DUTCH COURAGE: The Ex, First Unitarian Church, December 14
SIMONE SECCI, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, REPORTS: Before talking about the show, I just would like to say how was weird and different for me as a European, going to a show here in Philly expecially an all ages show, where pretty much nobody was drinking and smoking weed, which is what the majority of the people do in Europe at shows. Cultural shock! Anyway first to be on the stage is this folk rock singer which I’m not exactly sure about the name, but I think was Billy Petersen, whose songs the youngest part of the people seem to know but they don’t really impress me so much. Don?t get me wrong, his songs are good and straight but not enough to be remembered. Let?s say that in the same genre is so much better to go back to a good old Billy Bragg?s record or if you want an American, a 90?s John Doe?s record. Then ALOHA came on stage which deserve just one word comment: Amazing! Their music is one of the most interesting and good things came out from the most recent indie rock scene, great skill in creating rhythms from all these different sources such as Latin American or Afro beats, or good old straight indie rock driving and fuse them with the pop melodies of the guitars that also know how to switch register in distorted great old Dinosaur Jr. riffs when they need to. Third to be on the stage is DJ RUPTURE whom surprise and entertain the crowd with a mix of new hip hop, the usual dub, electro and drum and bass rhythmic bases and some weird pop samples like the voice of Tracy Chapman. Not bad. Last, and anxiously waited, THE EX. Let?s say that you can totally hear that they have been around for so long. In their 40s, looking like normal Dutch tourists, they shake the pillars of this holy place with their unstoppable axe-guitar sound so furious it barely let you feel the mantra of the declaiming voice of the singer, and the martial precision of the the drum patterns which don’t even let you save a little time to breathe. From the begin to the end they don’t even bore for a second. I feel sorry for those that weren?t there.