Singer Alec Onsworth had an awkward look on his face the whole show, but somehow it really worked, maybe he can only sing in his charmingly awkward way whilst making nervous looking faces.
Singer Alec Onsworth had an awkward look on his face the whole show, but somehow it really worked, maybe he can only sing in his charmingly awkward way whilst making nervous looking faces.
Music in My Head – Paard van Troje, Den Haag 11 & 12/11/05
This year’s edition of Music In My Head was held at the Paard van Troje and not in the Theater aan het Spui as it had been for the 3 previous years. The two-day event sold out and rightfully so with names like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Elbow, The Posies, Roisin Murphy and The Frames. We had originally bought the tickets to see BRMC, but chose to see the lesser know acts, especially since we saw BRMC the week before. The scheduling went surprisingly smoothly and I was able to see all the bands that I wanted to, which is always a bit of a chore at festivals.
The first band performing on the main stage as we entered was the Australian collective Architecture In Helsinki hailing from Melbourne (nearer Fitzroy to be honest). In the same vein as likeminded bands like Canada’s Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene, the eight members rotated stage location and instruments – including various percussion instruments, horns, including a tuba – creating catchy electronic indie-pop. Though I really like dreamy sounds from well-schooled instrumentally dexterous musicians, these guys didn’t really firmly grab my attention. Maybe that was because I was more interested in getting a beer.
Next we headed into the small hall for the much anticipated Clap Your Hands Say Yeah from New York. I always have a soft spot for NYC bands and will probably always will, since it’s my hometown. A mix of recognizable sounds…Singer Alec Ounsworth’s voice was haunting familiar, something between David Byrne & Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders and Violent Femmes & The Feelies. Song highlights were, Over and Over Again and the groovy guitar licks in The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth had incredible wiggle-ability. The archetypal emo groove of In This Home On Ice kept us dancing and with out sounding too clique… we clapped our hands and yelled out "YEAH" proudly. The boys’ stage presence was not fantastic, they were a tad stiff, more in a slightly freaked out way however, first trip to Europe and here they were in front of like 300 people at a sold out festival night. Singer Alec Onsworth had an awkward look on his face the whole show, but somehow it really worked, maybe he can only sing in his charmingly awkward way whilst making nervous looking faces. The twins were like stage props, but played perfectly. Bouncy full of energy in the back on keyboard, guitar and backing vocals was the lanky geeky Robbie Guertin who just couldn’t help but let loose and feel good about it… which I think surprised him the most. They loosened up and were all having fun in the end.
I spoke briefly with one of the twins (Lee or Tyler Sargent, not sure which on it was) later in the evening, I kind of got in his face about not being to buy the album from the merch stand as it hadn’t been released officially in Holland yet. Then I asked where they were actually from as I could tell he was too sweet to be from NYC. Most of the members came from Massachusetts and from around the Boston area and singer Ounsworth was from Philadelphia (Home of Ben Franklin and Ween making it my favorite US city). I think we should expect to see more of these guys as they grow into themselves and music more.
Hailing from Glasgow, Scotland, Sons and Daughters share their name with a very famous Australian/British TV soap. I had interviewed them earlier that day, so I was really looking forward to seeing them perform live. They were brilliant. Sexy rock mistress Adele Bethel whipped her mic chord around like a snake, stomped around and enchanted the audience of hypnotized tall Dutch onlookers. Song highlights were Medicine and Ramma Lama, Shake, Shake, Shake, Shake – Folkloric rockabilly wearing a dark overcoat.
Last band we checked out was The Departure. The show was a huge "departure" (pun, sorry!) from last time we saw them in May 2005 when they were opening with The Fever for the Hot Hot Heat. They traded in their slick Interpol gangster suits for casual northern Englishmen rock star attire. Lead singer David Jones, yes, his name is "Davy" Jones, as in the Davy Jones, lead singer and teen heart-throb of The Monkees, asked us, "you guys want to dance or what?" They have seemed to jump onto this dancey-rock bandwagon and it was working very well. It might have been all the beers we had drunk, but I haven’t had that much fun jumping around in a friendly mosh pit in ages. Everyone was in great spirits, jumping around screaming lyrics and letting loose… something that rarely happens in Holland.
Song highlight was All Mapped Out, which is just plain and simple, a fantastically catchy song. It was an excellent night of music.
Words: Zoe E. Gottehrer