last night i checked out the "Undercover Night" party that was happening at Cafe Sappho. Folks from the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild all performed interpretive covers as diverse as Bright Eyes, Joni Mitchell, Roy Orbison, Elliott Smith, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Death Cab for Cutie, Simon and Garfunkel, and Feist. and also a dutch folk song that the singer assured all of us anglophones that we would not understand. the fun thing about a good cover is if you do it right, you've got the whole bar singing along. i saw a lot of my usual favourites (like Ro, Eoghan, Roger) but got to see a lot of new faces i haven't seen before. so many talented musicians in Amsterdam!
i think that's what i really like about the atmosphere at Cafe Sappho. it's just so cosy and friendly. i've gone enough times now to be familiar with many of the faces there, and it's almost starting to feel like a second home to me now. plus i scored free soup from the bartender! i think i'm going to miss Cafe Sappho, and the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild the most when i move back to Canada. that, and Wok to Walk. looks like i'm really going to have to find an excuse to move back here.
can someone please give me a job at the International Criminal Court in Den Haag, alstublieft?
Ro sings the Boss's "Used Cars", with Luke backing up on piano
bedankt voor uw gastvrijheid, Amsterdam Songwriters Guild and Cafe Sappho.
Showing posts with label amsterdam songwriters guild. Show all posts
Showing posts with label amsterdam songwriters guild. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
music is my radar
apologies for my prolonged absence. after my epic month of traveling, i became bedridden with some very strange stomach bug for a week. well, after watching every single episode of the Big Bang Theory, i feel better now and have been seeing a lot of shows around Amsterdam.
Sunday night, there was the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild Showcase featuring beloved local artists such as Lake Montgomery, Case Mayfield, Max VanRemmerden, Brian Neubauer, the famous DJ Lucky Fonz III, and the band Chin Up:
i was particularly impressed by Chin Up's set, which despite closing up a pretty folk music themed night, ended on quite the rock-and-roll note, with microphone stands hurled off the stage and the guitarist moshing in the crowd on the dancefloor,his glasses flying off and broken guitar strings flailing. i take back my premature remarks about the Dutch not really rocking out and dancing at shows.
Tuesday night was the weekly open mic night held at the cosy Cafe Sappho, reuniting a lot of the ASG folks again. i played a pretty fun set and learned an important lesson: your audience is much more likely to pay attention to your music if you forget to wear a bra on stage. i do NOT have video footage of that, but i did manage to capture Eoghan's lovely Christmas song, with Ro Halfhide and Brian Neubauer spontaneously backing up on vocals.
God bless the Irish, every single one of them.
Thursday night was Lake Montgomery's birthday show at the Jet Lounge. i've only discovered her music recently but absolutely adore her style. i'm usually pretty good at describing what i like about musicians but she just leaves me speechless. she is amazing.
can we somehow convince her to come to Canada? please?
Ro Halfhide is backing her up on drums in this video. i don't know why he pops up in all of my videos. probably because he's the founder of the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild, which is, by the way, one of the best things i've discovered since moving to Amsterdam.
in one day, i head off to germany, on a mini-tour by myself to Cologne and Hamburg. in ten days, i move back to Canada (sob). in fifteen days, i turn 25 (nooooooo....)
Sunday night, there was the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild Showcase featuring beloved local artists such as Lake Montgomery, Case Mayfield, Max VanRemmerden, Brian Neubauer, the famous DJ Lucky Fonz III, and the band Chin Up:
i was particularly impressed by Chin Up's set, which despite closing up a pretty folk music themed night, ended on quite the rock-and-roll note, with microphone stands hurled off the stage and the guitarist moshing in the crowd on the dancefloor,his glasses flying off and broken guitar strings flailing. i take back my premature remarks about the Dutch not really rocking out and dancing at shows.
Tuesday night was the weekly open mic night held at the cosy Cafe Sappho, reuniting a lot of the ASG folks again. i played a pretty fun set and learned an important lesson: your audience is much more likely to pay attention to your music if you forget to wear a bra on stage. i do NOT have video footage of that, but i did manage to capture Eoghan's lovely Christmas song, with Ro Halfhide and Brian Neubauer spontaneously backing up on vocals.
God bless the Irish, every single one of them.
Thursday night was Lake Montgomery's birthday show at the Jet Lounge. i've only discovered her music recently but absolutely adore her style. i'm usually pretty good at describing what i like about musicians but she just leaves me speechless. she is amazing.
can we somehow convince her to come to Canada? please?
Ro Halfhide is backing her up on drums in this video. i don't know why he pops up in all of my videos. probably because he's the founder of the Amsterdam Songwriters Guild, which is, by the way, one of the best things i've discovered since moving to Amsterdam.
in one day, i head off to germany, on a mini-tour by myself to Cologne and Hamburg. in ten days, i move back to Canada (sob). in fifteen days, i turn 25 (nooooooo....)
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