Benny Zen and the Syphilis MadmenVillanella, Antwerpen, 16 Oct 2010

Second band we saw on the Villanella night was Benny Zen and the Syphilis Madmen, Peter Houbens (Nemo, Mitsoobishy Jacson, ...) latest band. They have completed recording their second album, so watch out for it some time soon.

Pascal DewezeVillanella, Antwerpen, 16 Oct 2010

A couple of weeks ago Villanella and Red Bull organized 'Red Bull Art Space / Studio Villanella' in the buildings that used to house Studio Herman Teirlinck. There were also a couple of concerts and Pascal Deweze of Sukilove (and Broken Glass Heroes) was one of the guys playing there. Here are a couple of songs from his set. First one is a Will Tura cover called 'In mijn droom', the second a Broken Glass Heroes song called 'Wild wild life'.

I love Sarah Trix, Antwerpen, 16 Sep 2010

I love Sarah played after Hoquets in Trix. It was a nice set with a couple of new songs alongside the classics. Check out 'De gokchinees', 'Dr Kellogg' and 'De witmof'.

Hoquets Trix, Antwerpen, 16 Sep 2010

If you ever need to explain Belgium to someone, you can safely send them to a gig of the band Hoquets. They have songs called '3 régions, 3 communautés', they can tell you everything about belgian Trappist beer ('L'abbaye d'Orval') and they even know a thing about locally produced biscuits ('Couque de Dinant')! They make their own instruments and thus sound completely original. I was thoroughly impressed by the string-bowing capabilities of the, err, guitar player (?). 

Ruben Block Jolly Joker, Antwerpen, 14 Aug 2010

We mainly went to Jolly Joker to see Eat Lions put on their crazy show. Turned out in the end they were only going to show up at 3 am, so we no longer bothered and checked out after Ruben Block's set.
Nevertheless a good opportunity to try out my new hd cam (right-click video and select 'watch on youtube' to watch higher resolutions).

Mauro and the Grooms Charlatan, Gent, 24 Jun 2010

Knallen!

Steffie Van Cauter Singel, Antwerpen, 03 Jun 2010

At the start of June, the alumni of Sabbattini organized an event in De Singel to showcase what they learned during their training. They made great use of the hallways of the huge building to present a pleasant mixture of different art forms (video art, music, ...). One of the musicians we saw performing, was Steffie Van Cauter, an allround artist also active in animation film, drawing and theatre. She plays songs on accordeon and sings in a multitude of languages (french, german, some dutch mixed in?). Apparently the songs are usually played as a trio under the moniker "Lieb mich Harry".

Radical Slave CC Muze, Heusden-Zolder, 11 Jun 2010

Radical Slave is a new no-wave band with Mauro Pawlowski, Remo Perrotti and Dirk Swartenbroekx (Buscemi). Last Friday they played their second gig in CC Muze in Heusden-Zolder (first was in AB supporting Motorpsycho).

Eat Lions De Knoet, Aarschot, 24 Apr 2010

And the main act of the evening was of course Eat Lions. They've been on a smallish tour sponsored by Absolut vodka, which took them to a couple of weird places.
What you must know:
- they lay their shit down hard
- they have two drummers, one of which you will think he is wearing a shirt but he isn't
- Tim only sings and occasionally plays a small keyboard
- Tim wears a jester-like outfit with a pointy hat
- Tim does crazy gymnastics
- they have a song whose clip you must see :  'Ancient Future'

Check some songs of the live performance:

Boston Tea Party De Knoet, Aarschot, 24 Apr 2010

We went to see one of the gigs Tim Vanhamel has been doing with his new band Eat Lions. Support act was Boston Tea Party, a duet playing trashy garage songs. The girl does the bass drum sounds by stomping her feet on a wooden box. Their debut has been co-produced by Vanhamel and is out now. Check out some songs.

Sludge (Club) Moral Les ateliers Claus, Brussel, 26 Mar 2010

Since 1981 Anne-Mie Van Kerckhoven and Danny Devos have been performing with Club Moral. It had been a while, but in March we got the chance to see them again. It seems that the band has changed a bit. Aldo Struyf (Millionaire/Creature with the atom brain) has been added as a bass player and Mauro Pawlowski has changed from playing guitar to playing drums. Anne-Mie stil plays electronics and of course Danny takes the vocal parts. I have added 'Hail to thee black prince' and 'Eating limbs', so check it out.

