Reviews
Halle Again
Everybody in Holland speaks English. The exception that proves
the rule is a brusque woman who works in the ticket office at
the train station not far from Halle, Holland where I was trying
to buy my train ticket to the town of Halle in Belgium. This
proved very tricky. First I tried the popular English technique
of just speaking more loudly. “I WANT TO GO TO HALLE IN BELGIUM”
didn’t seem to work, so I resorted to my basic Dutch and just
bought a ticket to Brussels which mercifully she had heard of
and could cope with. I was determined not to be late. The train
connections worked fine, and despite the lack of a restaurant
car on the international Rotterdam-Brussels leg of the journey,
I arrived in Halle completely de-stressed.
Halle has just one hotel, and when I enquired about a room for
the night I was told that they were due to be full, but a band
called The Stranglers had just cancelled their rooms the day
before. At least I wouldn’t have to share a hotel with that
rowdy bunch. The hotel looked a bit ordinary, but one glance
at the restaurant and I realized that I had come to the right
place.
After an hour or two of pottering I made my way to the festival
site. Situated in the centre of the town, and therefore just
a short stroll from the hotel was the venue for the gig. A large
well-organised outdoor space surrounded by apartment buildings,
a large stage, what looks like an awesome sound system, and
best of all, enough bar space and bar staff for there to be
no queue at any time for drinks (UK festival organizers please
note).
After hooking up with some familiar faces, with just over an
hour to go I made my way to the front. The advantages of securing
an early place are obvious, but the disadvantage was that I
had to suffer the band who were on before. It may just be a
getting-old thing, but what on earth is the purpose of this
rap drivel? Two bald guys rapping in Flemish over what sounded
like the same track played again and again, no musicians in
sight, and a guy called MC something-or-other pretending to
DJ in the background. I’m sorry; give me rock and roll any day.
By the time the changeover took place I was in my favourite
spot – centre stage, leaning on the barrier, and with two cold
beers to keep me going.
The Stranglers were on early – 7.15pm – as they were second
support to The Levellers (what kind of sense is that?), so it
was a bit surreal to hear Waltzinblack being played in broad
daylight. The dozen or so of us who knew what to do cheered
the opening bars, as did the plump Belgian lady next to me who
asked me what was going on.
As Norfolk Coast started, I realized that I had been right about
the sound system. It was very, very loud and as crystal clear
as you can expect in that kind of environment.
Baz has abandoned his black “Hooligans” T-shirt for a smart
collarless black shirt, which gave him a sort of James Bond
arch-villain look.
Dave’s new haircut suits him so well that I didn’t even notice
until half way through, although the lack of mane may have disoriented
him somewhat because the delicate solo piano parts of Long Black
Veil sounded a little too Les Dawson.
Jet (who seems to have got his anorexia well under control)
was huffing and puffing away and needed his minder with him
throughout the gig. I’m not sure whether it was his drum technician
or his nurse.
Paul was in sparkling form and smiled the whole way through.
I thought there might be some French banter from JJ, but with
just one hour and fifteen minutes of allotted time the band
seemed on a mission to play as much of their full set as they
could.
I heard the new song for the first. Its quite punky in a “Lost
Control” sort of way, with a bass solo, and some interesting
jazzy changes. It gets a cautionary thumbs up from me – I look
forward to hearing the recorded version.
There were no other surprises or changes in the set. Paul enjoyed
waving to an OAP who was watching somewhat bemused from the
balcony of her apartment overlooking the square. I hope she
had her hearing aid set to low.
Tank is a fitting way to end a set, and the final deep thundery
keyboard explosion was so loud and deep that I heard it throughout
my whole body. With time always an issue at these festivals,
they were on again as quickly as they had gone off for an encore
consisting of just NMH. The plump Belgian lady nudged me to
show her approval and asked the name of the best Stranglers
album to buy. Let’s see how many copies of Norfolk Coast they
sell in Halle this week.
By 8:30 it was all over – leaving me time to check out the excellent
restaurant at the hotel.
This was a great trip for me, the only downside being the thumping
headache I have the morning after. Officially, I will blame
being too near the sound system, but just between you and me
it might be due to the quantity of Stella I chucked down my
neck and the bottle of Pouilly Fume that accompanied by dinner.
And the champagne cocktail. I wonder how you say “hair of the
dog” in Flemish?
Anthony Goodwin
|
|
Soulsec Archive
|