There’s a new wave of rock going though the Dutch music scene and I was really excited  when I heard that three of the frontrunners of this wave were coming to Luxor Live in my hometown of Arnhem. Besides knowing how to rock, all three of the bands (Bullerslug, Traumahelikopter and John Coffey) have developed quite a reputation for bringing down the house during their live shows.

Well, Luxor Live is still standing after May 16th and people weren’t swinging from the ceiling as I’ve seen them do on photos from other gigs from for instance John Coffey at the Paaspop festival, but all three bands proved that rock is as alive as it ever was. Or should I say, more alive than it ever was in the Netherlands? The raw energy of these bands really has to be seen and heard to be believed.

So OK, a few more audience members to fill up the room and to create some extra ‘stir’ would have been nice and the bands would have surely deserved it.  But meanwhile, after this night at Luxor Live, I can’t wait to see either of these bands again. Hope it will be soon!

So if you have the chance to see Bullerslug, Traumahelikopter or John Coffey at a venue near you, I strongly urge you to do so. As they are truly awesome!

Three full galleries after the break…

Enjoy the photos!

Bullerslug

Traumahelikopter

John Coffey

I love my local record store… The one I’m talking about is Kroese in my hometown of Arnhem. Not just because the store is awesome, that it’s really special that such a big independent store can exist on a high street and that the guys working there are great, but also because they organise cool instore gigs throughout the year.

And during Record Store Day they go an extra mile by not inviting one band to play there, not two, but five! The past few years I wasn’t able to attend the RSD gigs at Kroese but this year I absolutely had to attend.

Too bad I missed out on Israel Nash Gripka, but I did catch the gigs of DeWolff, Qeaux Qeaux Joans, Stuurbaard Bakkebaard and Navarone and had a blast. Long live the record store and long live Record Store Day!

Four galleries after the break…

Enjoy the photos!

DeWolff

Qeaux Qeaux Joans

Stuurbaard Bakkebaard

Navarone

Way back in February 2010 I had the chance to photograph a band at my local venue of Luxor Live, the band was called Nausica and they were booked to play a short gig in the entrance hall of the Luxor. And whilst I expected it would be pretty much impossible to get some good photos in the dimly lit entrance hall, I did it anyway, mainly because I had a listen to their music before the gig and really liked it. The entrance hall gig was cool and, even despite the challenging conditions, the band liked the photos I took and we stayed in touch afterwards.

About a year later I was invited to join them at the Sing Sing Studios in Metslawier, Friesland where they were about to record their first professionaly recorded and produced EP. It was pretty amazing to witness this process and to document it with my photos and I was really looking forward to hearing the EP which was planned to be released later that year. Sometimes though, things don’t go according to plan and you have to take the long way home. These long ways are never easy, but very often these are the most interesting paths to follow.

In the case of Nausica this meant, amongst others, working longer on the recorded material, re-recording some parts, getting heavily involved in an awesome community art and leisure project, cooperating with visual artists, looking for and finding a new drummer and writing new songs. All in all this process took them two years ahead in time. Until, finally, on April 19th 2013 it was time to present their EP to the public.

Just before the EP presentation party and gig, the band released a beautiful video for their song ‘Weapons Of Silence’, made by VJ Glitterende Eenhoorn. The vid is visually stunning, but what struck me most was how awesome the band sounded, so I couldn’t wait to see them live again.

And wow, almost nothing could have prepared me for how mindblowing their gig was… The ‘old’ songs (as the songs on the EP were basically over two years old now) sounded as fresh as ever, there was something magical about the coherence within the band and the new songs (about which guitarist Tim dryly remarked: “well, we had some time to write them”) were amazing. They grooved, they had a raw edge to them and as such they really complimented the older songs. One of the new songs ‘Jane Doe’ had a sort of Savages like ring to it, which I really, really liked. Oh and let’s not forget the VJ-ing and live drawing during the gig by VJ Glitterende Eenhoorn and Menah… Awesome!

So yes, it took them a while to get there, but in my humble opinion it very much seems like it was all worth it. What a trip and what an amazing result, not just the EP, but also the new songs, the awesome gig and a band that has really matured… Some might call this an epic journey and I would have to agree… But do you know what’s the best thing of all? Nausica’s journey has only just begun!

Opening act for Nausica was Jellephant (a.k.a. Jelle Haagsma), who set the mood with his shoegaze blues. And basically his t-shirt said it all: “life is killing my rock n roll”. It doesn’t get much bluesier than that…

Full photo galleries after the break…

Enjoy the photos!

Nausica

Jellephant

‘De Speeldoos’ (translated: the music box) is a project Torre and Roos have been doing for a couple of years now, by putting poems made by special needs people to music. The second album from this project just got released and as I walked in they were just about to start ‘Dansen Met Jou’ (dancing with you). That was a lot of fun and all the energy on stage was reflected by quite a lot of people dancing in the audience as well…

I had hoped to see a dancing audience too at Danish electropop-rockers Turboweekend’s gig, but sadly crowds were low and the only ones dancing, were a couple of lovers who I suspect were so lovedrunk that they would have danced to funeral music… Ah well, at least it felt good to visit a gig in Arnhem again, but I really hope that the Danes get bigger audiences at the other gigs they play on the Dutch leg of their European tour. They deserve it!

Enjoy the photos!

Torre Florim & Roos Rebergen

Turboweekend

On March 7th, in a sold-out upstairs room of Amsterdam’s Paradiso, Tessa Douwstra had reason to celebrate… After months of recording, it was finally time to present the debut album of her band Orlando to the world: ‘The Early Warning Company’.

About a year ago, in March 2012, Tessa swapped the busy city life of Rotterdam for a mansion in a forest near Utrecht, to live there, but also to build a studio and to record an album. Not exactly the most common way to record an album, so I can imagine this whole adventure made Tessa and her band extra proud to have press, fans, friends and family all in one place to share in the joy of the album presentation.

It most certainly was a joyous affair! With of course Tessa at the epicenter, but everybody on stage was beaming and everybody had their chance to shine. For me it was really inspirational to see a young band like Orlando clearly loving what they’re doing, but also doing it really well. So hats off to Orlando!

And after the ‘regular’ part of the gig, it was time for the official celebrations, which meant champagne, but most of all the hand over of first copy of the debut album to Tessa, which was done by tv and radio presenter Eric Corton, who has been championing Orlando for a while now and gave high praise to the album, calling it his ‘place of solace and comfort’ (or similar words).

During the encores Tessa and her band gave it their all once more and then took a well deserved bow. They’ve won over Amsterdam that night, but I’m pretty sure the rest of the Netherlands will follow soon!

Full photo gallery after the break…

Enjoy the photos!