11/04/08 - Motel Mozaique

Another mini-festival to which i'd come, shamefully, just to watch one band in particular; Guillemots. There were however, some other bands that I wanted to check out and Jamie Lidell, who i'd seen once before and wanted to see again.

The night started out with A Fine Frenzy, who I'd gone to at the request of my friend, who was interested in seeing them live. Playing to a packed Rotterdamse Schouwburg kleine zaal, they had created a warm and cosy atmosphere that went well with their light, melodic, piano pop. Alison Sudol, the main force behind the band, was very talkative and 'cute', for want of a better word, giggling a lot, which also added to the pleasant feelings given off by the music. Despite all of this, and the crisp mix, the songs were all a bit samey and not really my favorite type of music really. There was very, very little they did wrong, but unfortunately they weren't that exciting.
[2/5]

After walking to an alternate venue to see Be Your Own Pet and finding out that they'd finished early, I went back to the Schouwburg to see a band i'd heard about but not heard; Pivot. I was genuinely scared at the beginning of the set when they started off creating layers and layers of scary chanting, which looped infinitely to create this sludge, but after they got going, it was impossible not to be amazed. I'm not sure which was better; the crazy polyrhythmic drumming, the constantly varying texture or the neat guitar lines but I was impressed with it all to say the least.
[4/5]

I then headed over to where Jamie Lidell was playing, already half an hour or so into his set. It felt as if the energy that the band was giving off hit me right in the chest as soon as I walked in and I was shocked at how much it seemed like Jamie Lidell's live show had matured. On his own last time I saw him, he was slightly shy despite his strange mirrored shirt and jerky dance moves. Granted, he was playing to about 10 times the amount of people, but now backed with a band, it seemed as if the beast inside him had finally been let loose. He was still effortlessly joining multiple tracks together with beats but it was more impressive this time because his band also took over with live music at various points. The energy was unbelievable, the crowd was 100% into it but unfortunately, with a show as spectacular as that comes big lights, and I couldn't see for half the time I was there because of these big lights that keep flashing at me. A minor detail perhaps, but it made it less enjoyable.
[3.5/5]

Finally, after a year and a half, I was incredibly close to seeing Guillemots again. They started with a great version of Kriss Kross, starting off the concert with a bang. Following this was a heavily reworked version of Go Away, which was to be the highlight of the gig, unfortunately coming a little bit early. They then went on to play the usual live version of Made Up Love Song #43, before playing a few from the new album, again clearly reworked for the live setting, which produced some wonderful results, such as more exciting versions of Big Dog and Get Over It. After a couple more regular Through the Windowpane tracks (of which i'm slightly bored at times, I must confess) and the usual Trains to Brazil/Sao Paulo ending, an hour had passed already. Even though it was a highly enjoyable concert once again, it felt as if they were a little bit out of it this time. Fyfe was very quiet and the other members were quite subdued. The sound in the venue was also quite poor and this took away from the experience a bit. I guess the biggest disappointment overall was the lack of change in the majority of the set but as this was a standalone gig, that's understandable. I just hope that there will be more Red tracks or b-sides next time I see them in June.
[4/5]

Set list:

1. Kriss Kross
2. Go Away
3. Made Up Love Song #43
4. Big Dog
5. Words
6. Standing on the Last Star
7. Get Over It
8. We're Here (Fyfe solo)
9. Redwings
10. Trains to Brazil
11. Sao Paulo