Between the first time I saw a balladeer and the 25th time, last sunday, twelve years, four months and ten days have passed. That first time, they were a band, opening for Stevie Ann in the now-defunct De Kelder in Amersfoort, just after “Swim With Sam” was all over the radio. Now, it is just Marinus de Goederen, with two guitars and a keyboard in the cafe of De Kelder’s successor.
While band-version-a balladeer remains my favorite a balladeer, solo-a balladeer (previously known as mr. a balladeer) is very, very good a balladeer as well.
Marinus played for an hour and a bit, and—oh joy of joys—the audience was all quiet and appreciative. I had been under the impression that this fall tour was an excuse to try out new tracks he has been writing this year, but I must have been mistaken: there was only one new, as yet untitled song. Did it matter? Of course not. With songs like “Wishes, Horses” (played un-amplified in the middle of the room), “Trust Fall”, “Poster Child”, “Noah”, “Robin II” and “Mob Wife” (along with war horses as “A Little Rain…”, “Superman Can’t Move His Legs” and of course “Swim With Sam”) we got a slightly down-beat, but excellent set list.* It’s always a joy to see him play, and I don’t know how he does it, but he seems to get better every time.
- Seen live
- a balladeer, Fluor, Amersfoort on September 30th, 2018
- Set list
- Wishes, Horses / A Wolf at the Door / A Little Rain Has Never Hurt No One / Beechnuts / Oh, California / Superman Can’t Move His Legs / Trust Fall / Untitled new song / Poster Child / Swim With Sam / Noah / Plan B // Robin II / Winterschläfer / They’ve Shut Down Marks & Spencer / Mob Wife / Incompatible
* Okay, so he did not play my favorite track “Jesus Doesn’t Love Me on account of not having rehearsed it … but then again, in the words of the great philosopher Mick Jagger, “You can’t always get what you want …”