Top Nite Out

Whenever the Sisters of Mercy visit Belgium, I just have to go, as you know, and so I checked them out again this very Saturday.

They had been booked at a sweet little festival in Zottegem, I'd never been there before, but I liked it all the way. Nice sloping field (sadly with a tent at the bottom end instead of a proper stage, but well hey) easy on the food and drinks, most of the fans've been sat on the terrain all day just chatting about everything and nothing, enjoying themselves and the weather. By now it's become all too obvious Sisters shows are never just about the Sisters, but a great deal about everyone hanging out at the gig.

They got a rather late outing this time, at about half twelve, so everyone had been enjoying the better part of the night already and some were even getting 'moist in anticipation'. For me the actual pre-gig high only started building up about twenty minutes before they started, when we got into the tent, getting stuck in the crowd.

It took quite a while to set everything up, but when the smoke eventually filled the tent the crowd was set to explode. It took the good Doktor only a couple of beats of opener Ribbons to get everyone going, and when Andrew, Ben and Chris got on stage the party was on! Smoke machines were in overdrive mode, lighting was good, the guitarists keep getting better at what they do and most of all Andrew's voice was doing great as well!

Quite possibly it was just one big highlight, but personally Giving Ground, On the wire/Teachers/On the wire were personal favourites, but it was also great to hear Anaconda's restored chorus! The crowd was going wild to all the usual classics like FALAA, Dominion, Alice, Temple and the lot. Bumping in to old friends in a mosh is great too by the way!

Bad stuff? Not that I noticed! I was absolutely knackered when the gig came to an end, and I don't take that for a bad thing, quite the contrary. When a plectrum landed on my arms when I was trying to catch some breath as the gig was coming to an end, the cherry was put on the pie, and happiness was all mine!

Over and out.

Fear of a Blank Planet

Porcupine Tree are not your everyday band. Initially in about 1987 it was just more or less Steven Wilson's brainchild, an imaginary legendary progressive rock band for which he created an equally imaginary back catalogue, but people's interest was sparked when they got their hands on the cassettes Wilson had recorded containing this material, and so he reissued several of these mock historical recordings and a compilation.

Whilst the band started out mostly being influenced by old psychedelic bands, Porcupine Tree started exploring more and more different genres, attracting fans from all these sub-genres as well. Still, though Wilson declines Porcupine Tree being a progressive rockband (I think I've heard that before somewhere else) it is obvious the sounds the band produced are immensely layered, and the songs structured containing segues.

Only just having released their latest album, Fear of a Blank Planet a tour was in order, and Antwerp was the place to be for Belgian fans. As soon as they got on stage an impressive wall of sound was created, and most shocking videos were played to illustrate the songs, bringing much of an extra atmosphere to the gig. It was rather obvious these videos were filmed so as to make sure nobody would feel neutral about these. Children taking pills, shooting themselves with guns, referring to a numb society in which kids of today live. It's a shame it's hard to divide one's attention between the actual gig and the videos so you do miss out on certain details sometimes.

After only two songs, Wilson made clear the gig was not just a regular one, but one of the few (apparently) to feature a complete live rendition of the album, followed by a set of classic songs from the back catalogue. Thus, they managed to even increase the impressive sounds from the album, and bring more of a background to it, the concept and the story behind it.

Obviously both Wilson and the rest of his group members are highly talented musicians, so there was no lack of technique anywhere, no flaws at all. The entire gig was just perfectly executed. Perhaps even more because of that it was a bit of a shame their stage presence was a bit static, probably because of which the audience was a bit too disciplined, hardly moving along at all.

That being the only downside of the show, I was most happy to have gone to see them and wouldn't mind to go out to catch a gig of theirs again!

T.V. Sky

A new addition to the line of legendary bands I just had to attend, yesterday!

The band was The Young Gods, famous for being one of the founders of industrial music and inspirators of the likes of David Bowie. Along with that they're one of the only big Swiss bands, and they named themselves after a Swans song. Not too bad for starters!

A minimalist stage, housing just a drum kit, a keyboard/sampler and a microphone stand (with built-in spotlight) was all there was, and as Al Comet, their Serge Gainsbourg-look-a-like keyboardist came on stage, it didn't look like he felt much for playing through the night.

However, as he hit the first note and singer Franz Treichler came on stage, the crowd broke loose. Their every move managed to move the people, their every sigh was felt throughout the venue. And still they were very approachable - walking around at the venue's bar before and after the gig - and were all smiles, silly faces every now and then even.

Each song got to hit the right spots too, sometimes rough and loud (with an amazing number of perfectly complementing layers), sometimes tender and fragile. Most impressive perhaps were perhaps the moments where the drummer seemed to want to go stir-fry the sounds in a wok-like instrument, the keyboardist playing on a guitar fitted with an extra hole as to sound almost perfectly like a sitar.

According to my personal sweat-to-music-ratio this must've been about the best gig I've seen so far this year, so big kudos have to go out to the Young Gods even though they're not so young anymore!

Pioneers over C.

Finally, I was able to make a trip to one of the world's most famous venues, a musical temple in a very literal kind of way. Paradiso was the venue, Amsterdam the city.

