The Avett Brothers in Paradiso: March 22, 2010

It took the Avett Brothers a decade to finally make it to the Netherlands for their first ever show. Why it took them so long? It beats me because the two brothers have proven to be some of the most talented songwriters of the last few years. In their native US they have been on shows like Letterman and Conan and their albums chart high. Here their latest record “I and Love and You” won’t be released until April.

The Avett Brothers fit into the Americana category but are not afraid to stray outside of the genre. It is true that folk, country and bluegrass are the main ingredients of their music but they also show that they listen to contemporary music since it has influences from seventies rock and 80’s punk (one reviewer used the word grungegrass). Their career has developed steadily the last decade and only with the last album ended up on Rick Rubin's label, who also produced their album.

Most of the songs are performed with acoustic guitar, banjo, bass (both electric and standup) and cello. The brothers also use kick- and bassdrums with their feet to add power when the song calls for it. They do change instruments all throughout the show with both playing acoustic and electric guitar, drums and keyboards. Both are accomplished singers but it’s Scott whose powerful voice is the strongest and contrasts nicely with Seth’s softer and higher voice. Songs are performed with power and enthusiasm and the band seemed to enjoy, easily playing for 90 minutes. They add energy to the songs that is sometimes lacking on the albums and broke quite a few strings in the process. I counted at least 8 but would not be surprised if it was more.

Their biggest strength is their songwriting. There are some pop gems like “Kick Drum Heart” and “Slight Figure of Speech”, ballads like “January Wedding” and even a power ballad, the beautiful “Head Full of Doubt/ Road Full of Promise”. They played songs from all their records since 2004 but the most (and best) were from ‘Introducing Emotinalism’ and ‘I and Love and You’. At an Avett Brothers you will jump along, laugh (“Yardsale”), listen to the harmonies and sing along for 5 minutes (“Go To Sleep”).

The Paradiso small room was sold out, let’s hope they will win many more fans and play in the big room next time. After a decade of writing beautiful songs they deserve it and energetic live shows like this can only help their stature.

Everything With Little

Blood Red Shoes in Paradiso, Amsterdam on March 17th, 2009

According to drummer Steven Ansell the Paradiso show was the biggest they ever headlined. Touring in support of their new album “Fire Like This” the show was loud, tight and energetic. Warm-up act “Pulled Apart By Horses” was fitting and at times I wondered if this was how Nirvana sounded about 20 years ago in this same venue.

Blood Red Shoes have perfected the art of doing everything with the bare minimum. It’s not a band you go to watch amazing musical ability. Laura-Mary Carter’s guitar playing is simple: easy riffs and chords that most accomplished players will be able to play, but she plays them loud, she plays them tight and she plays them well. No Springtime guitar unfortunately, that would have been a real treat. Steven Ansell uses his drumkit entirely to give the music something extra. You never miss any other instrument with both getting everything out of their instruments. They are not the best singers, in fact the singing doesn’t really add anything, but they sing anthems that people can anticipate, jump around on and sing along. Their mix of grunge and punk rock doesn’t sound very English but their unique setup allows them to have an own style that might not be very inventive, but very effective as a live band.

A few times both mentioned how much fun they were having and the crowd seemed to enjoy it as much as the band. Dozens of people jumped off the stage into the audience to be carried far into the room. At times you could see more people looking at the surfers than the band.
After the show ended Ansell decided to top his great night out with a jump into the audience and was carried all the way to the end, followed a few minutes later by Laura-Mary. It seemed a fitting tribute to the sometimes crazy crowdsurfers.

Return of the Surfrock

Good to hear that some young dudes in the US are listening to some good old garage rock with their guitar amps turned to 11 on the treble/reverb. Guys who like music but could probably work with you in the office doing some boring desk job, but with a side that not everyone at the workplace knows about.

The Drums have had some success with their phenomenal single "Let's Go Surfing". Album is good, but at times too poppy. Surfer Blood will be discussed in a later post about their great "Astro Coast" album. Their "Swim" single is currently riding high in the Explorer 23.

Two weeks ago the Soft Pack played a very short and energetic show in the Paradiso upstairs room. 40 minutes, almost no breaks, loud and fast and with no encore. That is rock and roll like it should be.

Their self-titled debut-album is a wonderful collection of garagesurfrock. Starting with the single 'C'mon' (sing along everyone!) and 9 other great tracks the album clocks just over half an hour. Perfect length for this type of music. There's great rhythm and some nice twangy guitar riffs. And of course the surf-organ is present adding some authenticity to the record.

Garage Rock and surf rock prop up about every 15 years and it's good to see that a music style that is based on just a few chords and an abundance of energy still lasts and is still reinvented to fit the 21st century. Drums, Soft Pack and Surfer Blood are certainly doing that. Going to be the summer of surf!

