Peter Murphy - Utrecht 2005

Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht, the Netherlands
July 23rd 2005
Peter Murphy, Sarah Fimm

At first this name Peter Murphy didn't mean that much to me except for that name in brackets placed behind his name: Bauhaus. Now I've never been a big fan of the music and I didn't even know it till I recently discovered it. All I could do is go to the concert presented to us by the organisation of the nice alternative music festival Summer Darkness (www.summerdarkness.nl). The concert took place in the small side venue of Tivoli: de Helling, which slowly filled up with some 250 people of all sorts and sizes, wearing everything form everyday attire, to 30's outfits to pvc outfits, seems like Peter Murphy is one size, fits all.

Where to start describing this lovely lady, who was speaking to the audience in a timid voice, almost apologizing for talking to them or even performing for them. Her music might best be described as a mix between Tori Amos and Björk which should right away tell you this was a very intense performance. Then you wonder: is this 'dark music', well who cares really, she was the support of a gothic icon Peter Murphy and she was damn good, so why not give her some special attention through this review?

Music
Like said before this was really Toi Amos and Björk put into a blender and that mixed with some secret ingredients. Sarah is joined on stage by a 2 man band: Pete Geraghty on bass and Jim Perry on drums. This together with the beautiful vocals of Sarah accompanying herself on her keyboard just gave the right feeling this music is supposed to give you. The songs played were not just some soft ballads but we were treated with some good up-tempo music and even a very impressive drum solo. Speaking of the drums, this music uses both normal drums as well as some well used electronic drums played on the drum pads located on drum kit. Let there be no doubt about Sarah's vocal abilities, she's a great singer with a very intense voice, sincere and emotional but at the same time powerful and fragile. She almost whispers when she talks to the audience, just like in her singing she sometimes makes you think she's whispering, making you part of her intimate stories and thoughts. If you really want to know her, check out some of her songs that are available at her website: www.sarahfimm.com. Do yourself a favour, even if this would normally not be your cup of tea and check her out, you might end up liking it just like we did. The sound during this show was good, the volume levels were kept relatively low which didn't matter and actually got you to focus more on the music. With a few instruments in the mix each one of them had plenty of spectrum to be heard clearly.

Performance
Okay this is where things get nasty if you expect a great show, there just isn't any. Sarah is situated at the very edge of the stage just in front of the audience. She is seated behind her keyboard and remains there for the entire concert. To the left of her we see her bass player who seems to be enjoying himself moving back and forth while playing, but it's the smile on his face that shows he's having a good time. On the right we see a silver sparkled drum kit with the very capable drummer behind it. He's mostly just playing but every now and then when he has to put in just a bit more effort his mellow look changes to determination, which results in some serious drumming. Sarah seems to be static, which might be the impression if you would see her on a big stage at some national festival, but right here at this small intimate venue, where you can be just centimetres away from her it's the details that count. Sarah shows her emotions to the lucky few in the audience, staring up at times, closed eyes, ending songs almost resting on her keyboard. When it comes to the interacting within the band things are no different than in all other aspects. No heavy interaction but just a subtle look at each other at times to co-ordinate the music or just for confidence. When it comes to interaction with the audience Sarah turns out to be a really soft and sweet person, almost to the point where you want to scream at her it's great to see her perform. She really enjoys the audience's attention and applause and shows her gratitude in her gestures and well considered words.Because it was the last show of her tour with Peter Murphy she dedicated 'Strange' to him and did show a lot of respect for his work and him as a person. It seemed like Peter Murphy, contrary to many artists, didn't limit Sarah's crew for the use of light. The light was very atmospheric with lots of smoke on stage shone upon with a lot of red, gold and blue lights. Sarah even introduced herself as Sarah in the smoke. The colourful background, which was exchanged with just some dark background during some of the very intimate songs, together with enough front lights to see her expressions made this a good example of what light should and could be like.

01. Story of us
02. Losing Velocity
03. Mercury
04. Be like water
05. Nexus
06. Sky is falling down
07. Strange
08. December
09. Song for Michelle

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8

Even though Bauhaus has reformed in the recent past Peter Murphy is still working on his solo career and that's just what brought him to Utrecht to end his world tour which led him through the USA, and some European countries. This man who has made quite a bit of influential music in the past with Bauhaus is here to prove Peter Murphy solo is something interesting as well, and indeed it was.

Music
When Peter entered the stage his band was already set with a guitarist (Mark Gemini Thwaite), and bass player (Jeff Schartoff) and a drummer (Justin Bennett) the band was able to put down the music of Peter Murphy. All I can say on their account is that they provided a solid basis for the vocals which to me were the most important musical ingredient of the concert. This voice of Peter Murphy reminds me of the old David Bowie; the Ziggy Stardust era, and he sure is in good shape. The setlist is a mix of old and new solo work as well as an occasional cover song. During one of the many encores Peter returned on stage to bring an ode to the audience by singing an acapella version of 'Cool Cool Breeze' which was highly appreciated by the audience. The setlist was quite long, especially because the band and Peter just didn't seem to be willing to leave the stage. The sound was just like at the Sarah Fimm show, low volume levels with a nice balance between the instruments. In the audience you actually could talk to each other if you disregard the fact that you would disturb the other visitors. A lounge concert with some fast and powerful songs with the sound set to match this atmosphere.

Performance
This is where the fun really starts, Peter is very extrovert and does love to show off on stage waving around his long blue coat or dancing from one end to the other. His dramatical performance further included occasional moments when he was facing the back of the stage or looking up to the ceiling. Halfway during the show Peter entered the stage with a bamboo stick which he used to walk with, support on or even make violent warrior like moves. During his show Peter tried to make a lot of personal contact with the audience, not just by looking people in the eye but also touching some fans which he seemed to recognise. With his very blonde hair and a special haircut he sure has this 'artist' look about him that suits his music well. During the show he decided to do a sort of a fashion show changing clothes between the encores as well as just taking off his shoes because he probably thought he should. The interaction within the band is pretty decent as well but it's mainly Peter who is running from Mark to Jeff to Justin and back. Maybe the stage was a bit too small and Peter's moves to big for the others to move around too. There were two special guest on stage during this show, first of all a starring role for the roadie who had to make sure the bass world be back up ad placing back a microphone at the drum kit, as well as returning the drum stick that was thrown to him to draw his attention. Second guest star was Sarah Fimm who did a duet with Peter, intense and emotional moves and to nicely complimentary voices made this song a real gem. The light show was flashy, many colours right after each other though nicely in sync with the music which gave it a very vivid show. Peter was almost always in the spotlights making it easy to see all his dramatic faces as well as his swift and lively moves.

Setlist
01. Glide
02. Piece of you
03. The first stone
04. Emergency unit
05. Fall with your knife
06. Deep ocean vast sea
07. Disappearing
08. The line between the devil's teeth
09. Huuvola  -> Duet met Sarah Fimm
10. Thelma sings to little nell
11. The weight of love
12. The sweetest drop
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13. Cool breeze
14. Hit song
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15. Lust for life
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16. Crystal wrists
17. Indigo Eyes

Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8