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Holland-Watch'97 -- The Rotterdam Concert

Rob Said: "Sunday evening was my Evening of the Year!! "

Hi Joe,

I saw Gilbert performing in the Luxor Theater Rotterdam (November 9th). It was superb, the best we've heard!! It was a great, wonderful mixture of old and new material. Some new songs need to get familiar [like "I don't care"]. Some old songs were beautifully and positively transformed [like "Marriage Machine", "Who Was It" and "Mum, the Kettle's Boiling" [in reggae-style!!]]. The whole show was really very contemporary; not at all one that belongs to something like Sound Of The Seventies that we have in Holland nowadays. Gilbert's voice seemed not to be influenced by his age at all; even the fast moving, rocking songs of Singer Sowing Machine and others [like "Stick In The Mud" and "The Way Things Used To Be"] gave no problem whatsoever. Some songs of SSM didn't showcase Gilbert at his keyboard, but swinging on stage; a bit contradictionairy to his own words, about not being an entertainer. But, I quote: "Why should only the 25-year-old have all the fun". And Gilbert did; the audience just happened to be there...

There was one miserable incident when a guy started nagging about the sound. After 3 songs he shouted that he couldn't hear Gilbert and wondered whether or not they had had a soundcheck. He talked about a second hand transistor radio... It really disconcerted Gilbert; during his 30-years career he had never heard such things before. The rest of the audience [600 people I think] did not agree either, although I saw some elderly people leave during the interval. Luckily the man left after 1 or 2 other songs; people applauding. But, I think only after the interval Gilbert felt comfortable again.

There was a prolonged applause after every song, and at the end of the concert it lasted maybe 5 minutes!! Unfortunately there was only one encore; "Get Down."

The CD's sold like hot cakes, and [unbelieveble for you maybe] I wasn't able to get hold of a single copy of the CD-single "I Wish I Could Cry." How on earth was I so stupid not to buy it at the start of the show, thinking I could buy it afterwards... But don't worry, I'll ask Joke or Virgin-records in Rotterdam or even visit another concert in Breda, Venray, Hengelo, IJmuiden or Amsterdam!!! A good excuse don't you think...?

Finally, here's the complete song list:

First half:

Second Half:

Concert review submitted Rob van der Vaart. Thanks Rob... We love ya!