Lokaal 25 Feb 2007

I was sick and Jaap had to be somewhere else, I got a feelin in my guts at 9pm that I just had go there anyway, even though I had officially called in sick. It’s a little like leaving your baby outside on the street while you go and get your hair done… an extreme metaphor, but I was also extremely misselijk. Anyways I bundled myself up and braved the February winds to get down to the town in time. When I arrived Jim Hundley had already begun. He has a traditional style, but his use of words is very strong. My favourite song from his is a slow build-up up song about a woman who commits suicide by gassing herself in her car, and the small details like the hose through the car window, its all very cinematic and sent a shiver up my spine. That particular song is to be heard on Jiims myspace. The other fav number was the last one, the Ghost Rider, Im sure there have been millions of song written on this topic,, but he did an excellent job. It was about running away from your own concience

Pien Fieth took the stage as the venue started filling up. The previous night she had released , her new album “The Wilderness Sound”in Utrecht with her new band,s o she had been out partying all night, however with her rich dark voice this did nothing but good things to it. She totally wrapped the public in her spell, for the first time that I have seen in there, two guys actually sat down on the floor right in front of the stage to not miss a single moment. And it was not so they could see up her skirt, it because her enchanting performance draws you in, the delicate emphasis on small parts of words ranging to broad wails. If you haven’t seen Pein perform then you have not seen one of Hollands best singersongwriters.

Last of the night was Ro Halfhide, a name I had heard around a lot – he is the orgnaiser of the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild, and also the producer of the magnificient Lucky Fonz III. His performance was full of expression, and he had a good range of songs, with some uptempo numbers thrown in there. His guitar playing was a mixture of picking and strumming that gave a good variation. I was unfortunately unable to see the whole gig but I left a packed lokaal at 11.50pm with the assurance that the night would end in a good way, and if he stopped right on the dot of 12 or kept playing until 2am I have no idea…