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!
Showing posts with label Daryll-Ann. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Daryll-Ann. Show all posts
CasparBlog on 2013
Hey hey, my my, another year's gone by! Shall we have a quick look on what has happened on the music side of affairs and ask Caspar what were his personal favs in 2013?
Live.
Obviously, Caspars first-ever live show of Neil Young is right up there. As he wrote in his blog in June (Casparlive: Neil Young and Crazy Horse), it wasn't the best show ever, but what a joy to see your old hero still rocking. To realize that his songs are still vivid, his guitar solos still long and loud, and his band of brothers Crazy Horse still the compact rocking motor they always were.
Old, but new (to me).
I can't help to think sometimes that you essentially know it all. Back when I was still a teenager, I remember discovering Lou Reed, when my brother bought New York, the album. I also remember hearing Nick Drake for the first time (when a friend-in-the-band played it to me), but it had been a while since I discovered something new, but old, that blew me of my socks. Somehow, in 2013, I came across the band Television, with their album Marquee Moon (1977). Great double-guitar work, great songs, punky attitude, and , a psycho drive to the vocals. Old, but new to me!
New, in the 2013 sense of the word. I guess that must have been Brendan Benson. I knew the name before, but only in 2013 did I discover his own music, both on CD, as live. What makes me very happy, is that Benson was good, but not at his best when Caspar saw him live (casparcritique Brendan Benson live), but he took a good revenge organizing a gig with special guests like his musical buddy Jack White, Jacob Dylan, and Ken Stringfellow, amongst others. Plus, he recorded a great new album called You Were Right. Great that I finally got to get to know you, BB, you're my personal new-comer of the year!
Best debut 2013.
As far as you know Caspar, you know that it usually takes some time before he decides it's a thumbs up, or not. So, for him to actually pick something brand new, is quite difficult. Well, to be honest, he made a very swift pick choosing Jonathan Wilson, but after he discovered that Wilson's 2013 album Fanfare wasn't his debut, it took some time to find something else. But, as Caspar's good friend Niels'd say: pick one or die, the best debut for Caspar was by a Dutch guy called Jacco Gardner. A young lad using gear from the sixties, sounding like early Pink Floyd, but with his own quality song material.
Dead in 2013.
Unfortunately, but unavoidably so, the world will have to do without a number of great musicians. Lou Reed, Ray Manzarek, George Duke, just to name a few. On a personal note, Caspar said that the death of JJ Cale, fantastic songwriter and guitarist, was his biggest loss of the year. You might consider that Lou Reed, with his revolutionary work, his legacy with so many historic albums, is the bigger star. But that is exactly why Caspar chose Cale; JJ felt more like a friend, easily approachable, sweet, laidback guitar tunes, and, don't forget, some classical tunes to his name!
Finally, a personal highlight of the year is when I met up with Jelle Paulusma, singer-wongwriter from Amsterdam, to be interviewed in Het Parool. We talked about his former band Daryl-Ann, and how his relation was to Anne Soldaat, the 'other' singer-songwriter from Daryl-Ann, nowadays. His answer was that they were on 'speaking terms'. Only about two months later they announced their plans for reuniting the band in 2014! (Jelle: too bad your new CD is postponed because of this ;-))
Live.
Obviously, Caspars first-ever live show of Neil Young is right up there. As he wrote in his blog in June (Casparlive: Neil Young and Crazy Horse), it wasn't the best show ever, but what a joy to see your old hero still rocking. To realize that his songs are still vivid, his guitar solos still long and loud, and his band of brothers Crazy Horse still the compact rocking motor they always were.
Old, but new (to me).
I can't help to think sometimes that you essentially know it all. Back when I was still a teenager, I remember discovering Lou Reed, when my brother bought New York, the album. I also remember hearing Nick Drake for the first time (when a friend-in-the-band played it to me), but it had been a while since I discovered something new, but old, that blew me of my socks. Somehow, in 2013, I came across the band Television, with their album Marquee Moon (1977). Great double-guitar work, great songs, punky attitude, and , a psycho drive to the vocals. Old, but new to me!
New, in the 2013 sense of the word. I guess that must have been Brendan Benson. I knew the name before, but only in 2013 did I discover his own music, both on CD, as live. What makes me very happy, is that Benson was good, but not at his best when Caspar saw him live (casparcritique Brendan Benson live), but he took a good revenge organizing a gig with special guests like his musical buddy Jack White, Jacob Dylan, and Ken Stringfellow, amongst others. Plus, he recorded a great new album called You Were Right. Great that I finally got to get to know you, BB, you're my personal new-comer of the year!
Best debut 2013.
As far as you know Caspar, you know that it usually takes some time before he decides it's a thumbs up, or not. So, for him to actually pick something brand new, is quite difficult. Well, to be honest, he made a very swift pick choosing Jonathan Wilson, but after he discovered that Wilson's 2013 album Fanfare wasn't his debut, it took some time to find something else. But, as Caspar's good friend Niels'd say: pick one or die, the best debut for Caspar was by a Dutch guy called Jacco Gardner. A young lad using gear from the sixties, sounding like early Pink Floyd, but with his own quality song material.
Dead in 2013.
Unfortunately, but unavoidably so, the world will have to do without a number of great musicians. Lou Reed, Ray Manzarek, George Duke, just to name a few. On a personal note, Caspar said that the death of JJ Cale, fantastic songwriter and guitarist, was his biggest loss of the year. You might consider that Lou Reed, with his revolutionary work, his legacy with so many historic albums, is the bigger star. But that is exactly why Caspar chose Cale; JJ felt more like a friend, easily approachable, sweet, laidback guitar tunes, and, don't forget, some classical tunes to his name!
Finally, a personal highlight of the year is when I met up with Jelle Paulusma, singer-wongwriter from Amsterdam, to be interviewed in Het Parool. We talked about his former band Daryl-Ann, and how his relation was to Anne Soldaat, the 'other' singer-songwriter from Daryl-Ann, nowadays. His answer was that they were on 'speaking terms'. Only about two months later they announced their plans for reuniting the band in 2014! (Jelle: too bad your new CD is postponed because of this ;-))
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