I hope to review the following records on my site before I take a walk into the mountains…

• Free Your Mind – AMNESTY (Stones Throw 2LP)


• Time and Place – LEE MOSES (Sanctuary CD)


• Little Animals – BEASTS OF BOURBON (Albert Productions CD)


• Introducing KENGE KENGE (World Music Network)


• Vol1. Soundiata – THE RAIL BAND (Belle Epoque/Stern’s 2CD)


• The Early Year – TRACTOR SEX FATALITY (Scatological Liberation Front 2CD)


• Hot Box c/w Hoochie Poochie – BLACK ROSE BAND (Contaminated Records 7”)


• BLACK TIME/HUSBANDS (Show and Tell Recordings split 7”)


• We Love the Blowtops – VARIOUS (Big Neck 2x7”)


• She Just Don’t Care – LUXURY RIDES (Goodbye Boozy Records 7”)


• Coltrane – BOSTON CHINKS (Goner Records 7”)


• Turn Back Time – SNAKE FLOWER II (Shake Your Ass Records 7”)


• The George Mitchell Collection – ROSA LEE HILL AND FRIENDS (Fat Possum CD)


• COLOMBIA! THE GOLDEN AGE OF DISCOS FUENTES. THE POWERHOUSE OF COLOMBIAN MUSIC 1960-76 (Soundway CD)


• Singles Collection II – BRAINBOMBS (Pollymaggoo Records CD)


• TAMBURITZA! HOT STRING BAND MUSIC FROM THE BALKANS TO AMERICA (Arhoolie 2CD)


• Ca$h Flow – WESLEY COLEMAN (Cadc° Records CD)


• AFRICAN PEARLS 4: SENEGAL - THE TERANGA SPIRIT (Syllart Productions 2CD)


• Feast of Shame – BRUTAL KNIGHTS (P-trash LP)


• Forget About Never – THE TERMINALS (Dead Beat Records LP)


• Chandrasekhar Limit – KAZALOK (Shake Your Ass MLP)


• The Hex Dispensers – THE HEX DISPENSERS (Alien Snatch Records LP)


• Night Of Broken Glass – JAY REATARD (In The Red Records 12”)


• Mary Ellen Claims – TYVEK (X! Records 7”)


• THE STRAITCOATS (Hook or Crook 7”)


• Spoiled Brat – CHEAP TIME (Sweet Rod Records 7”)


• Round Like An Apple – SMOKEY WILSON (Ace Records CD)


• R. CRUMB'S HEROES OF BLUES, JAZZ & COUNTRY (Abrams CD + book)


• GYPSY CARAVAN: MUISC IN AND INSPIRED BY THE FILM WHEN THE ROAD BENDS… (World Village CD)


• Blues de Musicien – PINE LEAF BOYS (Arhoolie CD)


• She’s So Out + 3 – BARE WIRES (Solid Sex Lovie Doll 7”)


• Walk My Walk + 3 – THE COCK ROACHES (Solid Sex Lovie Doll 7”)


• 4-track Recording Session – GREEN ARROWS (Open House Records CD)


• Cold Hands b/w My Struggle – BLACK LIPS (Vice Records 7”)


• Ape-ology – LEE PERRY AND THE UPSETTERS (Trojan 2CD)


• Walk into the Sea – CHEATER SLICKS (In The Red LP)


• The Bad Trips – THE BAD TRIPS (Rocketshop Records LP)


• Whiskey Flowers – GOLDEN BOYS (Hook or Crook LP)


• Black & White in Dub - CARLTON PATTERSON & KING TUBBY (Hot Pot CD)


• Renunciation - DAVID S. WARE (Aum Fidelity CD)

Fires and smoke across the Balkan Peninsula

Some recent delights

RASHIED ALI QUINTET ‘Company Of Heaven’
(Blue Note Records Festival Ghent 16/7)

Rashied Ali (drums), Josh Evans (trumpet), Lawrence Clark (tenor sax), Greg Murphy (piano), Joris Teepe (bass)

The Rashied Ali Quintet played a terrific set in Ghent last week! Five amazing musicians who alternately gave away awesome solos, played with fierce intensity. Lawrence Clark on tenor sax reminded us all that this was the John Coltrane tribute day of the festival. Fire music!

