Amsterdam Paradiso show -- 22 April 00 this was a whole festival of Britsh bands that we happened to stumble upon (what luck!). they had 7 bands the previous night (none of which I was even slightly interested in), and 7 that night, so they had half play upstairs and the others downstairs, with a video screen showing the other while the roadies changed gear. So we actually saw JJ72, Doves, Broadcast, and The Bluetones in the flesh, with the other bands on the screen. and I'm really glad it worked out that way, because the screen bands were awful. really awful. I was much preferring the piped music they were playing before that. JJ72 - trying entirely too hard to be different. they just really need to mature a bit, and the singer needs to stop putting on a crap "I can sound like Kelly Jones if I try" voice when he sings certain songs. Maybe in a few records they'll be good, but until then, don't waste your time. DOVES - really great. I'm going to go out and buy Lost Souls after this. they were just really tight, could play a ton of instruments (at one point everyone in the band switched to each others' instruments, and went on with the next song), and were really good to the crowd. if I had to describe them, I'd say they were a cross between Mogwai and Coldplay, although that still doesn't quite do it. BROADCAST - very atmospheric space music, with breathy female vocals. I could tell they were a good band, but it just wasn't my style of music. THE BLUETONES PORTION: --------------------------- but the Paradiso show was so incredibly good!!!! FIVE SONGS THEY'VE NEVER PLAYED LIVE BEFORE!!! and the crowd was great, too. I simply can't imagine a better night overall (we got to see Doves that night, too), although I hope Norwich UEA outdoes it! I wore my peacocks shirt to the gig, and Mark told me that he really liked it, he hadn't seen them before... =) anyway, four of those "new" songs are ones off the new album that Mark said they've never played live before, and coincidentally, all of them featured Scott playing a double bass! The fifth song, "Vostok", was one that they just wrote three weeks ago, and was really top! My memory's getting a bit fuzzy now (it was Amsterdam, after all!), but I remember that "Slack Jaw" was the country-western song that had all the different instruments: Scott on double bass, Richard on accordian, Eds on maracas, Adam on acoustic, and Mark on a mandolin!! It was so cute, and the roadies and Mark handled it like it was solid gold (probably rented with a security deposit!). I only wish I brought my camera to get all the shuffle dances and be-bopping (presumably, they haven't cut their hair since the Radio One show, they were all a bit shaggy!). I grabbed me a setlist, which was so long that it was actualy two pieces of paper taped together! the whole festival (which was 6? bands total) was running an hour or so behind schedule, so two songs are blacked out in magic marker on the setlist, and they didn't play these (I've denoted them with a XXXXX before the title). Zorrro Bluetonic Great Navigators Tiger Lily Solomon [yes, I did scream ARSE, Lolly!!!!] Basement Song Fountain Head Mudslide Autophilia XXXXXXX (Sleazy Bed Track) Vostok Slight Return Mr Soul Slack Jaw Homefires ---- Are You Blue? XXXXXXX (One Speed Gearbox) Blood Bubble If.... I also really liked the fact that they played songs that weren't heard on the last tour, like Mr Soul and Fountainhead... the whole performance seemed to go over really well with the crowd, which is a big accomplishment considering that they really only played 5 album tracks the whole night. And of course, all of this bodes well for the chart position of S&N... can't wait for another blue "hit" in a few weeks!!!