Traveling to Southampton turned out to be quite easy: each day there are several direct flights from Amsterdam to Southampton, and a bus takes you straight to the city. The hotel I was staying was nothing special. It was perfectly alright for sleeping and leaving my luggage, although the bed was a bit shortish.

What I found out on my first day in Southampton (I flew in on friday and would be leaving on sunday) is that, unless you absolutely need to see every shopping street in the entire multiverse, there is no reason whatsoever to go there. I mean, the old bit of the town is nice enough, and you can you can take a look at the harbour, but for the rest it's nothing special. While walking around a bit, I came past the theatre and decided on a whim to see if they had any tickets left for that night's show. Which they did. On saturday I took the train to Portsmouth, met up with the people I would meet up with, had a look at the waterfront and some old boats there, and headed back to Southampton to see the show. Sunday I loitered around a bit in the sun—although the weather was absolutely gorgeous, I was still kinda surprised to see people walking around in t-shirts—picked up a couple of books, and went home.

Now then: Whistle Down the Wind. I'd seen it once, during it's original West End run, back in 1999. This version was quite different for what I (vaguely) recall from that show and from the original cast recording, but it was still excellent. I'm not sure if I'm on board with all the changes that were made (like moving The Man's big soliloquy from the first to the second act, replacing two songs that actually helped the story along with one that doesn't, and the numerous reprises) and the choreography was a bit weird at times (let's just say that I'm not that into interpretative dance, but still: why the zark were there dancing zombie-vampires on stage during a revival meeting?!) but overall: two thumbs up. The sets looked impressive, the cast was great, but Carly Bawden, who played the female lead, was awesome. A very fine production all around.

Do I have any regrets about going to Southampton to see Steinman's other musical? No. Apart from Southampton being as dull as a very dull thing, it was awesome.

We also talked a bit about her upcoming Joni Mitchell tribute. Now, I knew that Joni Mitchell was quite a big deal among singer/songwriters but apart from "Big Yellow Taxi" I couldn't say I was familiar with any of her material. But, I said, if I would try to catch one of those shows. Which I did. Yesterday.

It was absolutely gorgeous. The show followed the set list of the DVD that was released a couple of months ago. Which was fine with me, 'cause apart from that DVD and Blue, I still know next to nothing about Joni Mitchell. I got a feeling that's about to change though, as this show made me realize that I really need more Joni Mitchell in my collection. Charlie sung like an angel and told stories about Joni and the why and how of the songs, the band was awesome and I had a great night.

Seen live: Charlie Dée, "A Tribute to Joni Mitchell," live in Theater Bellevue, Amsterdam on December 5, 2009

I'll freely admit that the whole storyline went past me. But I still enjoyed every second of it: the instrumental interludes that allowed for costume changes; the the orchestral support and how she introduced every player by name; the songs (a mix between her established repertoire and some other songs I couldn't place); how she was still able to charm my pants off while wearing a large sweater and ugly green boots; how the lighting really enhanced the mood; and, of course, the venue.

Whenever I saw a concert from the Concertgebouw on tv, I always thought that one day I should go and see a concert there, as it looked absolutely stunning and it is said that the acoustics are superb. So I added it to my list of 100 Things, and I must say, it is stunningly beautiful and sounds good too.

Seen live: Wende with JeugdOrkest Nederland conducted by Jurjen Hempel, Bart Wolvekamp (piano), Guus Bakker (bass), Arthur Lijten (drums) and Ruud Breuls (trumpet) at the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam on August 7, 2009.

Hindsight is 20/20, they say, but I think I picked the right gig. What a show it was. What a crowd. What an energy. What a set list. What a sound! What a band! Three hours flew by and the gig went on and on and on. Or as Little Steven proclaimed during Glory Days, it was Curfew bustin Boss-time! In short: it was seven totally different kinds of awesome.

Sure, there are some minor quibbles I could make about the lines, the cost of refreshments, the lack of public transport after the show, people complaining that I'm too tall and that they can't see a thing, or people using me as a reference point because I'm so damn tall. But that has nothing to do with the show: it was an over-the-top, exuberant, fist-pumping and glorious celebration of rock and roll. Highlights? The whole crowd singing along with all of Hungry Heart; Youngstown ending with a blistering solo by Nils Lofgren; Darkness on the Edge of Town; Trapped; American Skin; Mighty Max Weinberg on drums and Roy Bittan on the piano; The Big Man's sax solo in Jungleland—I stood there, eyes closed, and man, he just ripped; Rosalita was a party; hell, even a drawn-out Twist & Shout worked where it shouldn't. Such is the power and the glory of the hard-rocking, show-stopping, love-making, Viagra-taking *, etc. etc., E Street Band.

