Spent Easter evening in Brussels, watching Joan As Police Woman play in the Ancienne Belgique, my favorite Belgian concert venue.
It was the first night of a new tour with the full line-up, Joan Wasser on lead vocals, piano and guitar, Rainy Orteca on bass and Ben Perowsky on drums. Joan had done a series of solo shows and this was their first time playing together since December 2006. It was so lovely to see the twinkle in their eyes when they looked at each other while playing. Obviously, it was a sort of homecoming for them, even if they had just started a new journey.
What really makes a Joan As Police Woman concert a joy, besides the fact that these guys can really play and have great songs, is the lovely and amazing Joan herself. She is one of those people with a truly unique perspective on things. And she has the tendency to make little jokes all the time. Combine the two and you get a very interesting and entertaining mix. One that tends to mix her up as well when she realizes what she's just said and how it may be perceived - which makes for some disarming moments on stage, under the spot light.
The concert was great. Solid performances even though it was the first night, Joan's voice was in top form and the audience ate it up like a kid who just found his first chocolate egg of the day. The new songs sounded good and make one long for the follow-up to last year's Real Life.
I had a great night (and two beers).
Before the concert, I wandered the streets of Brussels. I left home early because I wanted to beat traffic. Easter Sunday traditionally is a peak moment in domestic coastal tourism and yesterday, the sun was blazing (as it is today) so I wanted to avoid getting stuck in traffic for fear I might turn into a holiday variation of Michael Douglas' character in Falling Down.
Some of the more interesting things I saw included a Scientology Center that advertised a free stress test, a swingers club, an Arabian dance club, tourists eating waffles - the majority of which where covered in strawberries and whip cream (actually, this was not so much interesting as it was impossible to ignore), two homeless East European men hugging each other, a costume place that rented out the outfit Uma Thurman wore in Kill Bil Vol.1 (the yellow one in which she takes on a Japanese killer lolita and a whole bunch of goons in suits before taking Lucy Liu's scalp) and a parked Citron DS (black!).
On the way back to my car after the concert, I saw a music journalist who wrote a couple of reviews I do not agree with (including a devastating account of a glorious night). I wanted to tell him that he sucks, but then I remembered that I am a nice guy, so I let it go. Also, I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his girl. I really am a nice guy.
rainy+joan
Christobel (gone away)
Why won't you just fall in love with me?
- Joan As Police Woman
It was the first night of a new tour with the full line-up, Joan Wasser on lead vocals, piano and guitar, Rainy Orteca on bass and Ben Perowsky on drums. Joan had done a series of solo shows and this was their first time playing together since December 2006. It was so lovely to see the twinkle in their eyes when they looked at each other while playing. Obviously, it was a sort of homecoming for them, even if they had just started a new journey.
What really makes a Joan As Police Woman concert a joy, besides the fact that these guys can really play and have great songs, is the lovely and amazing Joan herself. She is one of those people with a truly unique perspective on things. And she has the tendency to make little jokes all the time. Combine the two and you get a very interesting and entertaining mix. One that tends to mix her up as well when she realizes what she's just said and how it may be perceived - which makes for some disarming moments on stage, under the spot light.
The concert was great. Solid performances even though it was the first night, Joan's voice was in top form and the audience ate it up like a kid who just found his first chocolate egg of the day. The new songs sounded good and make one long for the follow-up to last year's Real Life.
I had a great night (and two beers).
Before the concert, I wandered the streets of Brussels. I left home early because I wanted to beat traffic. Easter Sunday traditionally is a peak moment in domestic coastal tourism and yesterday, the sun was blazing (as it is today) so I wanted to avoid getting stuck in traffic for fear I might turn into a holiday variation of Michael Douglas' character in Falling Down.
Some of the more interesting things I saw included a Scientology Center that advertised a free stress test, a swingers club, an Arabian dance club, tourists eating waffles - the majority of which where covered in strawberries and whip cream (actually, this was not so much interesting as it was impossible to ignore), two homeless East European men hugging each other, a costume place that rented out the outfit Uma Thurman wore in Kill Bil Vol.1 (the yellow one in which she takes on a Japanese killer lolita and a whole bunch of goons in suits before taking Lucy Liu's scalp) and a parked Citron DS (black!).
On the way back to my car after the concert, I saw a music journalist who wrote a couple of reviews I do not agree with (including a devastating account of a glorious night). I wanted to tell him that he sucks, but then I remembered that I am a nice guy, so I let it go. Also, I didn't want to embarrass him in front of his girl. I really am a nice guy.
rainy+joan
Christobel (gone away)
Why won't you just fall in love with me?
- Joan As Police Woman
nirbhao:
hm. I think the miracle lies in generation of a soul, which is something we cannot define or decode, despite all of our science...
mercedes:
bedankt voor die mooie comment op men set