elbow & bruce springsteen - pinkpop - 300509

pinkpop ... the place where my festival awareness started thanks to the live broadcast on the dutch television, 2 great performances are grifted in my memory, both from the 96 edition, rage against the machine and radiohead, both illustrating the power and beauty of live music ... now, 13 years later, i finally made it to the landgraaf racetrack ...

first the noisette, which was mostly, noise ... then chris cornell, somewhere in the set a song he wrote in 91, the nice hunger strike, which is, frankly, the era he belongs to, confirmed even more with also black old sun at the end, dear programmers, more relevant things happen today ... next the killers, starting nicely with human, reminding me of this year's music for life, best the shadowplay cover (great base-line), as i prefer the remixes of their own songs ... giving me time to head to the smaller 3 fm stage, where elbow was performing, and again, a superb one, this time with two of my favorite seldom seen kid songs on the setlist, some riot (not seen anymore since the short gig about a year ago in a virgin store in nyc) and weather to fly, which they started gathered around the keyboard, cool! ... and then, my first bruce springsteen gig, and wow ... two and a half hours of great music & entertainment, thanks to the mix of the boss' strong songs and the fine musicians of the legendary e-street band (with the spookiest guy on stage, clarence clemons on sax) ... some highlights, opener badlands, although the sound was not optimal yet, outlaw pete ... can you hear me ... the request intermezzo (playing live on its best, making the setlist on the spot), nice to get to know some more songs, such as i'm on fire and trapped (of the we are the world benefit album), the little girl singing along on waitin' on a sunny day, the rising (lovely song indeed), golden oldies glory days and dancing in the dark, which everyone was doing ... i liked most the ghost of tom joad, a song i didn't know yet, of which i found a nice version, with tom morello from ratm ... closing the circle

badlands / out in the street / she's the one / outlaw pete / radio nowhere / working on a dream / seeds / johnny 99 / the ghost of tom joad / raise your hand / from small things / trapped / i'm on fire / thunder road / waitin' on a sunny day / the promised land / lonesome day / the rising / born to run // 10th avenue freeze-out / land of hope & dreams / american land / glory days / dancing in the dark

bat for lashes - melkweg - 160509

because i agree, and was too tired to do it myself, here are reviews from some colleagues (for the botanique show, which seems to have left the same impression): de morgen, goddeau, cutting edge and digg

my favorite was good love, and i can give our setlist: glass / sleep alone / horse and i / daniel (stripped down) / travelling woman / siren song / wizard / sarah / peace of mind / tahiti / what's a girl to do / pearls dream // prescilla / good love / moon and moon / two planets // daniel (full band)

lily allen - ancienne belgique - 080509

miss allen, who's picture by nadav kander i saw hanging in london's national portrait gallery just last week, in brussels tonight, opening with everything's at it, in an electro-trash version with a nice 4 step pirouette during the breaks, first on high heels, but these soon changed for white sneakers cause they hurt like hell, followed with a laugh, which she did often, a loud laugher, our lily ... then mostly songs of her new album, a mix of a hurt soul, like how she sang often, and a young woman knowing what she wants, which reflects in her personal & smart lyrics ... with the mic on the stand, she gets the most out of her voice, which was going from low (mine & wine) to high (smile & dreams) ... one time sounding a bit out of tune during ldn, maybe deliberately, like wanting it to be over, and (luckily) changing rapidly in go back to the start, sounding superb, with perfect timing in her singing on top of the rapid guitar strokes, and out of breath after jumping up, nice to see that live is live ... best her magnificent the fear, the middle fingers in fuck you, where is the time when i was shouting that in rage towards the stage, now with a smile and moving with the easy rhythm, her one time change of outfit, after the regular part of the set (which she ended with this is the last song and a wink), in a loose shirt and jeans, take a note of that, soul divas ... and the cigarette lit at the acoustic part of the set, never thought of that as something acoustic, and not out of pose but just to enjoy ... like beautiful lilies ...

doves - brixton academy (london) - 020509

thanks to the hospitality of peter, tine, jules and hannah i could go to and enjoy a gig of doves at the brixton academy, a nice & well known venue in the south of london, staged in a roman villa, with real artifacts according to doves' singer ... best opening i saw so far (in london), a video of a plane taking off, zooming out until only white lines are visible, to start with jetstream, also the first song of their great new album, the only one i knew till then, which didn't bother at all, as their older work sounded good as well, with pounding really, well pounding (see video at the bottom) ... nice video images of train traveling with 10.03, passing cooling towers, which look familiar somehow ... last song (according the singer) there goes the fear, their most famous one, with the great video on screen (see bottom as well), after which he left, but the rest of the band stayed, so after a short while he came back, probably remembering they would play a last song, the techno-like spaceface ... to end where they started, and fly ... up in the air

jetstream / snowden / winter hill / rise / pounding / almost forgot myself / 10.03 / words / the greatest denier / kingdom of rust / the last broadcast / black & white town / compulsion / the outsiders / caught by the river // northenden / here it comes / there goes the fear / spaceface