Seen live: Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band at the RDS Arena, Dublin, Ireland on July 12, 2009
Set list: The Fields of Anthenry (Nils Lofgren accordeon-intro) / No Surrender / Badlands / Night / My Lucky Day / Outlaw Pete / Hungry Heart / Working on a Dream / Seeds / Johnny 99 / Youngstown / Darkness on the Edge of Town / Raise Your Hand (instrumental) / Spirit in the Night / Sherry Darling / Proud Mary / Prove it All Night / Trapped / Waitin' on a Sunny Day / The Promised Land / Radio Nowhere / American Skin (41 Shots) / Lonesome Day / The Rising / Born to Run // Jungleland / American Land / Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) / Glory Days / Dancing in the Dark / Twist and Shout

* His words, not mine.

Afterward, I strolled over to the Project Arts Centre, where I went to see Making Strange's production of The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, a play written by Stephen Adly Guirgis. It's basically an exploration of Judas' betrayal by means of an appeal in a purgatorial court of law. Was he just a tool to fullfil some divine prophecy, or did he betray Jesus of his own free will? And what do witnesses like Mother Theresa, Sigmund Freud and the dark lord Satan have to say? As it turns out, a lot of funny stuff. Those three hours rushed by.

Tomorrow I'm taking it slow. At least, I don't plan to walk around as much, as I got to stand the whole evening anyway. 'Cause come 7:30 pm (sharp, so I'm told), it's Boss-time.

Krezip Heineken Music Hall 27-06-2009 by Marcel Poelstra

Live gezien: Afscheidsconcert Krezip in de Heineken Music Hall te Amsterdam, op 27 juni 2009.
Set list: Go To Sleep / All Unsaid / Life is Sweet / Not Tonight / Out of My Bed / Mine / Why Do I / Can't You Be Mine / Waiting by the Phone / I Apologize / All My Life / Everything & More / You're Wrong / Won't Cry / Give My Life / You Can Say / I Would Stay / Billy Jean (Michael Jackson cover) / Bored / In Her Sun / Plug It In // Play This Game // Sweet Goodbyes

Not that it was a bad gig, far from it. It just didn't get to me.

Seen live: Jon Oliva's Pain, Masterstroke + Age of Evil at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer on May 31, 2009.
Setlist JOP: City Beneath the Surface / Sirens / Through the Eyes of the King / Tonight He Grins Again / Of Rage and War / Chance / Maniacal Renderings / Stories / Gutter Ballet / Firefly / Hounds / Believe / Heal My Soul / Hall of the Mountain King

Seen live: a balladeer + Charlie Dée at De Kelder, Amersfoort, april 10, 2009
Set list: Welcome To Vegas / Jesus Doesn’t Love Me / Fortune Teller / Superman Can’t Move His Legs (with Charlie Dée) / When Dean Was The Man (And Monroe Always Smiled) / Nightmare On Elm Street / Sirens / Poster Child / Robin II / Blank / Mary Had a Secret / Plan B // Encore: Winterschläfer / Alright, Mr. DeMille / Oh, California (with Charlie Dée) / Herbst // Encore 2: Swim With Sam / America, America

***

When you try to describe what made a show hilariously funny, it's usually nowhere near as convincing or funny as when you saw it. Besides that, as you can also see above, I'm a crap reviewer. So you'll understand why I can't say anything useful about Hoe laat begint het schieten by Lebbis.

Seen live: Lebbis, Hoe laat begint het schieten at De Flint, Amersfoort on april 18, 2009

Seen live: Acda en De Munnik, Acda en De Munnik Spelen at De Flint, Amersfoort on March 25, 2009.

It wasn't until about a year and a half ago that I really got what Skik was all about. That was about four years into their open ended hiatus. Being fairly obsessive about things I like, I also explored lead singer / songwriter Daniël Lohues' solo outings. His blues band phase is nice enough, but his solo work is right up my alley.

Last year I caught his show in Apeldoorn, and last Saturday, I found myself in a cozy theater in Amsterdam for set of new songs. He played fifteen to twenty songs, and it wasn't until the very end of the show when he played something familiar. Which means I can't say anything useful about most of the set. The piano-version of "Op fietse" was nice though. The new album should be out in a couple of weeks time.

Seen live: Daniël Lohues, Allennig III at De Kleine Komedie, Amsterdam, on February 21, 2009.