Last Monday the Amsterdam Bos Theatre hosted an evening of acoustic music. What a great location: An open air theatre in the Amsterdam Forest, a park three times the size of Central Park on the outskirts of the city. It was a dry and warm evening with mosquitos who calmed down once it got dark.
I had been apprehensive about this gig. A mailing that had gone out from promotor warned of a token system for drinks and that payment would be by "pin" only. They even tried to flog a very un-rock'n roll €35 picnic hamper. Thankfully cash was eventually accepted and there were no hipster picnickers in evidence at all.
Call It Off opened the show. They describe themselves as a pop punk quartet and hail from Eindhoven. For this concert band members Maurice and Adrian performed as a duo. The hallmark of a good song is that it should work with just guitar and vocals and that was indeed the case here. The guys have strong voices, they harmonize nicely and they got some crowd participation going, even if it did take them until their last song to realize that there were a lot of travelling fans at the show who had not understood any of their introductions in Dutch.
Tim Vantol is a Dutch singer/songwriter who is actually better known in Germany than at home. I was not familiar with his music, but I knew that he came highly recommended. I was won over quickly: A huge voice, warm personality and anthemic songs about life and its ups and downs. Tim is a hardworking touring machine and a seasoned live act. He had the audience on his side from the start. He asked where people were from and effortlessly switched to Spanish in mid-song for a girl in the audience.
It was unfortunate that Tim's merch guy did not have sufficient change and was not prepared to accept 1 and 2 cent coins. I resigned myself to the fact that I was not meant to have Tim's CD. For the record, Tim has released two full-length albums and they are out on vinyl as well.
Frank Turner's gig was a rare duo performance with his friend and Sleeping Soul member Matt Nasir on mandolin, mandola and backing vocals. With a bottle of wine on a table between them they put on a laid-back, humorous show. The set differed significantly from Frank's previous concert in the Netherlands (Utrecht, January), which pleases multiple gig goers. The songs from Frank's most recent album 'Positive Songs For Negative People' translated particularly well to the guitar and mandolin treatment. 'Glorious You' and 'The Opening Act Of Spring' were the standouts for me.
'A Love Worth Keeping' was played especially for a fan for whom this was her 50th show. Frank inpires this kind of loyalty among his listeners, most of whom will be able to tell you their gig count. A check on Setlist.fm revealed ten previous live renditions of the song 'A Love Worth Keeping'. In comparison, the site lists Frank's most successful song 'Photosynthesis' 787 times, though given that this was Frank's 1958th show as a solo artist (he does keep count) the actual figure is probably double that.
Other rarities performed at the Bos Theatre were the Million Dead song 'Smiling At Strangers On Trains' and a new song entitled 'Eye Of The Day'. This song is about Mata Hari and is part of a kind of concept album that Frank may be working on. It is a beautiful quiet song and the audience gave it the reverence it deserved.
The encore included a guitar and mandolin classic rock extravaganza with covers of Wings' 'Live And Let Die' and Queen's 'Somebody To Love'. 'Get Better' closed the concert. The 'Get Better' Tour of the UK featuring Frank Turner & the Sleeping Souls plus two support acts kicks off on 18 November.
Helen.
