the crowd are fortunately familiar with this so there aren’t too many a-holes who find it necessary to talk through the show. The bartenders are clueless however and when Lou plays ‘Rebound’ in my right ear I am annoyed by the sounds of stacked glasses in my left ear, with some euro coins providing the percussion. De Melkweg has the bar(s) in the corner in the back and the same is true for the Paradiso main room. The Paradiso upstairs has even moved the bar behind a door. They also use plastic, a much better option. It seems like Bitterzoet wasn’t planned to be a music venue, otherwise the planners should be compared to those guys who made that wobbly bridge in the Northwest US or that art museum in Denver that leaks…
But this luckily isn’t a solo set. Two bandmembers join him for a loud set and the glasses are forgotten. Playing mostly new songs they seem to be enjoying themselves but only rarely do we get a glimpse of the legend of indierock that he is. The songs are good, in fact the quality is as always high. What else can you expect from a man who was responsible for the great songs on Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Folk Implosion and now under his own name. It’s always different: swinging the bass with Dinosaur JR, playing rock shows with Sebadoh or the most intimate concerts you can think of when he is alone with his guitar. There are only a few people who can get an entire room quiet and when he played his classic ‘Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)’ he did just that. And without too much glasswork.
If Lou Barlow plays alone prepare for a very intimate set. Almost all the people in the crowd are fortunately familiar with this so there aren’t too many a-holes who find it necessary to talk through the show. The bartenders are clueless however and when Lou plays ‘Rebound’ in my right ear I am annoyed by the sounds of stacked glasses in my left ear, with some euro coins providing the percussion. De Melkweg has the bar(s) in the corner in the back and the same is true for the Paradiso main room. The Paradiso upstairs has even moved the bar behind a door. They also use plastic, a much better option. It seems like Bitterzoet wasn’t planned to be a music venue, otherwise the planners should be compared to those guys who made that wobbly bridge in the Northwest US or that art museum in Denver that leaks…
But this luckily isn’t a solo set. Two bandmembers join him for a loud set and the glasses are forgotten. Playing mostly new songs they seem to be enjoying themselves but only rarely do we get a glimpse of the legend of indierock that he is. The songs are good, in fact the quality is as always high. What else can you expect from a man who was responsible for the great songs on Sebadoh, Sentridoh, Folk Implosion and now under his own name. It’s always different: swinging the bass with Dinosaur JR, playing rock shows with Sebadoh or the most intimate concerts you can think of when he is alone with his guitar. There are only a few people who can get an entire room quiet and when he played his classic ‘Think (Let Tomorrow Bee)’ he did just that. And without too much glasswork.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)