As far as I'm concerned, everyone should go to Paradiso at least once in their lifetime, just because it's such an amazing experience. It isn't a big venue at all, but still it manages to capture this very unique atmosphere, which is not much of a surprise when you come to learn it used to be a church in its early days. Along with that, so many of the biggest bands played Paradiso. The Doors, Nirvana, you name it they most likely played one of their most legendary gigs in Paradiso

Obviously, the band was quite something too. A good reason to go to such a great place always makes it even more of a perfect experience. My band of choice were one of the true gods of Progressive Rock, even one of the big inspirators of modern rock music. For instance Johnny Rotten of the Sex Pistols stated in an interview after mentioning them he had really revealed it all that way.

The band was Van der Graaf Generator, no less. Van der Graaf managed to prove you can be fresh and astonishing even after forty years. They've been around since 1967, and while there have been some breaks, they really managed to astonish every single person in the venue - through new and old songs!

It was a hot and sweaty night at Paradiso - just under 30°C - and both crowd and band were extremely concentrated. Moments of extreme intimacy, followed by proper hard rock guitar (and others) moments at the perfect pace, performing extremely long songs without ever boring the crowd (on the contrary, it was completely and utterly silent), only very few and very big artists manage to do that!

The tension was immense, obviously, and it seemed they as well as us enjoyed that a great deal. After every song we got to see smiles from ear to ear, and Peter Hammill really enjoyed playing Paradiso too, it seemed. It really was impressive how his voice still hit every note the right way, after all these years. Even more so as Hammill's way of singing is one of the things I love so much about the band. Sometimes perfect with a very 'educated' singing voice, sometimes screaming like his life depends on it and all that perfectly effortless. Perhaps the only downside was David Jackson no longer partaking on saxophone and flute so these instruments had to be keyboardised. On the other hand they perfectly made up for that!

So, obviously, I enjoyed it a great deal, and gladly point you in the direction of the video stream available soon through fabchannel!

C-Musik

First time ever I went out to see the supporting band instead of the main attraction yesterday, and blimey, was it a good choice!

The 120 Days are most definitely a big thing to be, musically inspired by Krautrock and other great pioneers of electronic music. Performance-wise they're in the middle of modern times, looking quite metrosexual and very extravagant overall.

During their first Belgian gig, at Domino 07 in Brussels' AB, they did a great job at showing what they're about. A podium stuffed with electronica, a couple of strobe lights, and that was about it. Upon hitting the stage, a Krauty intro was provided and then when the singer came along, he really hit the right spots, performing like his life depended on it.

Still, sadly, the crowd was immensely daft. Apart from me - I fear - but two or three had ever heard of the 120 days before, and that showed. They really had a hard time in getting them to move about. In my opinion they would have had the right to be a bit more downright nasty about them doing nothing, but that's just me.

Also they played a brand new song - we were the first crowd ever to get to hear it, apparently - which had a great deal of potential! There was something club hit'ish to it, which I liked and which they'd deserve!

Then obviously, the main attraction, !!!. As it seemed the crowd had come over especially to see them, they didn't quite have as hard a time as the 120 days as to drag the crowd along. I absolutely have to admit the guys did a great job though! While I had never heard any of the songs - they all uncannily sounded alike by the way - before, they managed to drag me along after just a song or two. The highest sweat-to-music-ratio ever for a band I had never heard of before!

Supper's Ready

Genesis. Upon mentioning them most of you will probably think of the rather dodgy eighties incarnation led by Phil Collins and back away. I must say my initial reaction came quite close to that as well. Now, about half a year later I can stand straight in my shoes saying every single one of you to think of them that way is wrong. Not only was early Genesis (at the end of the sixties and the first half of the seventies) a band of highly talented musicians (perhaps the more classic one consisting Tony Banks was amazing on keys, Michael Rutherford on bass and guitars, Steve Hackett too on guitars, Phil Collins on drums and last but far from least Peter Gabriel as main man on vocals), they are also a greatly legendary bands when it comes to live performances. To overcome his stage fright Peter Gabriel started to wear highly extravagant costumes, these in - their turn - contributed to the overall atmosphere, turned the gigs into unforgettable, legendary experiences supporting the stories of the songs.

But then, as Gabriel left the band in the mid-seventies, the legendary band evolved to a shade of its former self, and the legendary performances evolved to fond memories in music history books and fans' heads. I myself discovered them thanks to a very good influence late in last year's summer, and somehow I must've come across a band that seemed to revive the experience of back in the days not long after. The Musical Box was their name and – even better – they were about to come to Belgium! I was in doubt if I'd actually would go to see them for quite a while – the gig didn't come cheap – but just about a week or two before the actual gig I decided to go, whilst the expectations had grown to be high, extremely high.

After an afternoon of walking about in our beloved capital (and searching for the Cirque Royale) we arrived at the venue just in time for the opening of the gates (which wasn't a big deal as the seats were numbered anyhow), we found our seats, and the waiting started. After about an hour of waiting, some fifteen minutes late the lights dimmed and on came the band.

