The first time I heard Roosbeef was, strangely enough, on the radio. I remember it like this: back in 2008, I was still listening to the radio at work, and Rob Stenders had discovered this band that had a song he just had to play. That song, Onder invloed by Roosbeef, wasn’t exactly radio-friendly, and the singers voice took some getting used to. Most listeners didn’t exactly appreciate it: if mr. Stenders would please refrain from skinning cats live on the air, and please, don’t scratch your nails on the blackboard like that, goddammit. Quelle surprise: he kept playing the song, every day for a few weeks. It became a bit of a radio hit.
The follow-up ‘single’ Te heet gewassen and the title of their debut album—Ze willen wel je hond aaien maar niet met je praten, or, They do want to pet your dog but they don’t want to talk to you—were intriguing enough to get and keep me interested.
Fast forward four years: Roosbeef has released a second album, and is about to do a small theater-tour. Since I never made it to any of their shows, I figured this would be right up my alley. The only problem was that none of the dates or locations worked for me. Except for the try-out in Tivoli De Helling, last tuesday night.
Titled De grote demoshow, the show is described as a look into the kitchen, being a fly on the wall, to see how the songs are created. As it turns out, the actual show is nothing like that. As front-woman Roos explained: giving birth might be a miracle, but when I’m not doing it myself, I don’t want to see it. So they played most (if not all) of their second album in smaller and experimental arrangements, most of the songs of the new EP they were presenting that night, and just one song from the debut, which wasn’t “Onder invloed” or “Te heet gewassen”. But I didn’t mind.
- Seen Live
- Roosbeef with “De grote demoshow” (try-out, early show) at Tivoli De Helling in Utrecht on September 18, 2012.