Smoke Fairies

Bitterzoet
Amsterdam
The Netherlands

4th June 2012 (2012-06-04)


RECORDING:

Type: Audience master, recorded 3 metres back from the left-side,
ceiling-mounted PA stack.

Source: 2 x matched DPA 4060 mics ->
DPA MMA6000 amplifier (100 Hz low-cut filter) ->
Edirol R-09HR recorder (44.1 kHz/24 bit WAV)

Lineage: Audacity 2.0.0
* applied minor equalisation to accentuate the high end
* normalised to 0 dB
* attentuated loud applause
* added fades
* split tracks
* converted to 16 bit
-> FLAC (compression level 8) [libFLAC 1.2.1 20070917]

Taper: Ian Macdonald (ianmacd)


SET LIST:

01. [03:17] Let Me Know
02. [05:24] The Three Of Us
03. [05:06] Awake
04. [04:27] Storm Song
05. [00:48] [banter]
06. [04:12] Hideaway
07. [06:12] Feel It Coming Near
08. [05:10] Take Me Down When You Go
09. [04:06] Daylight
10. [01:01] Dragon (false start)
11. [03:01] Dragon
12. [04:26] Hotel Room
13. [05:43] Blood Speaks
14. [01:03] [encore break]
15. [04:37] Summer Fades
16. [04:49] Strange Moon Rising

Total running time: 63:23


NOTES:

It feels as if I've waited forever to see the Smoke Fairies in Amsterdam.
Amazingly, they've never played here before. In fact, they came uncomfortably
close to not playing this evening, either.

When I arrived at Bitterzoet, the doors were were still closed. A notice on
the door explained that the band had missed their ferry from England and
consequently arrived late. They were apparently still soundchecking inside.

When a guy from the venue came outside to tell us that we wouldn't have to
wait much longer, I asked him what time the band had arrived, to which he
replied that they hadn't got to the venue until 19:45. You have to agree,
that's not a lot of time to set up and soundcheck for a 21:00 performance.

The ferry shenanigans and long bus ride probably caused a lot of stress for
the band, so I can't fault them for coming on stage a quarter of an hour late
at 21:15. They probably needed to knock back a few drinks to calm their nerves
on this, the first night of the tour.

When they do emerge, there's no hint of the long day they've already endured.
They appear calm and composed. The opening song is 'Let Me Know', which also
happens to open the band's new album, 'Blood Speaks'.

This album is the band's second, or would be, were it not for having been
preceded by not one, but two others. The debut album is commonly held to be
2010's 'Through Low Light And Trees', but for reasons to which I remain
oblivious, its predecessor, 2006's 'Strange The Things', has been written out
of history. Even the band's Wikipedia page fails to mention it. Odd, because
it's not a bad album, but, for whichever reason, the band have disowned it.

The final two tracks from the ten track 'Blood Speaks' are the only two not
aired tonight. Just under half of 'Through Low Light And Trees' supplements
the set. 'Gastown' appears on the set-list between encore songs, 'Summer
Fades' and 'Strange Moon Rising', but is skipped over.

The nerves show during an abortive first attempt at 'Dragon', which sees
Katherine out of her element on electric piano. It's an awkward moment in an
otherwise polished set. She recovers, however, and starts the song anew,
encouraged by Jessica, who reminds her that they only bought the keyboard and
lugged it all this way, so that Katherine could use it to play 'Dragon'.

The set is too short, but its length comes as no surprise. I had hoped they
would pull a Killing Joke cover out of the cupboard tonight (yes, they really
do play them sometimes), but no such luck.

The band's performance was strong and cohesive, Katherine's guitar playing
making a particularly strong impression on this listener. The sound was also
mixed to perfection, I felt, with no hint of the time pressure under which
they had had to set up and prepare. Combined with an ideal recording location
and a respectful audience, the resultant recording is sublime.

I've applied a tiny bit of equalisation to enhance the high end, but this is
easily the best Smoke Fairies boot I have heard to date, even if I have to
blow my own trumpet annoyingly loud to make the point. As always, samples are
included, so you can judge for yourself.

I spoke to Katherine briefly after the gig and she explained that the band
hadn't actually missed their ferry. The one they were supposed to take had had
some problems coming into port and their voyage across the channel had been on
unpleasantly turbulent seas.

All in all, it had been a long day for the girls, but their performance betrayed
little of their ordeal. The half-full Bitterzoet's audience seemed very
impressed with the band. I certainly was.