RANDOM NOTES - April 8th, 1998 to April 22th, 1999
It really sucks when one of your favourite artists makes a complete idiot of himself. That’s what David Thomas managed to do when he played in Antwerp (Pere Ubu – Hof Ter Lo – 8/4/98). First, Thomas started whining about a spotlight he wanted just in front of him and not above him. Because this couldn’t be handled instantly, he took a cardboard box which he hang on his microphone-stand to avoid the light. It may sound funny but it wasn’t because his silly rantings screwed up one song after another. Thomas behaved like a real tiran on stage and the other members of the band underwent everything like a bunch of sissies. When someone finally let ‘THE STAR’ its way and put on a light in front of him, fatty started bawling out the audience for no reasons at all!! Of course, being the morons that they are, the rock audience kept on applauding song after song! I just couldn’t stand it any longer, wanted to scream «WHY DON’T YOU GO HOME IF YOU DON’T LIKE IT HERE!!» but – being the man of sense that I am – I decided to call it a day and went home. The next day, I scrapped the Cooking Vinyl boxset off my wish list and put my Pere Ubu albums on the highest shelve. I’d rather spend my money on some young & fresh punkrock band like The Peechees whose enthusiastic set at the Pit’s (Kortrijk - 2/5/98) was a true relief. They played without their bass player who is Portorican and was sent home because of visa-problems. But the loss of their bassplayer was outweighed by the intensity of the set and the 3 remaining Peechees were some of the nicest people you are likely to meet. The Meteors (Ghent - 30/5/98) in turn, were an awfull bunch of idiots! The crowd was full of nazi scumbags and the music sucked big ass. I glanced into a few fanzines that were being sold at the gig and it seemed like everybody’s hero was that fascist dickhead singer of Skrewdriver who – fortunately – died a few years ago. On both sides of the stage were 2 fat bouncers overlooking the audience & damn proud of their silly racist T-shirts. A night too stupid that I won’t waste another word upon it. The La Vieja Trova Santiaguero concert (Vooruit, Ghent - 01/05/98) was another blew! I really liked the documentary about these veterans from Santiago de Cuba but once on stage, one of the granddaddies kept on talking and talking in Spanish and talking in between songs and kept on talking and talking and talking in Spanish so most of the audience left the show with an awful headache!! The Turbonegro gig (4AD, Diksmuide - 5/5/98) was maybe the biggest disappointment of that sudden week in May 1998. Remember the first issue of Batarang! were I mentioned I was going to take a day-off at work the next day to recover? I wish I hadn’t ‘cuz this was one of the weakest shows in years! Gone was the terrific power of their landmark album ‘Ass Cobra’. They even didn’t wanna play their knock-out version of ‘Mobile Home’! Exit Punkrock, Enter Hard Rock! Bweurk !! Silly Macho Attitudes and Boring Cliché Rock ! The Drags (Kortrijk, The Pit’s – 23/5/98) on the other hand, showed us what good rock ‘n’ roll music is all about ! Everybody had a great time and after the gig, I even kissed Lora on the cheek. It really was that good ! I enjoyed Assück (Ghent, Frontline – 2/6/98) for other reasons. Their fast & furious grindcore was out of all proportion and it felt like watching an extremely violent, fucked up cartoon. I just hope they don’t take their music too serious. From Assück to Azmari (Antwerp, ‘t Zuiderpershuis -14/6/98) was quite a culture shock! Azmaribéts are Ethiopian folk cabarets. Their set in Antwerp was enjoyable but what disgusted me is that similar art centres treat ethnic bands as travelling museum pieces while in their home countries, their very sole reason for existence is entertaining people. No wonder that many musicians are often ill at ease while playing for western audiences : in their home country, they entertain dancing crowds while in Europe, they play in front of a a boring, seated crowd. The Ethiopean meal afterwards was good but couldn’t match the terrific one I enjoyed in Paris a few weeks before. For delicious INJERA, check out Restaurant Entotto/143-145, rue Léon Maurice Nordmann/75013 Paris. A week later, we drove to Amsterdam for what would become one of the best concerts in recent years : The King of Ethiopean soul music Mahmoud Ahmed (Amsterdam, Melkweg - 18/06/98)! Words alone cannot describe the majesty of the show ! Even the Saharouis nomads of Southern Algeria – who were also featured on this small World Roots festival - had a wonderful time ! Mindblowing ! ! Unfortunately, words can explain the dulness of Dr. John's gig at the Ancienne Belgique in Brussels (30/06/98). I had invited my parents to join us but I wish I hadn’t ‘cuz ‘Weak Was The Word’! The mindless routine & slickness made me leave the hall after half an hour. Just a few weeks before our trip to Vietnam, we picked up another Mahmoud Ahmed concert in a refugee centre in Brussels. Although there was no doubt about the greatness of Mahmoud & his band, the overall atmosphere of desperate refugees hanging out of the windows diminished the charisma of the outside show. I was surprised about how classical (and boring) Radio Tarifa (06/08/98) turned out to be live. I expected a bunch of virtuose Spanian gypsies but saw a very conservative - almost classical - band . The music’s medieval influence however matched the environment brilliantly ‘cuz the band - or should I say the orchestra? – played in