Vampire Weekend - Paradiso 24 Feb 2010

On the hottest day of the year so far, a toasty 7 degrees (or high 30’s for you Fahrenheit people), Vampire Weekend played in Paradiso on their tour to support the release of their sophomore album “Contra” released earlier this year.
With a depiction of the album on the huge canvas behind them staring out over the room (sometimes with green or red eyes) and with chandeliers above them they played a very energetic show with almost all of their songs with the exception of two or three.

Starting with ‘White Sky’ and ‘Holiday’ the crowd was warmed up. Not that they needed that, Paradiso seemed like a sauna with even higher temps the night before at the Beach House show upstairs. If the music didn’t do it all, it was singer Ezra Koenig who added the finishing touch, interacting with the crowd and introducing some of the songs. His movement was fun to look at and I bet there are now a few pictures on the interweb with him posing in one of the many rockstar poses he showed tonight. But don’t worry, a rockstar he is not.
Things have gone fast for them. Two years they were still a small band playing in the small upstairs room, and now in the sold out main room. But that’s what you get when you can write fan favorite songs like ‘A-Punk’, ‘Cousins’ and ‘Campus’ but also make music interesting enough for any music fan. Weird and always changing rhythms, the clear sound of keyboards and bass and Koenig’s clear guitar, with high treble. VW is a truly unique band who have found a way to bring their music to the stage. Maybe not by playing the songs that much different from the albums, but why change something that is already good.

(the picture is from the OOR website which I used without any permission whatsoever)


Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa from the Paradiso show, thanks Jackelien Beerens for posting this on YouTube, sound quality is great.

Wide Eyed Explorer for May 12th.

Hello again.

Besides our regular Top 23 also a review of Love is All (and Franz Ferdinand)


01 02 03 Neko Case - People Got A Lot Of Nerve
02 06 03 The Thermals - Now We Can See
03 04 03 The Galacticos - He Said She Said
04 03 03 The Horrors - Sea Within A Sea
05 08 02 De Staat - Wait for Evolution
06 05 03 Mastodon - Divinations
07 01 03 The Gaslight Anthem - Great Expectations
08 17 02 The Airborne Toxic Event - Happiness is Overrated
09 09 03 The View - Temptation Dice
10 12 03 Pains of Being Pure At Heart - Young Adult Friction
11 16 03 Mark and the The Spies - Won't Work On Me
12 07 03 Lily Allen - Fuck You
13 14 02 Dananananaykroyd - Black Wax
14 10 03 Love Is All - Wishing Well
15 -- 01 We Were Promised Jetpacks - Quiet Little Voices
16 11 03 Jack Penate - Tonight's Today
17 13 03 A Place To Bury Strangers - Missing You
18 19 03 Franz Ferdinand - No You Girls
19 -- 01 Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears - Sugarfoot
20 -- 01 Super Tennis - Super Tennis Theme Song
21 18 03 Metric - Help I'm Alive
22 23 02 Andrew Bird - Fitz and the Dizzyspells
23 20 02 The Joy Formidable - Whirring






Love is All (and quite a bit of Franz Ferdinand).

Paradiso May 11th, 2009

Don’t tell anyone, but you can sometimes get into shows by big bands in the Paradiso by buying a ticket for a late concert in the small room upstairs.

At 21:55 I had my ticket to Swedish band Love is All scanned and went upstairs but apart from two people sitting on chairs the room was empty and the stage set up. Walking around I went through the doors leading to Paradiso’s grand main room where Franz Ferdinand was playing their sold out show. Going back and forth to small room I got to see the end of a great concert. Atmosphere was great and when they invited people onstage during ‘This Ffire’ it turned into an almost out of control party. Good thing they didn’t play one of their hits, never know how the frantic crowd would react to that. The band seemed to enjoy it and it’s probably a good thing they decided to do two Paradiso shows and not one in a bigger but less intimate hall.

The feedback of the amps was still humming through the old church when me and some other people took the short walk from the balcony to the small room where Swedish band Love is All started to play almost immediately after.

I got a ticket after hearing their second album “A Hundred Things That Keep Me Up At Night”, a collection of punky indie rock songs with catchy hooks and lyrics about the everyday things in life like messy rooms and seasickness.

Fronted by singer Josephine Olausson the band at times seemed to work too hard. The sound got messy whereby you missed the great hooks and funny lyrics. But Josephine is a warm stage presence and her English accent is charming. Hindered by the very small stage they didn’t have much room to move about, although I wonder if they ever really do. The drummer’s bass drum seemed to do the most moving.

It’s still amazing how Sweden can have so many bands that are worth listening to. Most of their styles have a layer of pop that can be at times annoying. Swedish music almost never has a sense of urgency and depth that North-American or British bands have. Maybe it is because life in Sweden is generally good and there is nothing really to complain about. The Blues could never have been started in Sweden, but at least they have quite a few good bands releasing records each year, and Love is All should be noted for their originality and for not stepping into the pop-trap that lured a lot of bands.

The show only lasted 35 minutes, but they did have Franz Ferdinand opening for them, what else do you want.

Check out their single Wishing Well, now in the Top 23