Francis Rodino and (downsized) band are warming up the crowd at the Leidseplein with an acoustic set while some volunteers are handing out flyers to make sure people know these are not just bums looking for some change - but will settle for no less than $50000!
According to Lucia Iman's bass player Pete we should all become like Jehova's Witnesses preaching the Sellaband gospel from year 2 on (see? we even got our own calendar!). Despite my slightly different take on this (it takes the average Jehova's Witness about 30 years for one conversion so I think harassment on Sundaymorning is not the way to go to convert people into believers) it seems as if Johan is taking up a role as TV preacher... thanks to the stained glass windows of the old church that Paradiso was. Touch the screen, err, red button and Believe!
Daniel Ward-Murphy, a stayer at the Sellaband pages, kicked off the evening with a stunning live set. I've heard his songs many times on the site thinking they were among many good songs by good artists but I never pressed the red button. This set supported by a cellist, violinist and female vocalist however, turned me into a believer at once. Here is one artist to be reckoned with - self confident on stage and as ready to play a 2000 person venue as a 200 one. The songs I knew from the site got a different quality on stage and I'm not ashamed to say that despite him being around for quite some time now DWM was my 'new' discovery this evening.
Mandyleigh was the first of -as they were announced- three singing ladies who all came from far, so they had to share their guest musicians. That is, except for Casper and Maaike (from Caya) who gave Mandyleigh special support on acoustic guitar and vocals. A very nice collaboration!
The stage turned into a Colombian dance floor with Lily's performance of some of her Latin/Pop fusion which, combined with the remark in the Tribune that with effort she had reduced her shortlist of songs for the CD to 20 (to be further reduced to 12), promises a lot for the forthcoming CD. Wish I had bought more parts when I still could!
Clemence used her time on stage to give us a preview of what some of her songs on her CD would sound when sung in English, and I must say it doesn't work for me. I'm sure that releasing a bilingual CD opens up a larger market, but to me Clemence's appeal was specifically formed by her French style of music and performance that should be complemented by French lyrics. Nevertheless the audience was clearly impressed and I'd love to have a slight peek into the future what the CD sales will do. These can only be good!
Cubworld was the first artist on stage with a Sellaband CD out, and with his third performance in front of a crowd of believers (the second in Paradiso!) did a great and professional set.
Second Person could not fulfill on the promise of playing the new album The Elements in its entirety - however, the Alphabet Song and (which other song?) that replaced two of the five elements were by no means fillers. The video with the song Wood that I hadn't had time to see before certainly showed a darker side of the band's music, and made one very curious for the other four video's.[Shameless advertising: Buy your copy of The Elements HERE!]
After the grand finale by Nemesea, providing for the welcome rock in the programme, an end came to this eclectic evening showing the true diversity of Sellaband. Next time however, I wouldn't mind to see fewer bands each a bit longer on stage - podium changes did take quite some time, and I believe that some of the artists were only warming up when they had to make room for the next one. This night in any case ended with the deservedly self congratulating team, and for me with a number of bad train connections - but I got home, at least. Stories are being created and told about wild afterparties, but look elsewhere for those! See you all next time! (VB)
2 comments:
the other song I believe was "too cold to snow"
I sent this off to Digg.com
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