Maybe it’s a little nuts – two Maartens on one evening. But maybe its just a bit amusing. One thing is for sure, it was yet again a sucessful formula for a generous dose of good live music. I have been completely overloaded with singersongwriters this week – three of them last Thursday in Murphy’s Law, six on Sunday afternoon at the Acoustic Alley Singersongwriter’s Day, and to top it off, three in the evening in Lokaal Vredebreuk.

Maarten Williams kicked it off. I am puzzled as to why he only performs a few times a year. Fantastic Dutch languague songs and amusing meoldies ensure a danceable result. Maarten knew how to keep the attention of the audience with a healthy dose of humour.

The second artist, Maarten de Paepe, was also a pleasure to experience. He came all the way from Nijmegen with a fanbase trailing after him. Maarten played just as sarcastically as Maarten before him. It was a trade-off, as Kat had played a few weeks before in Nijmegen, a sort of football competition in a way, but in a good way.

The closing act of the night was The Weak and the Strong. This Rotterdamse artist played songs about himself, about his luck and lack of luck in the game of love, with a healthy dose of sarcasm smeared over the top of it all. I could see some happiness in his songs from time to time, which gave a nice variation.
All in all this night was a kind of reunion with people we had known for some time but had never seen perform before. It was a great evening, and of course we will try and repeat the success again next week. Then it will be up to Somesay, Alan Black and Jesse Edmond to provide the entertainment!