ARCHIE SHEPP/ROSWELL RUDD QUARTET
(Blue Note Records Festival Ghent 16/7)

Archie Shepp (tenor and soprano sax, voice), Roswell Rudd (trombone), Reggie Workman (bass), Andrew Cyrille (drums)


A much more relaxed and introspective set than the one by the Rashied Ali Quintet. The Archie Shepp/Roswell Rudd Quartet played very inspirational jazz music with a wonderful flow. Roswell Rudd was brilliant on trombone while Archie Shepp showed us all why he is a living legend. Wonderful versions of “Steam”, “Ujamma” and “Bamako” too. Wow!

LADY CHATTERLEY (Pascale Ferran)

A heartbreaking story of true love and an original portrait of sexuality and its role in human relationships. The most frankly sensual movie in memory that never ceases to be gripping in spite of its 168-minute length.

BOOGIE WOOGIE PIONEERS Compiled by John Mayall (Document Records CD 2006)

An addictive compilation with some of the most exciting boogie woogie pianists to ever walk this earth. Chronologically compiled, it starts with a recording from Cow Cow Davenport that dates back from 1928 an ends in true style with an Otis Spann track from 1960. Pretty damn essential!

Nicole Willis And The Soul Investigators

One of the main reasons why I’m not keen on making personal year end lists as far as music is concerned, is that most of the time, I discover the real gems months after their initial release date. A few weeks ago for example, I finally decided to check out Nicole Willis And The Soul Investigators’ ‘Keep Reachin’ Up’ album from 2006. The record floored me immediately: I could hardly believe that I was listening to a contemporary album! The combination of an awesome northern soul groove, ace song writing and wonderful vocals make ‘Keep Reachin’ Up’ one of the best albums in recent times. The funny thing is: Willis is American-born; the Soul Investigators are Finnish! Nicole Willis used to perform with early incarnations of the Brand New Heavies and Deee-Lite before leading the NYC-based band the Repercussions in the early ‘90s. A couple of years ago, she relocated to Finland (the homeland of her husband Jimi Tenor) where ‘Keep Reachin’ Up’ was released in 2005 on a tiny Finnish label. A couple of weeks ago, the album has finally been released in Europe by Rough Trade while Lights in the Attic will release the album in the States in late-July. Get it now and get down!



Last Sunday, Nicole Willis & The Soul Investigators played a damn fine show at the Gentse Feesten although I think live-wise, she would benefit much more from a soulful black backing band than from a bunch of ice-cold Finns, with all respect due.

Persepolis (Marjane Satrapi, Vincent Paronnaud - France) ***1/2



Persepolis was not part of the festival but since I wanted to see the original French version rather than the dubbed English version that is scheduled for Flanders after the summer, I went to see this Cannes prize-winning animated movie in a regular Brussels theatre. Persepolis tells the autobiographical story of the director when she was growing up in Tehran during the Islamic Revolution in the 1970s. It’s a great joy to see how the powerful black-and-white comic strip images come to life in a movie that perfectly blends the historical with the personal. Witty, moving and illuminating!


Una Ballata Bianca (Stefano Odoardi - Italy/Netherlands) *1/2

Poetic and contemplative art house film in which an ageing couple looks back on love, life and approaching death. The couple is played by non-professional actors but the old man didn’t convince me at all. Too theatrical and bombastic for my taste.


Ce Que Je Sais De Lola (Javier Rebollo - France/Spain) **

An entertaining but rather banal story about a loner who falls in love with his new neighbour, a vicacious Spanish woman, and begins to follow her life. Well made but of little substance…

California Dreamin’ (Endless) (Christian Nemescu – Rumania) ****



What makes a good film festival? The number of Cannes revelations? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen so many good films on such a short period of time! CALIFORNIA DREAMIN' (ENDLESS) by Romanian director Cristian Nemescu was awarded the Un Certain Regard prize at Cannes. Unfortunately, the 27 year old director was killed in an automobile accident last summer, just before the montage phase of the movie. The film however was left the way he edited and cut his work and although it’s length of 155 minutes, Nemescu’s first feature-length film doesn’t suffer at all from this rough cut. The plot is simple: during the war in Kosovo, in 1999, in a small Romanian village, the chief of the railway station, who happens to be the local gangster as well, stops a NATO train transporting military equipment. The transport, supervised by American soldiers, is crossing Romania without official documents, based only on verbal approval of the Romanian government. Their arrival changes the place into the village of all opportunities. Nemescu’s universal language is both very entertaining and compelling. A real festival hit!


