Of course, it started off with panic and rushing - that’s how these things always go, isn’t it? I live about an hour away from Amsterdam and rely on public transportation to get me anywhere. But that morning, before I had even had any coffee, the Dutch newspapers were already reporting that half of all trains were pre-emptively cancelled due to severe snow warnings. I started having flashbacks of that day back in 2005 when a freak snowstorm in March kept us from seeing Adam Green. So I grabbed my stuff and left hours earlier than I’d normally need to, just to be sure I wouldn’t be stranded in my concert-less house.
We actually missed the very beginning of Elvis Perkins’ set, which was disappointing, because I enjoyed so much what we did get to hear. Perkins is a charming performer, and his slightly madcap band Dearland made everything just a little zany and exciting. Being joined by Alec Ounsworth didn’t hurt anything, either. “While You Were Sleeping” is my favorite Elvis Perkins song, at least until his album is released later this month, but, sadly, we must’ve missed it on the night.
Elvis Perkins - While You Were Sleeping
We’ve written about Cold War Kids so many times, there’s probably not much more to say. They were the main reason this show was so exciting for us, as much as we love the other two bands, and they didn’t let us down. I had actually worried that I’d built it up too much beforehand and that it wouldn’t be able to live up to my expectations. I understand that some people have to hate Cold War Kids (but that’s for another post) but that’s fine - more for me. CWK are most definitely my favorite of the recent batch of new bands, and in my opinion they beat out a lot of the ones who came before. Twice we’ve seen them play to audiences who didn’t know them, and both times they started out with a lukewarm response and left the stage to deafening applause. In all the concerts we’ve gone to, I’ve never seen any other band win over a crowd the way they do, with no fancy tricks or witty remarks - just their music. The real highlight of the whole evening was CWK joined by Elvis Perkins and members of Dearland playing Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”, one of the most beautiful moments I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing. I hope they release it as a b-side one day, but until then, here’s another (from their “We Used To Vacation” EP) which closed their set.
Cold War Kids - Quiet, Please!
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah were, of course, as fantastic and fun as you’d expect. We’d seen them before so we knew we wouldn’t be let down. It seemed that a lot of the audience didn’t have Some Loud Thunder yet, and to say they appreciated the band playing songs from their debut album would be a serious understatement. But to me, the best part of their set was “Satan Said Dance”, during which little pockets of people all over the room shouted “Said Dance!” when needed, which made me (and the band, I think) very happy indeed.
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Satan Said Dance
Someone mentioned that this tour was about halfway over, so if you still have a chance to get tickets for a show near you, grab some while you can. You’ll have a wonderful time, I promise.
Oh, and the snow turned out to be a big fat nothing. It had stopped by time we got to the venue and melted by the time we went home. Of course.
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