2009/08/31 - Blooming Bar - Göttingen
Not really knowing what we would hear and see, Paul and I went to the Blooming Bar that evening. I only visitet that location once, eating yummy pasta and tomato sauce - all I could eat: lekker! First then, we ordered some Kölsch (a very light beer from cologne), and as well some Italian bread with oregano and mozarella, and of course our Hawaian toasts. But this evening the Italien bread was out and we got normal toast instead :-) So we waited for the first musician to come…
Harukos voice and her songs are very silent, warm and fragile, and totally clean. I’ve never heard such a low and at the same time present and nearly glimmering voice. Hlynur Gudjonssons voise seemd to fit quite good, and his banjo and xylophone (a realy neat one :-) added some sparkling spots to the sound of their guitars, that both had a very smoth and enjoyable sound.
Cue Fanfare from Bristol came up with sort of more electric sound and also electric guitars. That promised to become louder and more dynamic. And it did! Rob Williams and his Gretsch Guitar (I think, I need one, too :-), with overall smooth delayed sound, with still very much grip and enormous drive (not OVER-drive), and Rowena Dugdale, singer and rhythm guitarist, totally present and all over having fun beeing on stage surfed and rocked and communicated with the audience in a absolutely charming way. I love that singer’s voice and that jamming, scramming tone of the lead guitar really very much. And if you want to get a correct impression of that two artists, just go to Bristol and listen. The record is really good, but does not reflect the tone and sound the two are performing live, as it is always…
Last but not least Mr Solo from the Netherlands, alone with his nice ringing sound and acoustic guitar, told us about woman (the one about Evelyn Paul liked most, and my favorite song told about Lisa), a sniper that he met in eastern Europe (that song impressed me deeply), and Solo’s communication skills to interact with the audience are most remarkable. He intoned (or intonated??) his good old acoustic guitar using strong riffs and gave his voice a great background tone.
At evening’s end we enjoyed talking to all the musicians and of course bought records and CDs (the one of Haruko I still couldn’t listen to, because my hifi amp is not repaired yet… HMPF!) and we drank one more Kölsch each. Paul and me, of course, Rowena liked Schnaps more :-)