Re-united indierockers convincingly take over Paradiso (*****)
It must have been around 2003. The band I was in at the time played in the Aluna rehearsal studios in the east of Amsterdam. Among the bands using the studio were good ones, for example Alamo Race Track, and Bluesbrother Castro, but there was one premier league band around: Daryll-Ann. They were about to release their new album, and we were just happy to be around genius. I remember vividly when we heard Don't Stop, the CD, at the bar of Aluna, and found it hard to believe that Dutch were able to make such a record. It sounded like the Byrds, or Crosby, Stills & Nash, but still with its own uniqueness, differently.
Anyway, everybody was looking forward to Daryll-Anns upcoming show in Paradiso. It promised so much; it was going to be their breakthrough from an hero status in the independent niche-corner, to mainstream stardom. But, somehow, someway, it didn't happen. The show was good, but no magic happened. It seemed the chemistry between the most prominent characters, both singers, songwriters and guitarists, Anne Soldaat en Jelle Paulusma, wasn't happening that night. Soon after, it was clear what was behind it all: the band announced their split up because of personal reasons, and ever since then, Daryll-Ann seem to be a mentioned only as that star band that could have made it, but never did.
Luckily, both Anne as Jelle went on on their respective solo endeavours, producing beautyful albums, and Anne also as producer and senior band member for others from the Excelsior Recordings label. In an earlier CasparBlog, Caspar oh-so proudly tells about the meeting he had with Jelle Paulusma in the summer of 2013. Jelle told him about the planned new solo-album, and the friendship between him and Anne Soldaat sort of reinstated. Soon after that: the announcement that Daryll-Ann was going to re-unite, and publish a deluxe CD-set of all the Daryll-Ann albums.
So, last night, 10 years after the last show, Paradiso was completely packed again, for what was going to be a triumphal night. The band played better then ever, good spirited chemistry on the stage, completely showcasing all that the band was ever good at. The two guitars blending in together, three voices in perfect harmony, and what struck Caspar most: what an incredible songbook these guys have made together! All songs, from start to finish, appeared characters by themselves; ballads, west coast rock (Paulusma!), and jumpy pop songs (Soldaat!), together made up over two hours of prime live material. Well, including Ready to Go, one song of Paulusma's solo albums. Almost as if to remind us that he still owes us his new upcoming album...
Daryll-Ann back together again, is there any better news for the indieloving music scene of the Netherlands? Maybe, the promotion to mainstream stardom is less likely now that a decade has passed and, form what we know, no new material will be released. But hey, do we need more then this? A sold out Paradiso going crazy? No, thanks, Paradiso, voted #1 music club of the Netherlands, will do just fine, thank you!!!
No questions asked: a handful, the full five stars!
No comments:
Post a Comment