Her Space Holiday
Rotown, Rotterdam
19/06/04
Her Space Holiday is far from a household name in the United States. In Europe, they are even less known, so their show in Rotterdam only lured around fifty people to Rotown - however seemingly unmoved by the small turnout, Marc Bianchi and his rhythm section managed to impress all right from the beginning.
The Her Space Holiday sounds reminisce of The Postal Service with the absurdness of Beck from his Odelay period - the Beck-influence manifesting itself mostly through the wacky hip-hop beats that occur in some songs. And then whenever the guitars are picked up, Grandaddy and Eels are never too far away either.
However, the three-piece are at their best playing calmer songs. That is when the not-so-fantastic vocals of Bianchi come across as strongest. A good example is ‘Sleepy California’, easily the most beautiful song of the evening. Another highlight was the sample of R. Kelly’s ‘Ignition’, which was merged into a song in a highly impressive and original way.
Like Bright Eyes, Bianchi also uses many spoken word samples in between the songs. But whereas Conor Oberst leaves the music making to musicians that are present on stage, Bianchi chooses to craft the string arrangements from his laptop. A computer is a markedly less impressive than a cellist on the podium, even if still effective.
Apart from that, the band comes across as very sympathetic, and they even consider the wallets of the people in the crowd. When their set is over after about 45 minutes of good music, they realise they are the only band on stage on the night, and because the fans had to pay six whole euros to enter, Her Space Holiday decided to play a few more songs.
But even before the band has retaken the stage, the random cry 'Play some Pumpkins!' comes from the audience. Bianchi, clearly taken aback by this proposal answers, 'As in The Smashing Pumpkins? Do we sound like the Smashing Pumpkins?' He fiddles something on his computer and then returns to the microphone. 'The next song is called 1979.' After which he starts the breathtaking ‘From South Carolina’ and retakes control. Not bad for six euros.
Thijs Zilverberg
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