Gomez, The Espy, St Kilda, 16 November 2019

20 years on and we are still all just looking for our Rhythm & Blues Alibi. 

If the story of how the band Gomez got their name is true, then I love it. Allegedly at their first performance they left a sign out for their friend Gomez so he could find them and the punters thought that it must have been the actual name of the band and it just stuck. 

RNB Fridays Live 2019, Marvel Stadium Melbourne, 9 November 2019

Let this be a lesson to you kids. Do not drink red wine and then let your wife buy concert tickets for the following day. I have previously fallen into this trap when my wife “got me” Madonna tickets.  And this Friday I woke up with a bit have hang over and tickets to RNB Fridays.

Tim Freedman & Alana Wilkinson, The Espy (The Esplanade Hotel), 30 October 2019

A letter to myself on a cassette, ‘cause I don’t blog anymore. 

It‘s been eleven years that I have lived out of Australia, that means eleven years since I have watched Tim perform live…..eleven long years of not hearing his dulcet tones, seeing his mannerisms and witnessing this enigmatic piano player hard at work performing to his audience.

Wolfmother, Melkweg, 24 July 2018

Five takeaways from the show:

1. Amsterdam is still the most livable city for live music I have ever known

It will never get old that you can leave your ‘suburban’ family home at 8.30pm and be standing a couple of meters from the stage, beer in hand, ready to go for the opening song at 9pm. What a city….

The Rural Alberta Advantage – Bitterzoet, 9 March 2018

According to a recent study* conducted by O2 and Goldsmith’s University Associate Lecturer Patrick Fagan, attending a live music gig can help you live longer. Apparently, experiencing a gig for just 20 minutes can result in a 21% increase in feelings of well-being. Further research found a direct link between “high levels of well-being [and] a lifespan increase of nine years”, therefore suggesting that being exposed to live music could help you live longer.

I can’t speak to the science but anyone who was at the Rural Alberta Advantage show in Amsterdam this month will vouch for its findings and an increased feeling of well-being.

Iron and Wine – Paradiso , 27 January 2018

What better way to start the musical year than with Iron and Wine, live on the Paradiso main stage.

The Shins - Paradiso, 30 March 2017

The Shins seems like the poetic place to start writing again on VP Music Blog.

Over a period of about two and a half years we attended exactly 100 live shows and wrote exactly 99 reviews. For all the experiences, opinions, theories, and emotions that we tried to convey from these shows, there was one that left us.... speechless?

Not speechless in the blown away sense, more in the... uninspired sense.

Gary Clark Jr – Paradiso, 27 May 2014

May 27, 2014 was a night to remember. A night that on the surface may have looked like any other night in Amsterdam, but was in fact a unique, one-off, never-to-be-repeated event.

This was the night that I unwittingly found myself in a Louisiana blues bar, seeing the best blues guitarist I have ever seen live.

Angus & Julia Stone, Amsterdams​e Bostheater​, 1 July 2014

A long time ago, in a land far, far away, where the sun always shines and the air is always warm, there lived a young man. A young man who for some unknown reason dreamt of living where the sun rarely shines and the air is rarely warm, but where adventure and new experiences are always at hand.

Kings of Leon - Ziggo Dome, 2 June 2014

In case anyone hasn’t noticed, the Kings of Leon have become a really big band. Almost shockingly big. And partly because of this, and partly because of the changes in their sound over the years, they are a band that divide many fans.

Regina Spektor – Paradiso, 31 July 2013

The definition of whimsical, per the English Oxford Dictionary:

ADJECTIVE

1. Playfully quaint or fanciful, especially in an appealing and amusing way;

2. Acting or behaving in a capricious manner;

3. Regina Spektor.

Jake Bugg - Paradiso, 25th November 2013

Well I'll be Bugged...........

Jake Bugg, oh how I couldn't bloody wait to see young Jakey Bugg do his thing at Paradiso. I mean here was a singer/songwriter, and well hyped guitarist, on display at "my church" ready to make me believe that there is a god.....a guitar god that is.

Am I being a little dramatic? Well maybe just a tad, but the fact is that Jake had played a sold out show here last tour, and this time would be no different. In fact he, the cheeky little Bugger (pun intended) had sold out two nights back to back at one of the greatest rock venues in Europe....Paradiso, Amsterdam.

Kodaline - Melkweg, 29 November 2013

If I know anything about the Irish, it’s that they are born entertainers.

Whether it’s telling a story or singing a song, they seem to possess some sort of magical ability to capture their audience’s attention and just entertain. And if done with a drink in hand, by the story-teller, the listener, or ideally both, it only seems to get better.

London Grammar - Melkweg, 3 March, 2014

With an ever building hype around a band, I always get nervous before I see their show. Not because I might not love it (as that is always a possibility) but rather that I might not be able to get a ticket to the show. But on this night I was lucky enough to have a mate who had secured a ticket for me and I was able just to turn up and enjoy the show. 

St. Vincent - Paradiso, 15 February 2014

The last time I saw Annie Clark playing in her band St. Vincent I was blown away, she was a Rock Goddess and someone who should rightly take the world by storm. A year later I would see here perform with David Byrne and she still had the guitar skills but the show had clearly taken a more “Talking Heads” esk turn with lots of dancing in unison and fantastic use of lighting to develop a real theatrical performance. So when contemplating the potential performance of St. Vincent in 2014 I had wanted a bit of both of the last performances and that’s exactly what I got.

Vance Joy – Paradiso, 18 February 2014

If New Zealand teenage sensation Lorde was the queen of popular music in 2013, then Aussie band Vance Joy at least deserve a footnote in music history, with their song Riptide one of the few things to put Royals into second place anywhere in the world last year.

Van Morrison - The Ziggo Dome, 10 December 2013

It’s a lovely night for Vaughan dance………..

David Byrne & St. Vincent – Tivoli Utrecht, 25 August 2013

I recently saw a formula that stated “modern art = I could do that + yeah, but you didn’t”

It made me laugh as it sounded just like numerous conversations I have had, in numerous art galleries around the world. Don’t get me wrong, I do like modern art and sometimes I think I even understand what the artist was trying to do. But more often than not, I struggle to get overly enthusiastic about the whole thing.

In contrast, I would imagine David Byrne is someone who IS overly enthusiastic about modern art. I would even go so far as to say he would be overly enthusiastic about almost all art.

The Pixies, Paradiso, 6 October 2013

This monkey didn’t quite go to heaven. But I am sure even God could have heard them, they were that bloody loud.

Puggy – Paradiso, 16 January 2014

Not the prettiest name for a band but the way they rocked out was pure rock and roll beauty………