the garden of the Groeningenmuseum in Bruges. Did I already cited Bruges & Ghent as two of the most beautiful cities in the world ? And this, dear reader, has nothing to do with patriotism! Again, the contrast with a band like The Dukes Of Hamburg (Lintfabriek, Kontich - 25/08/98) couldn’t have been bigger. The Dukes were awesome and they kicked everybody’s ass with their very infectious rock and roll sing-a-long ditties. Russel Quan – former drummer of The Mummies – is definitely one of the funniest singers I have ever witnessed on stage! I strongly recommed their Dionysus platters. Jon and The Nightriders (Antwerp, 19/09/98) were another delight. What a terrific band ! Dusty Watson must be one of the best drummers in the world ! Afterwards, I bought their latest CD ‘Fiberglass Rocket’ on Atomic Beat Records, together with lead guitar player Jon Blair’s ‘The Illustrated Discography of Surf Music 1961-1965’, the ultimate book for every surf music lover. And then, uhm, and then there were a few months without no life music at all. But Andre Williams & The Countdowns (Lintfabriek, Kontich - 24/10/98) shook us up like nobody had ever done before : the show was a bomb ! Totally incredible ! ! The Demolition Doll Rods, who played first, made that particular saturday night even more legendary. Stripped to the bone and finger-licking good ! Don’t miss the Andre William interview on this site. Sadly, I missed two shows at the Pit’s : The Hentchmen (18/11/98) and Fortune & Maltese. The first because of overtime work, the latter because of what could best be described as poor publicity by our pals at The Pits’ (that's before they went online)! But hey, all is forgiven, ‘cuz it’s them folks that keep the punk rock ‘n’ roll pot boiling in Bloody Belgium ! For the 5th time, I payed a visit to the annual Bluesestaffe in Utrecht (21/11/98) and again was I rewarded with great shows by Betty Lavette, Earl Gaines and Elmo Williams & Hezekiah Early. Sadly, I missed Doug Sahm & The Last Texas Blues Band ‘cuz they were scheduled to play at 01.45 PM and by that time, I was already in dreamland. The next day we drove northwards to Amsterdam for Nashville Pussy (The Melkweg, Amsterdam - 22/11/98). As we arrived early, I was able to chat with Ruyter, the female lead guitar player. She was friendly but her husband Blaine Cartwright - who used to play in cowpunk legends Nine Pound Hammer – striked me as extremely dumb. To make things worse, Corey, the good-looking but very sleazy female bass player turned out to be even dumber! I liked their show but I don’t think I’ll go out to see the band next time around ‘cuz their silly hardrock attitude blew it. The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion set (Vooruit, Ghent - 25/11/98) was top notch ! The perfect sense of timing (which I had also witnessed at an amazing Bill Viola exhibition in Amsterdam some days earlier) and straighforward rock and roll music was both hip and timeless. After the show I ran across Judah and Russell in the men’s room. I said I liked the show very much but they looked to me like I had some kind of infectious skin disease. Welcome to the ‘David Thomas Club of Spoiled Rock Stars’ guys! Thee Headcoats & Headcoatees (Lintfabriek, Kontich - 27/11/98) put on another delicious rock and roll show. After all those years, Billy Childish is still the uncrowned king of rawk & roll. THEE HEADCOATEES included HOLLY GOLIGHTLY and were lotsa fun! Almost everybody was dancin’ and havin’ a mighty good time and afterwards, a terrific DJ spinned one killer record after the other. Fabulous! Malik P. Sow & Welnere (N9 Villa, Eeklo - 19/12/98) put on a very good show at my hometown. Cool African music made by some enhusiastic people ! Although the various members of The Persuaders and The Reatards (4AD, Diksmuide - 16/01/99) were affected by flue, both bands lived up to the high expectations made by their records. Especially Jay Reatard – hardly 18 years old – made quite an impression with his over-the-top performance. THE SEATSNIFFERS (Melsele - 06/02/99) showed us again that they are one of the best roots rock 'n' roll bands in the world. Beautiful go-go dancers and hip-shaking music turned us all into a bunch of shiny happy people! Nothing beats the power of an intense punkrock gig! The Makers (Lintfabriek, Kontich - 6/3/99) and Trumans Water (Democrazy, Ghent - 08/03/99) are bands who have been touring Europe several times but both failed to impress me this time. The first out of vanity (posers!) , the other because of slovenly. Next was a double bill focusing the music of Madagascar. When Folkroots editor and Madagascar devotee Ian Anderson recommended the CD ‘Les Grands Maîtres du Salegy’, I checked it out ‘cuz I didn’t have any Madagascan music in my record collection. The compilation however turned out to be a drag, especially because of the ugly keyboards. Fortunately, no keyboards were to be found at De Vooruit. D’Gary (Voouit, Ghent - 09/04/99) made quite an impression as the Ali Farka Toure of Madagascar and Régis Gizavo’s solo accordean act was heartwarming. At times, his accordeon sounded like an immense church organ! Mr Quintron should’ve been there! His organ & puppet show at The Pit’s was hilarious and moreover, Mr. Quintron & Miss Pussycat (The Pit's, Kortrijk - 16/04/99) turned out to be very nice people too! Than we saw some Pakistanian band (Sohrab Fakir - Vooruit, Ghent - 22/04/99) at De Vooruit but as the next day, I’d already forgotten the band’s name and music, I can’t really say they made a big impression on me…