London Calling Paradiso, Amsterdam, November 2/3, 2007
This is actually the fourth time I'm writing a London Calling review, but it's the first time I'm not doing it while spazzing on the Sunday afterwards. We'll see how that works out, maybe it'll help put things in perspective :D
FRIDAY
So... I arrived in Amsterdam around 7 PM, Anneke and I met up at the station and we took the tram to the Leidseplein. Ines was already there and the first band we saw was Clocks. They weren't bad, technically, but quite boring and I would never even download their music or anything. The one thing I liked about them is that their bassplayer looks like prince Harry :)
After Clocks we stayed in the main hall, since the next band that would play there was The Maccabees! We slightly followed Scouting For Girls' show on the screens, but it wasn't that interesting anyway.
LC crew november '07!
So, Maccabees. They were great. Although I didn't exactly see much when I saw them last year, I thought they were far more energetic and even spastic back then... They played a bunch of new songs which were really good. Is there any recording of that first song floating around the internet? It's called 'No Kind Words' or something...
Orlando even played accordeon during one song!
And this show was also the first 'chance' for the loads and loads of crowdsurfers and stagedivers. Seriously, there were just TOO MANY of them. It's always better than a lame audience though. But more about that later.
The next band we saw was New Young Pony Club. Really nice, they got a lot of people dancing (eventually), they played an ace cover of Pump Up The Jam(!) and they have Owen Wilson on bass!
Caught a bit of XX/Xerox Teens on the screen, sounded pretty interesting. Up next: Foals. Although I've listened to their music a lot before, seeing them live suddenly made them remind me of Battles. The same focus, the concentration, the rhythms, the talent... really really good.
We left a few songs before the end of their set to get decent places in the small hall for Friendly Fires. They were a lot of fun! Even though they're one of the 'Next Big Things' around these days, they don't seem to have the 'I'm so cool look at me"-attitude which I can really appreciate. Plus their songs are fun and, mostly, danceable!
Interesting extra: seeing Jamie of The Rakes in the audience being drunk and kissing girls and being silly.
None of us cared about Black Affair so we went back home.
SATURDAY
After waking up and showering and getting dressed and having breakfast with eggs and all we went back to Amsterdam. Over there, we first went to Amstel Station to get Ines a busticket. Then we shopped a bit (didn't buy anything, actually I didn't really buy anything besides food and drinks, cheapest LC ever!). Around 5 PM we arrived at recordstore Concerto where Jack Peņate did an instore. We had to wait for about 30 minutes when he burst into a song.
He played for about half an hour and it was really nice, such a small and intimate place and when he talked during the songs, he was a bit shy but also really seemed to enjoy it. And there was also some kind of ruffle (?) where Anneke won a small leopard, three pigeons and a London Calling ticket.
Videooo!
When it had finished we went to our favourite 5 euro pizza restaurant, mmmm. And then Paradiso again. The first band that played was Dragons, saw them on the screens.. they sounded like just another Joy Division/Interpol/Editor clone to me.
And in the main hall, just like last time, The Wombats were the first band to play. This time however, they were no longer the new and fresh a capella singing guys but mosh-summoning hit machines. They did it quite well though and I have to admit that their songs are catchy as hell.
(I was so surprised to see how this picture turned out, from the balcony & no flash!)
And for the second time that day, we saw Jack Peņate. Again he was great, not that shy this time and backed up by his band so a bit more solid, but still r.o.c.k.i.n.g. That's what really marks his performances, when you hear his songs recorded they sound quite polished and poppy but when they're played live it's just a burst of energy. And then there's they dancing, of course. Although I must say that was a little mellow this time, apart from the moonwalk-thingie he did :D Oh and the two girls kissing on stage was just too lame to be true.
I don't remember what we did in the meantime but the next band to play in the main hall was Reverend and the Makers. I was glad we were on the balcony, because that guy just really annoys me. Even though I think most of the songs are alright there's just something about them that really annoys me.
Anyway. Halfway we left to get good spots in the small room and eventually Ines and I ended almost in front for Blood Red Shoes. They were amaaaazing and almost literally blew me away!
Steven's microphone fell down and hit my hand, rawk 'n roll man :P the bruise wasn't even too bad after all, even though it turned blue instantly. Anyway they were BRILLIANT.
After this climax The Rakes brought us back to earth. Even though they received many bad reviews about their performance here I thought it wasn't that bad, but it was rather messy. But most of that had to do with the crowd. Instead of just ignoring them, Alan seemed to get really annoyed by all the stagedivers, but then he dived into the audience himself, he dropped his microphone several times, got molested by a guy from the crowd (which was really embarrassing), danced with a girl which was altogether kind of cute.. it was quite a mess. But they seemed in better shape than in the early afternoon at Pukkelpop, so..
And that was that basically! The Video Nasties played around 2 AM and I heard they were great and I do regret missing them but it was just a bit too late. I hope to see them some time soon! Maybe next time?
