Zuiderpark, Rotterdam
04/07/04
Holland has a good selection of interesting concert venues. Amsterdam has the legendary Paradiso, artists from the whole world rearrange their tour schedules just to play at Groningen's Vera, Ekko is a cozy nightclub in Utrecht, which manages to attract some strong acts on a regular basis, Rotown in Rotterdam offers a great selection of music throughout the year at a ridiculously low price, and The Waterfront, also in Rotterdam, is the main meeting point for the city's music scene. But once a year the bookers of all these clubs come together to organize the free Metropolis festival in the middle of Rotterdam's Zuiderpark, which becomes fitted with two large tents and a regular stage. Elsewhere there are two small stages made entirely from empty Coca-Cola crates, where smaller Dutch bands try to attract some attention during their 30-minute sets.
Each year the organization manages to attract multiple interesting acts. Since the first edition of Metropolis in 1988, bands like Smashing Pumpkins, Radiohead, The Prodigy and The Strokes have been on the free festival's bill, and last year the ultra-hip Thermals played a fantastic set in the midst of their hype. So like almost all previous editions, the 2004 line-up was loaded with indie-credibility and hit-potential. Live performances from acts like The Killers, Modest Mouse and TV On The Radio made the 4th of July a wonderful day for independent music.
The Rotterdam-based band Feverdream had the privilege of opening the Vera/Waterfront tent, and the At The Drive-In and Fugazi-influenced band took full advantage of their home game. They easily got the crowd excited with a thrilling live-show. Their influences were admittedly unmistakable, but resulted in a fun gig. Female bassist Saskia provided the essential groove that holds the trio’s music together. Singer René doesn't have a magnificent voice, but that is camouflaged by the melodic quality of the band's songs. It was a great performance and was a worthy opener of the festival.
The next act on the program was Gem, a Dutch band with undeniable potential. When describing Gem's music it's impossible to avoid comparisons with Oasis and The Strokes. Even lead singer Maurits Westerik's stance on stage resembles Liam Gallagher. And when at times they manage to stay away from Oasis and Strokes-like sound, Gem start showing huge similarities to the British rock band The Libertines. But their lack of originality isn't so bad when this Utrecht-based five-piece keep playing energetic performances like these.
The Rotown/Ekko/Paradiso tent has been wonderfully programmed for years, and the Baltimore powerpoppers Myracle Brah entered the stage just when the rain started falling down, so it was no effort for the American trio to take the minds of the few hundred people in the audience off the bad weather. Old hits like ‘Message of '78’ and ‘Machina’ may have been unknown to most of the listeners, but fans were thrilled with the Beatlesque songs. The highlight of the latest Myracle Brah album Treblemaker, the rocking ‘Go’, even sounded great with a failing guitar, meaning this band from the Rainbow Quartz roster was the first real highlight of Metropolis 2004.
However, one minor negative aspect of their live show is the annoying drummer, who had an inconvenient combination of hyperactivity and extremely high confidence. This led to announcements like, "This is the best song ever!" and afterwards, statements like, "I told you it was the best song ever!" Still, they managed to entertain the audience, and especially the little lady who had brought an actual bra for the occasion, so not only the crowd went home with a nice memory.
Tigerbeat's gig promised to be nice, so I stayed in the Vera/Waterfront tent for a while. They played a convincing set, not much unlike The Hives. Unfortunately, The Killers were bound to start their concert in the other tent simultaneously, so that was a major priority.
Born in the United States, but sounding much more British than most of the bands from that island, The Killers have recently released their remarkably catchy debut album Hot Fuss. Most of the songs on the record wouldn't even be out of place in a Top of the Pops episode, so with a mixture of Muse, Morrissey and Hot Hot Heat they kept the audience busy for nearly 45 minutes with hits like ‘Somebody Told Me’, ‘Mr. Brightside’, and potential hits like ‘Jenny Was a Friend of Mine’ and ‘Indie Rock And Roll’. The Killers clearly already have a repertoire that can make certain “bigger” bands in the genre quite jealous.
The headliner of Metropolis, if there really was one, was the American chartbusters Modest Mouse. With their reserved indie-rock they are already enjoying big success in their homeland and the video for single ‘Float On’ is being played more and more in Holland too. Before the concert, it was a big question mark whether the subtlety that features on Modest Mouse albums would come across during a live show on the main stage. But after a slow start the band easily reached their par - the songs with the pedal steel were especially pleasant. Singer Isaac Brock was in top form and made sure Modest Mouse became one of the brightest highlights of the festival.
Then it was Mono's turn. On 5 October the Tokyo-based band will release their next full-length, with the impossible name Walking Cloud and Deep Red Sky, Flag Fluttered and the Sun Shined, so to preempt this they are currently touring vigorously through Europe. With their Explosions In The Sky and Mogwai-like music they always come across nicely on their albums, but live I found them disappointing. Not enough pure rock 'n' roll and too much electronic messing around instead. Well, a festival can’t be made up out of highlights alone.
A significant part of the four-piece Reigning Sound were once members of the legendary soul-garage rock-band The Oblivians. Well the sound of The Oblivians is still the main reference for Reigning Sound, who also resemble contemporary garage-rock-acts like The Hives and British 60's rock 'n' roll. The delightful title track of their second album Time Bomb High School was played with supreme confidence, but at times there was a complete lack of melody. Still, it was an impressive and energetic performance from this considerably older band.
After the Reigning Sound gig, the Soledad Brothers started their set. They are fairly comparable to their predecessors, since they also make soulful rock 'n' roll. But the Detroit-based act appealed a bit more…to me at least. They are more psychedelic, a little jinglier and their songs are simply better. These Americans are riding on the success of the White Stripes at times, but they do deserve anything that can give them a bigger audience, especially if they continue playing passionate sets like this, that have the audience eating out the palm of their hands.
Norwegian act Emmerhoff & The Melancholy Babies was one of the first names that were confirmed to play at this edition of Metropolis. I personally had never heard of them, but since they were announced as the Scandinavian 16 Horsepower I thought they might become the discovery of the festival. That was not the case. The comparison with 16 Horsepower wasn't completely accurate, and Emmerhoff was more similar to Madrugada, and reached the level of an average Nick Cave cover band at best. Despite their impressive suits, the Norwegian couldn't hold my interest for very long, so I returned to the Rotown/Ekko/Paradiso tent.
This of course was where The Bees had just started their set. They come from the Isle Of Wight but they sound as if they originate much further north in England, as they fit in perfectly with the bands in the neo-psychedelic-wave from Manchester/Liverpool like The Coral and The Zutons. Combining influences from 60's psychedelica with Jamaican reggae, added up, it is still best described as indie. They played a rather strong set, and it appears that the reggae-influence in live shows from The Bees fluctuates a lot. In Rotterdam even highly non-European sounding songs like ‘A Minha Menina’ were transformed into pure rock music.
Ikara Colt were one of the bigger names on this year's line-up. And in the Rotown/Ekko/Paradiso tent they fully lived up to that name, even although the band's trendyness came across a tad simulated at times, especially with singer Paul Resende trying to score cheaply with the audience by criticizing Tony Blair and his policy towards the Euro and Iraq. But when Resende was doing what he's good at – singing - the show was quite enjoyable. The London-based punk-rockers were convincing when playing older hits like ‘Rudd’ and the ‘Gay Bar’-esque new single ‘Wanna Be That Way’. And despite having a hand injury, drummer Dominic Young played great. Resende had to cheer him up a few times during the set, but when he was ready to continue the show, he hit those drums with everything he had in him.
TV On The Radio were to be the banging closing act of Metropolis,
but that was not how it went. Everything was present. The hype was quickly
spreading through Holland, the Vera/Waterfront-tent was packed and the band
was even on stage ten minutes before the indicated time. But the New York-based
band started a bit hesitantly with their well-known soundscapes. Slowly they
got into shape as the guitars took a more prominent role, and by the third
song, ‘Dreams’, they were playing at full strength and they showed the gathered
audience how to mix post-rock with contemporary music from the New York underground,
like The Walkmen or Interpol. Unfortunately that was about the time the Nigerian
singer Tunde Adebimpe's stomach got upset. He ran off stage and even the tour
manager couldn't find him. The rest of the band was left behind feeling sorry
that they couldn't fulfill their promise of greatness.
So TV On The Radio didn't quite work out. Emmerhoff & The Melancholy Babies
and Mono were also a bit disappointing too. But the rest of the day was filled
with nice to great acts. Myracle Brah was arguably the band with the best
songs, The Killers had a great live show, Modest Mouse lived up to their high
expectations, and Ikara Colt rocked the Rotown/Ekko/Paradiso tent for nearly
an hour. Those were the highlights of a very entertaining festival. I wonder
what big names the organization is going to seize next year.
Photo: 3voor12
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