GIG REVIEW: Lady Gaga at Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam
I finally saw Lady Gaga live! It was a really long wait. First, I bought the tickets in early 2017, waiting online with a computer, a mobile and multiple browsers to make sure I could get tickets. It was sold out literally within minutes and I was lucky to score a pair of seated tickets in a good spot! Then, I thought I only had to wait 5 or so months until the concert, but unfortunately Lady Gaga has been ill and she had to postpone her European leg of the tour from October until January 2018. So indeed it was a very long wait!
But lucky us, she came and rocked the stage(s)! There were stages placed in the centre of the floor area and during one part of the show, these bridges came down from the ceiling and Lady Gaga and her dancers came walking over the bridges to the other stages, and finally a stage at the back of the standing area (which was in front of us!) which had her electric grand piano. She laughed at the die hard front row monsters and said that they thought that they were at the front of the stage and now they were at the back!
Although Joanne the album is quite chill compared to her earlier synth pop hits, she still put on a huge show especially for her old hits. It was like a theatre play, like the Wizard of Oz with dancers and costumes! But my favourite moment of course was when she was with just her and the piano. That's when she really shines.
The last song Lady Gaga performed was Million Reasons. She put her pink hat on the side and after the song was over, the piano (and her) started to sink down under the stage and she just disappeared without a word, leaving her pink hat behind. Then the stadium lights turned on. It was so sad because we didn't even have a chance to cheer her or say goodbye. And there was no encore either. Wow, it was such a powerful ending and I felt like a piece of me just left!
Thank you Lady Gaga for putting yourself out there for us, and hope you get well and strong soon.
GIG REVIEW: JAIN at Melkweg, Amsterdam
JAIN had such a groove, and she was just alone with her laptop. I'm always a big fan of independent singers who combine loop stations or technology to enhance their show. The fact is though, this girl makes the music herself and it's so obvious! I loved the show. I took my best Dutchy Viv and we grooved along all night. JAIN has a real innocence about her, (well she's just 25), but she has lived in different countries all over the world for example Dubai, Congo, Peru and you can hear these influences in her beatsy and touch of world-music flair. Her music is up-beat and fun, but rhythmic and clever. She combines her voice with layering and electronic programming sounds which is a modern-day twist. She reminds me a bit of a younger Camille, or at least a pea who comes from a similar pod. And she is so incredibly sweet and loves to involve the audience to help her with her looping. She was even giggling at some point because of the audience member who she recorded for the loop.
All in all, great first show for JAIN and can't wait to see how she progresses as an artist.
Check out more JAIN:
Official website: http://www.jain-music.com/en/
Check out this live version below of JAIN performing "Makeba" - Victoires de la musique 2017
GIG REVIEW: Sabar Challenge Afterparty at Sociëteit SEXYLAND
After going to see Dele Sosimi a couple weeks ago and not being too inspired, I went to the afterparty of the Sabar Challenge Festival 2017 (dance style from Senegal) with Bianca, Gaëlle and Gwen on invitation from our percussion teacher, Martin.
Now, THIS was more like it! African bands and dancing!
First up was a band called Nusodia, a West-African percussion and dance group, based on the traditions of Burkina Faso. As a coincidence, the guy who Bianca and I bought our djembe from (and his girlfriend) were both in the band!
They had many different percussion instruments including djembe and the dancers were playing this wooden 'salad bowl'-shape with beads on the outside and each time they threw the bowl and spun it around it would make a sound. But more than the percussion, their unique sound comes from the melodic instruments called 'balafon' (xylophone) and the 'ngoni' (African harp).
Other performances that evening were Sysmo (percussion group using a unique system with more than 100 hand signals), Taneber dancing and Ussu & The New Balansa.
More about Nusodia:
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GIG REVIEW: Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis
Since starting a world percussion course at CREA in February, I tried to find some concerts that would have a touchpoint to African artists and/or African percussion. It's quite a broad spectrum, so the search didn't take too long before I found a concert of Dele Sosimi at Bimhuis in Amsterdam. He is one of the most active of the original Afrobeat scene, founded by Fela Anikulapo Kuti. He played keyboard with Kuti for 7 years.
If you removed the vocals, the music was pretty much funk. So interesting how vocals can make such a unique spin on it. The band was amazing, along with the solos from the trombonist and tenor saxophonist! Dele himself was very energetic, positive and a good band leader.
The concert was a seated one, and was hard for some audience members to sit down, so they got up to dance at the back of the hall! Soon enough the vibes were running through the whole crowd and we ended up all getting up for a little dance.
One thing I did think was missing though, was more use of (West) African drums. The saxophonist sometimes played a hand percussion which was a wooden block, but I really missed some djembe or conga or bongo drums... Another was the female back-up vocalists/dancers. The trombonist and drummer doubled as the choir which sounded quite good, but just wasn't the real deal, if you know what I mean.
The Bimhuis broadcast the concert on Bimhuis Radio and can be found here on Mixcloud. If we had known earlier, Bianca and I would probably have agreed that it would have been better to have a glass of wine with the music playing in the background.
More about Dele Sosimi:
Official Website: http://www.delesosimi.org/