A Weekend In The City

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So the 4daagse is almost starting (tomorrow really), but festivities in the evenings have been going on since Saturday. I’d like to take a moment to tell you about some of the events I’ve seen so far. Tonight I think I will have a quiet evening, but tomorrow I shall be going in town to see more bad and good music!

Saturday

Stevie Ann
Stevie Ann is a singersongwriter from Limburg, which is the area of The Netherlands were I live. I think that if I were to trace my whole family, I’d eventually find someone who went to school with her or something similar to that. However, that all does not matter now. She was hired to entertain the crowds at the main stage on the Waalkade at 9.30 pm. And that probably wasn’t a good idea.

She rose to some fame with her song The Poetry Man (and her Britney Spears’ cover Toxic). Her songs are sometimes a bit too country for my liking, but some of the songs are nice. Anyway, her sad, sweet, lovely songs aren’t enthusiastic crowd material and her songs aren’t singalongs yet. A brave choice to put her on the main stage. Add to that the weather conditions (dry, but cold and no sun) and it probably wasn’t the golden gig the organisation was hoping for. Still, the sound mix was very good and people who appreciate her music style were not disappointed at all… However, I got the feeling most of the people there were just there to have a good time. And while Stevie and band did try to ’rock’ on some songs (and succeeded), the gig just never got going the way it was supposed to… But the fans in the front row were pleased, and I don’t doubt her nice renditions of Get Away and Wait Up For Me have won her some more fans. But I can’t help but thinking a more intimate setting would have been better for her.

Stevie Ann (Waalkade)

Nick & Simon
In The Netherland, there’s awful music and there’s awful music. Nick & Simon have incredible voices - as was proven that night - but they really do have awful songs. We were treated to hit Rosanne twice (once in the encore) and their song De Soldaat, (The Soldier) about a Dutch soldier being sent to Iraq and dying there, set to an awfully happy backing track, is just extremely tasteless… But they can sing and they can get the crowd going for sure. In contrast to Stevie Ann, the Nijmegen House (awful name for a place with awful Dutch music) was completely packed (although it was busy at Stevie Ann as well) with a cheering crowd (mostly teenage girls) and it was very very hot in the tent. I liked the fact that the magic trick where the music continues to play while the guy with guitar stops playing (they do that in the Rosanne video at 40 seconds) was also done live. Hmm… Maybe the guitar wasn’t plugged in at all? Nah… That can’t be? Can it? Maybe it was a special guitar? (it sure was expensive)

Sunday

Moke
According to the presenter at the Waalkade, Moke, is the new Dutch superband. Even though they did gain exposure with single Last Chance and regular appearances in Dutch TV shows, they can’t be called a superband as yet. However, it cannot be denied their set on Sunday night was very professional and very good. Mind you, the sun was there to witness the event as well, so the audience must have been in a better mood as well. The sound was as good as during Stevie Ann the day before, but also twice as loud. There was no real talking over the music possible. Yet still the gig didn’t really grab me… Last Chance, the hit, actually wasn’t that impressive live. At least not more impressive than the studio version. And if you’re unfamiliar with the material, most of the songs actually sound the same. I was impressed by the nice instrumental breaks - some lasted over two minutes (brave!). I was also impressed by the Depeche Mode cover, Enjoy The Silence. Yet still, it wasn’t that great all the time. I suppose some day soon I will conclude the main stage should be the home of party acts… That or, maybe it should be completely dark for a bigger impact of the light show.

Die Lustige Schlagerfreunden
I’m not really into schlager, I’ll be the first to admit… But there’s a first for everything (and the fact that the guitar player was an uncle of a study friend of mine, did help). Still, I was a bit sceptic before the show of Die Lustige Schlagerfreunden. But the stage setup looked pretty good: over the top German souvenirs and Tiroler costumes… Very nice. And then the show started… Toller Toni kicked of with ARD (German television) microphone asking whether we were having a good time etc. And for a second I thought: how long is this going to last… But after the third “Jawohl!” and “Heeee!” I was sold. What a great show. Despite not knowing most of the songs (except for Ich Bin Wie Du and some others I’ve forgotten the title of), it was not that hard to sing / shout along some words that sounded a bit like the actual German lyric. Impressive was their German cover of (Is This The Way To) Amarillo (apparently to be released on a CD later this year).

What made the show good? Well first of all the element of surprise. The band was actually much bigger than the members appearing on stage, with the others making surprise guest appearances all through the show. It worked: the audience had an extra reason to cheer. Secondly, the music. The musicians on stage were pretty impressive, the great guitar solos from Willie Wunderbar as the most apparent proof. Finally, the joking factor. It was all quite tongue in cheek… At some point they were mocking Germany / schlagermusik, yet handing out flags and hats and doing the complete show in German (yet everybody seemed to be able to understand). The crowd was LOVING it… Polonaises all the way, cheering, screaming… It must have been scary, had I been a stranger walking by… Yet I was in the middle of that all.

Still, if you see some guy with glasses on TV, in the front row dancing, screaming and going mental. That certainly isn’t me… Really. It isn’t. Okay, maybe it is me. But don’t tell anyone.

Moke @ Waalkade

Moke @ Waalkade

Schlagerfreunden!

Schlagerfreunden!

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