Brand Upon The Brain! (Guy Maddin – Canada) **



Canadian film maverick Guy Maddin’s latest extravaganza ‘Brand Upon The Brain!’ has everything you would expect of Maddin: filmed in the style of the silent film and featuring major doses of memory loss, conflicts and romantic intrigues. This silent, semi-autobiographical tale tells the story of a young Maddin who lives with his teenage sister on a mysterious island that they are one day to inherit. They share this space with a group of orphans who have installed themselves in a lighthouse. From the top of this their every move is observed by Guy’s tyrannical mother, while his father – a scientist-cum-inventor – works away in secret day and night down in the cellar. When a series of strange wounds appears on the head of several orphans, Wendy and Chance Hale, a pair of teenage detectives, begin their investigation. A typical Maddin but far from spectacular.

The Mourning Forest (Mogari No Mori) (Naomi Kawase – Japan) *****


With 'The Mourning Forest', Japan’s Naomi Kawase has made another cinematographic masterpiece. Her previous works (Suzaku, Hotaru, Shara) made it to the top 5 of my year end lists and her new one will do just the same. 'Mogari No Mari' is a stunningly beautiful film about a care-worker in a small rest-home in the Japanese hinterland who is drawn to a dementia-affected patient who is still mourning over the loss of his wife 33 years ago. Burdened by the death of her young son, the young caregiver follows the elderly patient into the depths of the Mogari forest where a mutual mourning process unfolds. 'The Mourning Forest’ feels like a serene prayer; its intense and profound feelings leave you spellbound. A well deserved winner of the Grand Prix at the most recent Cannes festival and one of the top 5 movies of the year!


Pas Douce (Jeanne Waltz – Switserland/France) ***


A film about a nurse in a remote village who decides to commit suicide but in place accidentally wounds a young boy who she nurses subsequently. I found the plot not very interesting but again, Isild Le Besco shows what a terrific talent she is by delivering an intense & gripping performance as the young adolescent looking for self confidence.

L’Âge d’Or/Cinédécouvertes + Brussels European Film Festival

L’Âge d’Or/Cinédécouvertes - the film festival held by the Royal Film Archive in Brussels (aka the Brussels Film Museum) - is one of 4 interesting film festivals I attend every year. Together with the International Film Festival Rotterdam (January), the Flanders International Film Festival Ghent (October) and the Cinema Novo Film Festival in Bruges (March), the festival covers a broad spectrum of recent festival hits and other remarkable movies. A combination of these 4 film festivals enables me to track down every
worthwhile movie that has been released during the last year. In recent years, the l’Âge d’Or/Cinédécouvertes has joined forces with the Brussels European Film Festival and takes place at the beautiful Flagey building in the heart of Brussels. Still, both festivals are
separate and have their own jury. The l’Âge d’Or/Cinédécouvertes remains the more interesting one because it doesn't limit itself to Europe and selects its quality films mostly from the renowned Cannes and Berlin film festivals. I will spend a few words on the
12 films I selected this year...

Body Rice (Hugo Vieira da Silva - Portugal/Germany) ***1/2

An existential movie that follows young German delinquents in a desert-like part of the Alentejo in Portugal where they have been sent as part of a rehabilitation project. Their stay however is one of extreme lethargy & apathetic doom where the only highlight seems to be dancing to very loud techno in bare landscape. (besides Joy Division, X-Mal Deutschland and Einsturzende Neubauten, the soundtrack mostly consists of raw techno by Joey Beltram). Body Rice mixes the documentary-like observation of Sharunas Bartas with the desperate dramaturgy of Teresa Villaverde. A remarkable film!

Tout est pardonné (Mia Hansen-Løve – France) **

An unbalanced film about a couple with a young daughter that separates because of the good-for-nothing husband’s junkie habit. Some 11 years later, we get to see the confrontation between the father and his daughter.


XXY (Lucia Puenzo – Argentina) **

A film about a 15-year-old hermaphrodite who lives with her/his parents in an isolated corner of the Uruguayan coast. The arrival of a doctor with his wife and 16-year-old son disrupts the daily routine. A well-made and genuine (teenage) film that will please a large audience.


