Tivoli, Utrecht, The Netherlands20th of February 2009
Rapalje
It was time for the annual Celtic Folk Night. This time it was only Rapalje but that was more than enough of course. Usually at Rapalje concerts the same people turn up but this evening there were many new faces. A great chance for the band to impress them and gain some new fans. Of course there also were some die hard fans.
Music & performance
It was not as busy as I expected but the atmosphere was good. People were excited to see their favourite band on a normal stage again. Rapalje has been and will be touring theatres. The band had some trouble because of this. They have been playing so many theatre gigs with mostly slow(er) songs that they could not remember all the lyrics to the faster songs. Luckily the audience was happy to assist them and they all sung along loudly. The set started with a few slower songs to get the audience started. One of these songs was 'In Search of the Rose' which according to the band was about the microphone of Dieb.
Then the band told us that now that they finally have an audience that is standing and can dance it was time for some dancing songs. “Wat Zullen We Drinken” was one of these songs. The audience almost knew more lyrics than the band, causing a lot of laughter. The song was closed by Dieb and David playing the melody on small flutes. Maceal was being teased about being old all through the night. He started it himself by leaning on the pole of the tea chest bass like an old man and telling us about their new old folks bus.
When it was time for 'Caledonia' William was not alone. He sang the song with Eva tonight. It may not have been perfectly sung but it was a good combination of voices an charm. Eva was clearly nervous but who knows, she might be brave enough to do it again after this successful performance. During the evening the dance enthusiasm spread from the first row to the entire venue.
It was not as busy as I expected but the atmosphere was good. People were excited to see their favourite band on a normal stage again. Rapalje has been and will be touring theatres. The band had some trouble because of this. They have been playing so many theatre gigs with mostly slow(er) songs that they could not remember all the lyrics to the faster songs. Luckily the audience was happy to assist them and they all sung along loudly. The set started with a few slower songs to get the audience started. One of these songs was 'In Search of the Rose' which according to the band was about the microphone of Dieb.
Then the band told us that now that they finally have an audience that is standing and can dance it was time for some dancing songs. “Wat Zullen We Drinken” was one of these songs. The audience almost knew more lyrics than the band, causing a lot of laughter. The song was closed by Dieb and David playing the melody on small flutes. Maceal was being teased about being old all through the night. He started it himself by leaning on the pole of the tea chest bass like an old man and telling us about their new old folks bus.
When it was time for 'Caledonia' William was not alone. He sang the song with Eva tonight. It may not have been perfectly sung but it was a good combination of voices an charm. Eva was clearly nervous but who knows, she might be brave enough to do it again after this successful performance. During the evening the dance enthusiasm spread from the first row to the entire venue.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 8 (7,9)
Photography and copyright: Monica Duffels - www.mooninvirgo.nl
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