Hooverphonic – 11th April 2014 (Melkweg – Amsterdam)

Belgian band Hooverphonic reached Melkweg room in Amsterdam as the second stop in the Dutch tour to promote their latest album Reflection, a hit in the Benelux who had gotten soldout the night before in the university city of Utrecht. In a room that revealed the presence of entire families with children aged 6 to 15 years, the atmosphere was heating up thanks to the performance of the supporting Belgian project Few Bits, a nickname under which we can find singer-songwriter Karolien Van Ransbeeck, who defended hier eponymous solo album with the help of a guitar, highlighting the intimate and calm atmosphere of her creations.

With a draconian punctuality, main stars of the night were appearing gradually on stage under the strains of “Boomerang” , highlighting a perfect staging that included a gray uniform witg jacket and pants was even followed by beautiful Noémie Wolfs, clad in a jumsuit with the same colors. Under a rhythm that change with astonishing ease from blues to soul reaching at times 60’s rock, the band initially focused on the songs of their latest album as “Ether” , “Single Malt“, “Devil Kind of Girl” and “Gravity“, although there was also time for old songs like “Expedition Impossible” and a wonderful “One” in which stressed the guitar chords of Raymond Geerts.

“Hapiness” and “Wait For a While” represented a small drop in the overall environment, probably because these are two songs with a more leisurely pace, but a chameleon artist as Alex Callier began talking with the public, raised again the show before sound the hit “Mad about You”. The concert continued in full swing thanks to a lively “Roadblock“, where the Hammond organ had a vital rhythmic significance, and with emotional “Bad Weather“, “Eden” and “Jackie Cane” in which young Noémie Wolfs showed she is very closer to Geikie Arnaert level, singer with the group achieved its greatest successes. With “Anger Never Dies” and “One Two Three” from their penultimate work became the most lively rhythms, just before leaving the stage with a superb performance of their recent hit “Amalfi“, which was sung by the public to exhaustion and showed that they will get closest to more epic sounds like Arcade Fire or Austra sounds and also thsi song has become in a few months on a new hymns from the band.

With and audience totally fallen at their feet, the band had to go up twice tho the stage to staff enjoyment. With Alex Callier again as master of ceremonies, the band asked the audience which songs they wanted to listen, and we could enjoy old songs as “Vinegar & Salt“, “2 Wicky” or “Somethimes” as well as more current songs form Wolfs more closer period as “The Night Before” or a slow version of the classic from Dave Berry “This Strange Effect“. So, about two hour show where we enjoyed an almost perfect sound that caught us from the first second thanks to the union of the spectacular voice of Naomi Wolfs with a superlative musicians. If we add that the repertoire of the band is full of familiar songs that you increase their leven on small rooms, the result can only be the total and complete success as it was at the Dutch capital.. Now, it’s time to wait when this group will be touring in Spain!