Pauw (opening for Birth of Joy)
2015-12-20
Paradiso, Amsterdam, Netherlands
62:57

tracks:
1. Intro
2. Visions
3. Abyss
4. Glare
5. Memories
6. Intents
7. A Siren
8. Today Never Ends
9. High Tide
10. Shambhala

lineage: AUD by Jerry(19)70 (3 meters from left of stage (in front of keyboard player) > Aiwa stero mic > M-Audio Microtrack II (WAV 16/44) > Audacity (hard limit on applause, normalize, fade-in at beginning, fade-out at end) > FLAC16 level 8


After I heard only a couple of songs online I knew I had to see this band live. They were opening for Birth of Joy, another band I had recently found out about so two good reasons to go to that marvellous place called the Paradiso.

The band play their sets in old Hawkwind style: lots of songs connected, pieces of music as a bridge between songs. The set started with a tape, then the band played what was called Intro on the setlist. Between songs there were several pieces of music that were not part of the studio versions of the songs. Between Today Never Ends and High Tide, for example, are a few minutes that really don't belong to either of those songs. I had to make a choice and opted for indexing the tracks as if the new pieces of music were the introductions to the next song. So High Tide starts with the extended intro. They could even be songs of their own, but since I don't know the songs that well, I decided to use the written setlist as a guide. Corrections are welcome.

I was surprised at part of the audience. I remember seeing DeWolff (another young Dutch psychedelic rock band) in 2009 and the audience comprised people in their 40s (myself included) and young boys and girls. That's a good sign, I thought - the world is not lost when young people attend rock gigs like this. But here, I was wondering why these young folks were actually there. With DeWolff, I saw boys and girls dancing and jumping around and only one or two girls dribbling at the feet of the guitarist. Here at this Pauw gig, most of them were just talking. (Maybe most of them were waiting for Birth of Joy? It's harder to believe the music of Birth of Joy attracting people so young, though.) You can hear quite a lot of people talking, but fortunately the music is louder. There was no way to find another place to record and the Paradiso was almost sold out and rather packed.

The band did not disappoint, but did not overwhelm either. Several of the songs were based around one or two melody lines. Pink Floyd references are plenty. The bass player and guitarist / singer are not confined to their space but it was the keyboard player who was the most lively of the bunch. When there was some interaction between singer and audience, he didn't look into the audience at all and was looking down instead. It's not in their music to have long solos or jams (although the interludes might be improvisations), so it did not come across as being very lively. They're still a young band, let's see what the future will teach them. I like their sound, I support them and bought the new album (on vinyl).

I'm pretty pleased with the recording. Not my best, partly due to the talkers. Hope you like it.

Enjoy!
Jerry(19)70