Present Perfect

I was 31, and enjoying the Gorki/Gorky concert from start to finish. I was impressed how well they were able to bring the songs back. Obviously, they invited some friend musicians along to create the sound, but they pulled it off incredibly well. I was hoping he'd treat the songs with respect and fearing he would be repeating his by-now a little overdone act, but he landed somewhere in between. Aside from his banter, the songs themselves survived unscathed. Arme Jongen, Geef al je geld aan de arme kinderen, they still gave me goosebumps.

On top of that, after playing the whole album, they not only played the songs I was hoping for (in excellent versions as well), but they played two more songs off that rehearsal tape I had. He played them with the original line-up (since, after their first album, the singer fired the rest of the band and started anew) don't know if they played the songs as if they were demos on purpose, but it was incredibly amusing. He announced them as "these are some songs that we never put out on disc back in the day" and I think he wanted to show the audience why :) There were some other people around that shouted the lyrics, so I guess there were more early day fans. But really, when lyrics go "Ik heb kilo's artisjokken harde brokken oude sokken", then you can only agree with not having them on a disc.

He also threw in "Ria", one of the songs I wasn't expecting because it was from the second album period IIRC. And that was that. Left me and Jeremy with a huge grin on our face. Afterwards, there was an interview, and they closed it with him singing "Please let me get what I want" by the Smiths. I wish he'd play more covers, his voice and approach to those songs transform them into his own songs. I once saw him take on "Love will tear us apart" in his own style, and it had the perfect mix of humor, irony and sadness that all his best songs have.

Enough with the gushing for the next 15 years - I will leave you with a quote from a magazine the week before this show:
The real reason we're doing it is because we can go into their studio and drink up their fridges. Years from now, if they'll ask me "Vos, why did you do it all", I'll be able to say: "I did it for a fistful of bonnekes".

I was 31, and enjoying the Gorki/Gorky concert from start to finish. I was impressed how well they were able to bring the songs back. Obviously, they invited some friend...