GIG REVIEW: Clean Bandit at TivoliVredenburg, Utrecht
Earlier in the year one of my best friends Vivian sent me a message to check out the song Rather Be by UK band Clean Bandit. I remember listening to it for the first time when I was in a hotel room in Germany. I was alone and tired but the song immediately resonated with me and it put me in such a good mood. I really liked the mix of strings with electronic beats and bright vocals. Immediately I checked for concert dates in Amsterdam because I know it would have been cool concert to go to with Viv. But unfortunately when they were going to be touring Amsterdam, Viv was going on a trip through Japan.
In August I saw that Clean Bandit were touring The Netherlands again and I did not hesitate to buy two tickets, one for myself and one for Viv. I bought it 3 months before the concert and it was hard for me not to tell Viv, because I knew she would be really excited. The concert was just a couple days after her birthday so I told her to "save the date" for a birthday surprise.
The day finally came and I asked Viv to meet me at the station after work. When we met I told her to buy a train ticket to Utrecht and she was so excited! I just laughed because she had no idea what it was but she was still excited. When we got out of the train and sat down at the station to eat something, I brought out the 'pre-event' gift, which was a Clean Bandit poster that I took when I was in Stockholm. When she opened it, she just stared at me in disbelief because she knew that we would be going to the concert. It was such a cool feeling to make someone to close to me this happy.
It was our first time in the TivoliVredenburg and it was a rather new venue walking distance from the Utrecht Central Station. The venue itself was big with many floors and halls; very clean but very confusing. All the other concerts in the same venue were signposted and people were lining up wherever in hope they were in the right line.
The support singer Sumera totally blew us away. We actually hadn't done any research about her, but the moment she started singing, it was with so much power without holding back, I could just feel her passion. The acoustics were great in the TivoliVredenburg and every single lyric she sung was crystal clear.
Soon enough Clean Bandit came on stage and the first thing I became mesmerised by was the electric cello that Grace Chatto was playing. It's from the brand Ned Steinberger and it was fixed to a stand so she could stand up playing and it also gave her the freedom to dance around and play other instruments (like her drum pad). I was inspired!
The two singers were so different but side by side with the violinist and cellist together they were just as energetic and positive as each other. It was so nice to see that the band wasn't focused on one lead singer, but all members had equal weighting in the band and they played and moved as one unit. The songs got us all dancing. The crowd was rather young, full of cute girl couples, girls with their dads, groups of students and just very friendly and happy people. When Rather Be came on Viv and I went crazy! This was our jam. It was such a great show and I was so glad to have seen them live with someone who means so much to me. xx
GIG REVIEW: On stage with Alex Winston at Paradiso
Just when I thought I was just going to an ordinary Monday evening concert... it turned into me performing at Paradiso with Alex Winston!
The night started Alex Winston kept us waiting. Actually we had been waiting since June this year since she had cancelled. Now she kept us waiting since the legendary Gillian Welch was performing an epic show downstairs. But come on... we were getting restless.
On Alex came with her Sister Wife (there used to be two?) + band and we moved to the front. Alex asked who would like to beat the snare and I was fed up with the non-action by this point I just went for it. Here I am with the drum.
First step: getting the drum
So here I was in the crowd beating along to the first song Fire Ant. After that I tried to give it back but then she said I could keep it. A few songs down the line, Choice Notes and my favourite of the new stuff Velvet Elvis I kept on, and Alex was proud. "I can't believe you're still drumming! You're going to be a new Sister Wife!" So then.. for the finale Alex called me up on the stage...
Then we started playing together...
And then we went crazy!
I think I'm almost a Sister Wife now... What do you think?
In Summary: the band was tight and had a great powerful and collective energy. Their sound was definitely fit for a much bigger venue; 6 of them on stage all singing at once. With the grumbling of the keyboardist to the amazing range of Sara Kliger to Alex's distinct voice. Their drummer was also a huge part of their sound. The beat. Really enjoyed it and wish they'll come back to perform on the main stage next time (with me on drum again?).
Thanks Alex for the fun night. Turned out my Monday night wasn't so ordinary after all!
Setlist
More about Alex Winston:
Official Website
Alex Winston - Choice Notes (for Watch Listen Tell)
Alex Winston - Locomotive (A Take Away Show)
Alex Winston - OFF GUARD at Bestival, Isle of Wight, 2011
GIG REVIEW: Hanging with Kaki King at Bimhuis
Like BFFs with Kaki King. Haha.
I saw Kaki King perform in 2009 in Melbourne and that was not her best gig. More than two years on, without her band, and in Amsterdam’s most beautiful venue for jazz and improvisation, Bimhuis, I was ready to give her another chance. When my friend Laura and I walked towards the entrance and saw this spectacular view over 'het ij', I already knew this gig was going to be special.
Kaki had four guitars, including her custom-made seven-string from West Virginia, 6-stringOvation Adamas 1581-KK, 12-string Gryphon, and a Taylor guitar her dad gave her. She played each one by one, like a singer-songwriter evening in a round.
Kaki was in a great mood. It was the first stop of her solo European tour and she said she really loved Amsterdam. Holland in general. How she was amazed by Dutch architechture and how Bimhuis is held up only by two pillars. The first song she played was Bone Chaos in The Castle and she said she named that song after a friend who broke their collarbone. The rest of the set was fantastic, with Kaki’s funny introductions and amazing us with her mesmerising instrumental music.
GIG REVIEW: Camille at Billboard, Melbourne
Amazing F*cking gig. Probably one of the top 2 gigs I've ever seen in my life. And, I managed to get the setlist. Make sure to check out Camille's album titled Music Hole.
More information about Camille:
Official website: http://www.camilleofficiel.fr/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/camilleofficial
YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/camillemusicofficial