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. 

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.

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.

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………

Sarah Blasko – Patronaat Haarlem, 11 December 2013

Back in 2002 I received a CD as a Christmas present from a good friend of mine. It was an EP called Prelusiveand she explained it was the debut EP by an old friend of hers who was now going by the name of Sarah Blasko.

I really enjoyed what I heard and was excited when the song Your Way started to get some air play on Triple J radio. Over the 10 plus years since then I have watched this Sydney based singer-song writer blossom into one of Australia’s top female musicians. Her 4 albums to date have seen significant chart success in Australia, winning her two ARIA awards and numerous other award nominations. And she has toured extensively, selling out good size venues all over Australia, joining the lineup of numerous festivals and earlier this year, even playing 2 sold out nights at the iconic Sydney Opera House, backed by a full orchestra.

Cloud Control – Bitterzoet Amsterdam, 2 October 2013

Cloud Control will always have a soft spot in my music blogging heart.

Cat Power – Paradiso, 2 July 2013

About 10 years ago I developed quite an obsession with Cat Power, a.k.a. Chan Marshall, and in particular her album You Are Free. By no means had I stumbled across a new breaking artist, this was already her 6th studio album, but this album opened up a new world of sounds to me.

Vampire Weekend – Heineken Music Hall, 19 November 2013

I once read (and it was on the internet, so it must be true) that the boys from Vampire Weekend come from a part of New York that was heavily impacted by the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center. Although it did not impact their families directly, a significant number of kids in their schools lost parents and relatives. With enough pain and darkness already around them, their music had been a conscious decision to bring some positivity and enjoyment back into the world around them.