Yumurta (Egg) (Semih Kaplanoglu – Turkey) ***

After his wonderful "Angel's Fall" from 2005, Turkish director Semih Kaplanoglu tells the story of an Istanbul bookseller returning to his village after his mother’s death. There, he meets his brother's granddaughter who'd looked after his mom and who asks him to perform the sacrifice of a ram his mom had never been able to. “Yumurta” will be the first film in a trilogy, "Honey, Milk and Egg," which will be presented in reverse order. A good movie but Kaplanoglu is not yet on par with fellow countryman Nuri Bilge Ceylan.


La Influencia (Pedro Aguilera – Spain/Mexico) ***1/2

The story of a vulnerable woman with 2 young children that falls into a deep depression. The assistant to Carlos Reygadas for “Battle in Heaven” and Amat Escalante for “Sangre”, Pedro Aguilera presents a début feature of extreme harshness: an appalling, almost unbearable chronicle of a relentless breakdown. Very good.


Meduzot (Etgar Keret & Shira Geffen – Israel/France) ****

The winner of the Camera d’Or at Cannes (the award for best debut feature) is both a very clever and intriguing comedy about three women in Tel Aviv. A subtle film that mixes humor with intense emotions and originality.

Madhouse

more great eurotouring pics here

Last Saturday was another fun night at the Pit’s: a wild beer-soaked rock ‘n roll party that ended in a messy punk jam with the audience! THE FEELERS played a wild & amazing show and gave their all. This wasn’t very surpising since the bass player’s mom and dad had especially flown over from the States to see the apple of their eye playing some fierce & reckless punk tunes. From the first song on, the hyperactive singer took a spot in the middle of the club and screamed his lungs out. The sheer energy the band radiated was irresistible so we all kept on shouting for more! The Feelers ended their intense set with a cover from fellow townsmen Cheater Slicks and although I didn’t recognize the song as such (the guy next to me told me The Spits do cover the same song), it was a great way to end a terrific high-energy show!

I don’t own any records by the CLOROX GIRLS because I thought their sound is a bit to clean & poppy for my ears but their half hour live set proofed me wrong. The singer, a young Greg Sage lookalike, poked fun at us by telling that the French fries are better in France but when he joked he actually prefered German beers, I immediately treated him on a trappist shower in order to convince him of the brewing qualities of our monks. Fortunately, he didn’t kick my ass but kept on rocking full throttle. From then on, the party broke loose and everybody had a great time, some on stage, some off stage. The grand finale was a distribution of the instruments among the audience which resulted in a wild punk jam. A great party from 2 great live bands. Thanks a lot guys!!!

STELLET LICHT (SILENT LIGHT)

It looks like Carlos Reygadas has made another masterpiece after his brilliant debut film JAPÓN. You can read all about it here, in Dutch...

Will Oldham or how the past deforms reality...

I bought Palace Brothers’ “There is no one what will take care of you” album around 1994. I immediately loved the record (bonjour tristesse) and went to see Will Oldham at the Lintfabriek in Kontich near Antwerp. Only a handful of people showed up and for once, the absentees were right because the show was a drag: the band played miserable country music and the self-indulgent navel-gazing made me leave the club after half an hour. On the way home, for one full hour I was stuck behind an exceptional road cargo that was transporting a huge part of a bridge and I was really pissed off: what a shitty night! Consequently, I didn’t follow Will Oldham’s career and didn’t bought any of his solo albums under the moniker of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy. But last year, I saw the critically-acclaimed low budget film “Old Joy” in which Oldham plays one of two old friends who reunite for a weekend camping trip in Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Although nothing much happens in the movie, it got stuck in my head and I still rate it as one of the most genuine movies of 2006. A definitely must see! So I become interested again in Oldham’s music and downloaded “I see a darkness” from 1999 and “Ease down the road” from 2001. On my way to the International Film Festival Rotterdam last January, I played the records for the first time in my car and it soon became clear that I missed a lot because songs so pure and honest through and through can only be made by an immensely talented singer-songwriter. I immediately bought both gems on CD and they are still in heavy rotation over here. Just last week, I stumbled upon this add in some local music magazine and it once again became clear that Will Oldham is pure gold! The only question that remains, however, is whether that sudden concert was really that bad…

D.I.Y.

It looks like Bryan Ferry's wife has just finished a Photoshop workshop...



Oh well, you can't judge a book by its cover, right?