Popcorn Night(mare) Scheldapen, Antwerpen, 13 Mar 2010

Dennis Tyfus' Ultra Eczema has this concept going on where they organize a night with the central theme being a song that a zillion of artists have covered. For example last year there was a La Bamba Night(mare). All the artists and DJ's performing that night had to play versions of La Bamba. This being a huge success, they decided to do it again this year with the song being Gershon Kingsleys classic 'Popcorn'. The place was again filled to the brim and we saw a range of insane, but nevertheless recognizable versions of the song passing by. We witnessed performances by DAAU, Circus Bulderdrang, Steven Tuffin and Michiel Van Cleuvenbergen, a bunch of horseheaded people on typewriters, Possessed Factory and a whole bunch of others.

Mauro Pawlowski Candelaershuys, Ukkel, 12 Feb 2009

About a year ago, we went to see Mauro Pawlowski in Ukkel. The place was pretty crowdy, but people gladfully payed attention to what was happening on stage. The set consisted of a lot of unreleased songs (mainly by Hitsville Drunks and Grooms), with the occasional cover thrown in.

Time to fall in love:


Stay inside:


Days to burn:

Franco Saint De Bakker Arenbergschouwburg, Antwerpen, 5 Mar 2010

Last Friday Franco Saint De Bakker celebrated the release of their third (correct me if I'm wrong) cd with a concert in the Arenberg theatre. FSDB is Elko Blijweerts "it's-jazz-but-not-as-we-know-it-Jim"-orchestra,for those not in the know. And a fine gig it was! They played the perfect mix between older  and new songs and with the highly entertaining "Calvaire" (as featured in the movie of the same name) as a closing song, you can't go wrong. If you like your jazz blended with a healthy mix of afro-guitar, be sure to check out their latest cd (which is recorded live btw, like all their releases). But first, check out these clips!

Also sprach R2-D2:


Playfield:


Calvaire:

Elko Blijweert Klappei, Borgerhout, 7 Feb 2009

Elko Blijweert has played with Daan Stuyven in Dead Man ray, with Rudy Trouvé in Kiss My Jazz and these days he's in a whole range of bands like Franco Saint De Bakker, Tip Toe Topic, Pawlowski, Rudy Trouvé Septet, Autistik Youth, Pink Flamingo Fusion Project, ... Here you can watch him doing one of his rare solo sets  in Klappei, a stones throw away from belcast headquarters. They have a returning 'theme' called "Keuze van de muzikant" where a musician chooses a movie that will be shown, followed by a small live set, often inspired by the movie.

Barfly:


Sonatine:

Dez Mona Trix, Antwerpen, 12 Feb 2010

Last weekend was concert venue Trix' new season's opening weekend. Loads of bands were playing and it sold out completely. As was to be expected, seeing that it had Das Pop and Mintzkov on the same night, each drawing their own biggish crowds. It was hard to shoot videos of the big stage, so I kept my camera pointed to the smaller stages. One of the bands we saw there was Gregory Frateurs band Dez Mona.  They were performing songs of their latest (and excellent) album called 'Hilfe kommt'. On this album they've developed a fuller sound than on their previous outings, backed up by a duo of background singers. I filmed two of their songs, check it out.

The Partchesz Trix, Antwerpen, 29 Apr 2008

Time to post some videos pulled from the vaults. This recording of The Partchesz performing in Trix in Antwerpen dates back from 2008. The Partchesz are mainly Bjorn Eriksson's (ex Zita Swoon, now playing with Admiral Freebee) and Nathalie Delcroix' (Laïs) band. They play country with occasionally a bit of electronica mixed in. I've thrown in one video of Bjorn Eriksson playing fingerpicking guitar with his father Karl on banjo (although he's standing a bit in the dark on this recording). So you can see they do in fact master the art of traditional bluegrass as well. ;-)

The crab four CC De Mol, Lier, 6 Feb 2010

Last Saturday The Crab Four played in CC De Mol in Lier. The crab four is a Beatles cover band and it consists of Pascal Deweze (Sukilove, Metal Molly), Stoffel Verlackt (Sukilove, El tattoo del tigre), Helder Deploige (ex-Sukilove, Helder), Sjoerd Bruil (Sukilove, Pawlowski, Black Cassette) and Arne Leurentop (Käthes Schmerz, PJDS, The Glen).
It was the first show of this tour where they play the complete White Album from start to finish. Needless to say, they pulled it off with ease. It was uncanny to hear how close to the original  their versions often were. Hell, they even played Revolution 9 with all the weird sounds and samples included! There's plenty of chances to check them out yourselves. You can find a complete list of gigs here: http://www.myspace.com/crabfour
Take a look at some of the songs they played last Saturday.