The entire stage was white, all instruments (exact replicas of the originals) were white, the musicians were dressed in white and the sole source of light was blacklight. Watcher of the Skies was the opener of the night. It had always struck me it's the perfect song to start a gig with, its slow build-up really made me stretch my every nerve and then Denis Gagné started to sing. Completely impeccable, identically voiced there was no way for me to distinct him from what I had heard Peter Gabriel doing on the albums and boots I had been listening to, he performed exactly as Peter Gabriel had done on the videos I had been watching – wearing a bat cape – a perfect reincarnation of the then group. My jaw dropped slowly and didn't close for the rest of the night – nor did the grin on my face disappear.

Dancing with the Moonlit Knight was next in line. With the introduction it became obvious Gagné even announced the songs in exactly the same way as Peter Gabriel had done as to give the other band members time to tune their instruments. Completely amazed I was, as you'll find easy to believe by now. Classic songs just kept lining up, costumes did too. Introducing Dancing with the Moonlit Knight as Britannia, the 1st World War helmet, suddenly appearing ties, hats, all truly overwhelming! And contributing a great deal to the overall experience along with the black light. After Romeo and Juliet had their Cinema Show, I Know What I Like (In Your Wardrobe) and Firth Of Fifth the Musical Box went for The Musical Box. The famous old man costume was dug out, humping the air, on an entirely darkened stage with just his face lit. Highly impressive and extremely intense!

Time for a slight break then, their song of choice choice Horizons was a perfect fit for this. A calm song, but an excellent choice. Next in line was the Battle of Epping Forest, but after that came the real climax of the night: Supper's Ready. The ultimate Genesis song, 20 odd minutes long, with some of the most remarkable costumes of the entire night. Not just The Flower but more importantly Magog, which really grabbed me by the throat, even more so in its combination with strobes. As the song nearly ended Gagné suddenly emerged in an entirely white suit (as opposed to the black one he had worn underneath the many costumes all night long), with a neon light in his hands. Shivers down my spine.

The Knife was picked for an encore, no specific costumes for this song but once more extremely impressive. So, in conclusion you'll probably find the overall tone of this review is a bit enthusiastic, but it definitely is with a cause, for an amazing night it was.

A true shame this will probably have been their last Gabriel-era tour, for I hope to see them again, and again, and again, and ...

Space is deep…

… But you can go much further at Utrecht’s record fair!

First time ever I went to a record fair this weekend and I must admit I got easily taken away at this huge happening. I brought some twenty records home from all sorts of genres to a new home, and about every single one seems like a true classic to me.

Two rather mainstream vinyls I acquired were Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues (just one Euro!) and Fleetwood Mac’s Fleetwood Mac. Accidentally I even bought the latter twice, but that got solved quite easily with an extremely nice trade! Another main bargain was David Bowie’s Low and The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, for just €2.50 and apparently Italian pressing, so nearly for free I’d say!

Then, obviously, there were a bunch of prog albums in my bag. Not only The Yes Album (by Yes, obviously), but also The Lamb Dies down on Broadway by Genesis, their only proper album I didn’t have yet. Seemed it was not too easy to find, as I only came across two of them on the entire fair. Along with that I bought Ein Deutsches Album by Peter Gabriel, which is basically Peter Gabriel Three – or Melt, as you like – with German lyrics, and Solsbury Hill on a 7” (once more just one Euro for that one). Very curious what Ein Deutsches Album will be like, as the concept does sound a bit dodgy to me, to be honest…

On the prog front, naturally I explored Krautrock as well. The whole hall seemed stuffed with classic kraut albums, but most of them would cost you an arm and a leg. However, I did get to acquire a couple quite cheaply! One of my all-time favourites, Ricochet by Tangerine Dream, and also their Electronic Meditations. A top classic according to Julian Cope’s Krautrocksampler, and very nice it is indeed! The most expensive bargain of the day was Faust’s Faust So Far. Just twenty Euros, but apparently a reasonably rare pressing (300 – of which a great deal ended up in the shredder as it’s apparently a bootleg) with a very nice booklet and all that. Mint condition and so it has now become the pride of my collection!

Out of the seventies emerged these records, The Undertones by The Undertones, containing Teenage Kicks amongst others (classic!) and Herman Brood’s Shpritsz, an absolute Dutch classic everyone must have. Saturday Night, anyone?

Last decade I covered, but perhaps one of the more important ones: The eighties! Psychocandy by The Jesus and Mary Chain - yet another classic album, and truly amazing for the record – and a single of theirs: Never Understand (don't know what that will be like though). I was also very glad to find a couple Fad Gadget albums, Incontinent and Gag, very fond of the first one, still exploring the second one, but worth every cent! Then there's Adam and The Ants with The Kings of the Wild Frontier, an album I have not heard yet, but quite sure I won’t regret buying that one either.

Finally, a Shriekback Maxi I knew nothing about, Working on the Ground, apparently an early release of theirs (about the time they released Care) and superb quality, obviously.

So, in conclusion, another day very well spent, and though the pleasure didn’t come too cheap I’d go any day if I could!