Some live reviews

Phew… it's been busy around here, especially concert wise. Early April, I went to see the Demon’s Claws at the mighty Pit’s club near the French border. The band only played for half an hour (due to the Pit’s infamous curfew at 10:00 PM) but the show was really amazing. The Demon’s Claws have this wonderful raunchy country rock ‘n roll sound: heartfelt vocals & guitars galore. Totally my kinda thing! The band before the Demon’s Claws was M.O.T.O. whose poppy punk tunes were hard to bear…

A couple of days later I went to see Josephine Foster because Jay 'Detailed Twang' Hinman is a big fan of hers and since he’s one of the few guys I trust music wise, I didn’t want to miss her second passage to Ghent. I’m glad I did because the show was a revelation! Foster actually hums more than she sings but it’s amazing how she soaks the listener into her own hermetic wonderland. She was backed by a tremendous electric guitar player whose beautifully subtle playing made the show a true delicacy. I also enjoyed Bridget St John’s acoustic solo gig although I think my niece got it right when she said her lyrics were too much of the ‘open sandals and woolly socks’ type if you know what I mean. The headlining band that night was a Belgian band with the silly name Kiss the Anus of a Black Cat. Because the influences were too obvious (Current 93, Swans, 16 Horsepower…) we left the club after a few songs, not in the least because of the ugly rock sound.


Mid-April, I went to see Kaushiki Chakrabarty, a superb young Indian classical singer whose ‘Pure’ album on Sense World Music collected the coveted BBC World Music Award for Asia/Pacific in 2005. It’s the kind of spiritually uplifting and meditative album that gets you in the right mood after a hard working week. Before the show, my wife and I visited a delicious Indian restaurant called Saffraan so we were really in the right mood for the show. Besides Chakrabarty on vocals, Vyasmurti Anandteerth Katti on harmonium and Subhasis Bhattacharjee on tabla, a white female called Julia Ohrmann played the tanpura. This is quite a remarkable instrument since it resembles a sitar except it has no frets. The neck is hollow, and it has four or five wire strings, which are plucked one after another in a regular pattern to create a tonic resonance field, the so-called tanpura drone. The performance was splendid.

Later that week, I went to see the Melvins. Don’t ask me why because when I saw them some 15 years ago at a place called Democrazy in Ghent, I left for the bar next doors after 3 songs. I guess I wanted to give them another chance after having read a rather interesting interview in The Wire by Phil Freeman. I entered Belgium’s rock temple when (Men of) Porn were playing. Their experimental macho-metal rock was embarrassing so I went for a drink at the bar; way too expensive and sold by some of the most pretentious cunts I’ve come across in a long time. God, how I hate this place! And I’m not even talking about the bullshit security guards! Oh well, I saw about 1,5 minutes of Big Business (both bands are side-projects by Melvins members… yawny yawn yawn) and I was constantly asking myself what the fuck I was doing there. Bored to death, I went for a walk outside and once back in the big hall where the Melvins had started to play, I realised how much I hate these big rock concerts with their bombastic sound and acritical audience. No more Melvins for me, that’s for sure!



The 8th edition of The Ultimate Americana Music Fest Blue Highways in Utrecht, Holland revealed some real surprises: Pieta Brown for example played an enchantingly beautiful set; imagine the first Cowboy Junkies album if it was produced by David Lynch. Brown's intimate devotion and Bo Ramsey's delicate guitar playing were a formula for success! Without a doubt, one of the best shows of the year! The Road Kings featuring Jesse Dayton played some of the meanest rockabilly I ever witnessed on stage. You might get an impression of their raucous set if I tell you that the stand-up bass player wore a Morbid Angel t-shirt and Dayton spitted on stage like a mad bull. Hell yeah! The Hacienda Brothers' wonderful Chicano soul was another real highlight with some tremendous guitar playing by ex-Paladin Dave Gonzalez. Wow! I also very much enjoyed Danny & Dusty’s set (blinking nostalgia from my eyes), the few songs I saw of Kris Delmhorst & Band and Kevn Kinney’s S.T.A.R. who closed the festival in true style. Of course, I had to skip some concerts (Po’Girl, Diana Jones, Hayden Thompson, Joe Ely) but the ones I saw were all great, except for the terrible hard rock of Shooter Jennings who sounded like a mix between Stone Temple Pilots and Guns ‘n Roses: Ouch!!!