Helter Skelter:


Dear Prudence:


Revolution 1:


Good night:

Strumpets Vertigo, Antwerpen, 28 Jan 2010

Strumpets are a relatively new band in Antwerp. They are : Alex van Herk, Miguel Sosa, Rob Eelen and Thomas Noppe. You might know Miguel Sosa from collaborations with Mauro Pawlowski in Monguito and with Elko Blijweert/Jeroen Stevens in the band The Parallels.
They play spacey pop, mixed with Beach Boys style harmonies. Their first cd 'Hello Strumpets', full of radio-friendly hits, is out now on Jezus Factory records. So get it while it lasts.
Here are some tracks from that cd, performed live in Vertigo last Thursday.

Walking on air:


Leen:


Gliding in orbit:

I love Sarah Molens Van Orshoven, Leuven, 11 Jun 2009

Ok, it's hard to describe I love Sarah, so here goes nothing. Imagine double bassdrum combined with casio, add a loop station, some more casio sounds, have them play a mix of pop, stoner and jazz in the same song. And put a looney with the best (and worst) jokes you heard in a long time on drums. And you sort of have I love Sarah.
And yep, they both used to date a Sarah (different ones, luckily). So there you have the band name.
Be sure to get their latest offering, called 'Isle of Sarah'. Go and check them out now.

Mauro:


Zilchke scoren:


Cornelius:

The Porn Bloopers Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 16 Mar 2008

Antwerp based Porn Bloopers were Humo's Rock Rally 2008 finalists. Their song "Emancipation" was said to be the best song of the 2008 edition of the Rock Rally. Back then they played kind of trashy rock. Nowadays they are called Bed Rugs and play more poppy rock songs. Check them out!
Gitarist Stijn Boels was in Tim Vanhamel's band during his "Welcome to the Blue House" tour.

Emancipation:


In Command:


Soul sex:

The Galacticos Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 16 Mar 2008

Galacticos from Hasselt were also one of the finalists on Humo's Rock Rally 2008. Last year they released their debut EP named "EP phone home". This was their first single "Humble Crumble".

Sir Yes Sir De Roma, Borgerhout, 15 Jan 2010

Last year on Pukkelpop a mysterious sixth musician was playing with dEUS on their Pukkelpop gigs. It turned out to be Tijs Delbeke, a guy who in the past has created a couple of soundtracks for theatre plays and who plays in/fronts several bands (Sopha, Louisa's daughter, Tom Pintens). His latest band is called Sir Yes Sir. They have only played a couple of gigs yet, but judging by the crowd reactions, I bet you'll be able to catch them playing a lot in 2010.

The first song is a Nick Cave cover, the second an instrumental.

God is in the house:

The Love Substitutes CC Luchtbal, Antwerp, 30 Oct 2009

The Love Substitutes are Rudy Trouvé on guitar/vocals, Craig Ward on guitar/vocals, Mauro Pawlowski on drums/vocals and Bert Lenaerts on bass. Three out of four of them have been or still are active in dEUS. They usually play a selection of songs from their three (well, 2 and a half) records, mixed with a couple of improvisations. They played a couple of gigs last year and here you can see them at work in CC Luchtbal in Antwerp last October, at the exposition of Rudy Trouvé's paintings and Bache Jespers' photographs.

Summer of Mars (deuxième tableau):


Someone like you:


Bangladesh fashions:


Open:

The Hong Kong Dong Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 16 Mar 2008

The Hong Kong Dong hail from Gent and play pretty poppy stuff, with an insane twist to it. The head honchos are Sarah and Boris Zeebroek, who are Kamagurka's children. Playing guitar (and defining for a great deal the band's sound) is Geoffrey Burton, who used to play with PJDS and Arno.

On a sunny day:


Not a friend, not a lover:

The Hickey Underworld Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, 16 Mar 2008

The Hickey Underworld participated in and won the national music contest Humo's Rock Rally in 2006. Two years later the contest was organized again and I went to the finale in Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, where the Hickey Underworld played as headlining act. Meanwhile they have released their first cd, which comes warmly recommended.

Sick of boys: