Theater Kikker, Utrecht
10/04/04
The annual Utrecht Boft festival at Theater Kikker this year culminated in a weird concoction of music kicked off by Omski from Eindhoven. Now, I thought I would hate Omski. Perhaps I even wanted to. Their disco funk rock isn’t something I’d voluntarily go near. In fact, in a way it sounded so dated that it could have soundtracked a Police Academy film, but in their own weird way, that’s the charm of Omski. They set out to have fun and to beat you in the head with the funk bass until you finally submit. I never fully did, but I concede that it could have been worse.
Probably the real surprise of the evening was Utrecht’s Most Unpleasant Men. From appearance and name alone, it was looking pretty ominous, yet the music turned out to be completely intriguing. Heavily laden with piano and backed by acoustic guitar, it wasn’t the standard sounds you’d expect, and as the songs twisted and turned involuntarily, there weren’t too many direct comparisons to be made. Perhaps the keyboard antics threw out hints of Split Enz, and the ambience of the last track was carried off like Ben Folds Five in a serious mood, but aside from that, Most Unpleasant Men were displaying some gutsy songwriting and put on an entertaining show.
Pan Am really were the wrong band in the wrong place at the wrong time, however. It’s not that they were bad at what they do – which was a confused blend of hard rock, punk, and even a little grunge. The barrage of noise without a hint of subtlety didn’t suit the audience, though, and while many left, those who remained succeeded in forming a mutual bond of disinterest with the band, as they completed their set as rapidly as possible.
Then it was left to Audiotransparent to soften the mood once more, and perform the bulk of material from their self-titled album over a period of 50 minutes. Live onstage, the songs have found their own fluidic life away from the rigidity of the recorded versions, helping them feel even more relaxed and soothing. This was perhaps contributed to by a strange sound mix with a heavy bias towards the piano, but it worked out okay in end.
Yet it was when they stepped into the territory of the new songs when everything finally clicked spectacularly into place, with all sounds and harmonies merging perfectly. Such familiarity shouldn’t even be possible so soon, but the new material demonstrates that the band are growing in confidence and ability with every gig, and each member seemed entirely lost to the music and singing along in their own worlds. By the time ‘Your God’ and ‘Fin’ appeared, it was a near perfect ending as the room was flooded with noise. The only noticeable flaw being that it didn’t actually end there. Instead a new lullaby-style number followed, which was lovely also. It’s just a little tricky to have two songs battling to end the show so beautifully, but then, the average band would kill to have either of them.
Steven McCarron
Photo: Jan
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