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Concerts are one-time only events which I'm very often looking forward to for
a long time. If such a concert is disappointing, it most of the time is a double blow. On
the other hand I've regularly been surprised by bands I'd never heard of.
The important issue ar every concert is the question, if a band can live up to the
expectations of their albums. Can a band do on stage what they can do on their records?
And can they do it just as good, or maybe even better? Do they play a surprising cover
song, old songs, or do they restrict themselves to new stuff? Are they presenting
interesting guest musicians? Or does a band fail live, without the technical possibilities
of a studio?
One of the problems I often face at live shows is the fact that people tend to like
everything an artist does on stage. People have bought an often expensive ticket and are
determined to enjoy theirselves, no matter what happens on stage. All sense of criticism
is left at home.
In the Netherlands we call this the "Randy Newman-effect".
Other artist that attract this kind of audience for example are Van Morrison, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne,
and James Taylor.
These concerts are often attended by celebrities, like Mart Smeets and Marco Bakker,
people who want to be seen. Everything the artsit does is wonderful, and everything is
worth a laugh. Even before the performer has aid or done anything. Those muscians
mentionaed above of course are part of the Super League of pop music, but the atmosphere
at their concerts often makes me sick.
On the other end of the scale you sometimes encounter a band doing a show which is really
top of the bill, without the audience even noticing. While the music is outstanding, the
audience just carries on chatting and drinking.
What makes a live a concert a real unforgettable event? It doesn't make sense arguing
about this, because countless factors should be taken into consideration, like sound
quality, audience, the artist's last meal, what did he or she consume besides this meal,
the venue. An important factor in the appreciation of a show are the number of times
you've seen the artist before, and all the concerts you have ever visited in your life.
Having shows to compare isn't necessarily an advantage. It's great to be able to enjoy a
show unprejudiced; having it seen all before makes you too critical and sometimes spoiled.
An illustration of this last fact was an article I read in Oor
the other day, in which Candy
Dulfer was reviewing a James Brown show
at the North Sea Jazz Festival, about ten years
ago. She wrote that she never had seen such a great James Brown concert before. In fact
this show was a disaster. But in her view Candy was right: when I saw a band playing live
for the first time in my life, it also was the best concert I had ever seen in my life
(and the worst, of course).
Something struck me while compiling this list of best concerts.
A great deal of concerts I attended in various cellars, bars, clubs, halls, tents and open
air, stuck in my mind for other reasons than the music. Sometimes it has nothing to do at
all with the music that was palyed. It's not the way it should be, but it's a fact. A few
examples.
I remember a concert from the Talking Heads in
1977, in a student club in Nijmegen that was filled with only a handful of people. Not a
bad band at all, playing a peculiar kind of rhythmic funkrock. I clearly remember the
weird singer and the female bass player. The band didn't impress me at all; what I liked
better were the announcements from Dolf Brouwers.
From the same period I can recall a Little Feat show in
Hilversum. The band played an absorbing mix of rock, blues and funk. I liked their records
and their live reputation was excellent. Later I read in reviews that Lowell George was
having voice problems, and that the band had been making a mess of their show. But I'd
liked it, probably because I was just as drunk and stoned as the guys on stage were.
In 1978 I attended a Dr. Feelgood gig
in Nijmegen. This show just falls short of my top-10, but it really is one of the best
concerts of all-time. A stompin' rhythm & blues show, headlined by the great guitar
playing of Wilko Johnson. A great bar band, in the same category as the Fabulous Thunderbirds, Nine Below Zero, and the Inmates, to
name a few bands of this kind I saw live in that period. But I was not only impressed by
the music. The fact that Lee Brilleaux, the late singer from Dr. Feelgood, drank a whole
box of Heineken during the show added to the legend!
And what about a concert from Herman
Brood & His Wild Romance at a Midsummer Night's Festival in Eindhoven in 1978 or
1979, that started while the sun was starting to rise? Exactly the same time of the day on
which Jo Lemaire and Flouze began their concert on a square near a church at the Gentse
Feesten in 1980. |
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