At the festival, I missed Ollabelle’s performance because I absolutely wanted to see Danny & Dusty but I went to check out this wonderful quintet a week later in my hometown. Ollabelle features Levon Helm’s daughter, who you all know as drummer for The Band, as well as another delightful front woman and 3 amazing musicians. The Staple Singers turned out to be a big inspiration for the band but besides gospel music, Harry Smith and Alan Lomax also seem to be of big importance. They played a wonderful Blind Willie Johnson cover as well as a majestic Al Green-like soul ballad. A band to cherish!

Pistolera, also from New York, was the supporting band that night and treated the few visitors to a great mix of Latin American music (tex mex, ranchera, cumbia, reggae etc.). The quartet sounded like a sexier version of Brave Combo and turned me into a dancing fool! Fun!!!

This week finally, I went to see The Sadies just across the border in Holland. The band played for free at a coffee shop in Terneuzen and they were truly wonderful. Again, a very exciting mix of many great styles (surf, bluegrass, Ennio Morricone-esque spaghetti Western, and 60s punk…) and some very good & nice musicians. Me gusta mucho! Two days later, Los Lobos played a terrific set at the Ancienne Belgique and because it’s one of the very few bands whose releases I keep on buying, a Los Lobos concert for me is always a triumphal thing. Viva Los Lobos!!!

3 current household favourites...

The following 3 records probably got the most spins over here in the last couple of weeks:

THE GOLDWAX STORY Volume 1 (Ace Records 2001)

At The Golden Circle, Volume One - ORNETTE COLEMAN (Blue Note Records 1965 CD)

Aman Iman: Water Is Life - TINARIWEN (Independiente Records 2007 CD)

The latest & third CD by TINARIWEN is the first real masterpiece of 2007 and I am thrilled to bits that the band will be playing together with the amazing TARTIT ensemble & TOUMAST in Brussels on May 8th! A musical trip to the Sahara and without a doubt a night to cherish!!!

Jah Shaka in late 70s session

I will try to post great MP3's & YouTube videos in the future. Let's start with this damn cool Jamaican video...

At the movies

It looks like 2007 is going to be a great film year. Here are my favourites so far, as well as other movies I enjoyed recently...

1) Summer Palace
2) Climates
3) I Don’t Want To Sleep Alone
4) Inland Empire
5) Opera Jawa
6) Daratt
7) Syndromes and a Century
8) Khadak
9) The Host
10) Les Anges Exterminateurs

Hamaca Paraguaya, A Bittersweet Life, Time, Walking on the Wild Side, Prendre Femme, Koorogi, Exiled, The Journey, The Optimists, Jardins en automne, Ca brule, Bamako, Half Moon, Bes Vakit, Weed, Scream of the Ants, Still Life, Rain Dogs, Nue Propriété, Our Daily Bread, Letters from Iwo Jima

Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Iklimler (Climates), the latest film by Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan (Uzak) who plays the main character together with his wife Ebru Ceylan, is a cinematographic masterpiece. Ceylan tells the story of a university professor who breaks up with his lover, wanders between lethargy and hesitation, looks out for her again only to abandon her once more. Ceylan is very poised in what he does and tells his story in a brilliant slow narrative style. The breathtaking perfection of the image frame and the extraordinarily beautiful photography left me completely in awe. Definitely one of the year’s very best movies!

CINEMA NOVO FILM FESTIVAL

The CINEMA NOVO film festival made another terrific selection of the best movies in contemporary world cinema. I will try to write some more this week about the films seen in Bruges...

Lollipop Shoppe

Fuck! I finally bought myself a decent vinyl copy of The Lollipop Shoppe’s 1967 psych masterpiece “Just Colour” on some bootleg label, paid way too much cash only to find out NOW that the album has just been officialy reissued and authorized by Fred Cole and features 6 extra tracks to the original album! Grrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Black Keys

I went to check out The Black Keys yesterday to see what all the fuzz was about. Although I really do like the two-piece band’s first two albums I own, I always found it rather strange that they draw hundreds of people while similar bands (Deadly Snakes, Jack Oblivian, Reigning Sound, Digger & The Pussycats, etc.) play for a mere handful of people. The Black Keys however seem to have their hearts on the right place: the set was never less than exciting. The drummer kicked ass like a real wildman and the singer/guitar player fuckin’ ROCKED! Think Jimi Hendrix, Cream, The White Stripes, Junior Kimbrough & one raw white-ass soulful singer. A damn fine gig!