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Radio interview with Bent taped before the show (possibly only available until Thursday 24.10.)
Thanks for the great report, Martin! Another "Starhammer"…oh my! Glad you guys got a great last show
Motorpsycho returns to the small Dutch town of Hengelo near the German border, where they have performed only once in 1993 (captured on a legendary soundboard tape which has been circulating among collectors since the 90s). A moderate crowd comprised of German and old school local fans attends this gig on a windy Friday night. We get a well balanced, comperatively compact show. Bent mentions having a cold. There are only two jams tonight that break radically new ground, most notably a 21 minute version of "Mountain" with a second jam that feels floydish first before they travel into Kraut Rock territory, aking to the synth pieces of Ash Ra Tempel. They would explore more of these krauty soundscapes in "The Tower", wich features a sublime improv that Jero aptly described as "underwater music", a vibrating mood piece of experimental music. Despite this being the penultime show of the tour the band is undaunted to introduce more material so we get the tour debut of "The Wheel" to the delight of the entire crowd, this being a song or at least a riff everyone seems to remember. This version focuses on the mighty build-up but has little else in terms of ornate embroidery. In addition to the jam highlights the show has a good setlist flow up until "The Tower", particularly following the laid back acoustic set with a jazzy "Song For A Bro" works very well, although, unfortunately, they don't take "Song For A Bro" for a long walk, this is fairly tame and contained version. Also, they play a beautiful and tender version of "Up Down", but a rather petty take on "Jig" the best of which being a direct segue into the opening notes of "The Wheel". The encore "Fool's Gold" finds the whole room listening respectfully, complete silence during the last moments of it before Bent, Snah, Tomas and Reine say good-bye sending us into the dark and deserted night of Hengelo.
Somewhat uneven show suffering from slightly blurred sound but with thrilling moments of brilliant well-developped improv and a long funky jam.
Coming from Leipzig the night before where we enjoyed an outstanding sound Festsaal provided a bit of a let down in the sound department. "Year Zero" kicks things off reliably intense before we get the two bird songs "Mockingbird" and "Cuckoo" back to back, the latter with a little jam tagged onto its tail-end. "Mad Sun" features an electric guitar tonight — as opposed to an all acoustic arrangement the previous night — and it works a lot better that way. The second jam in "Pacific Sonata" is the first distinct highlight of this concert, the band diving head first into a rthythmic, mindbending, almost tekknoid piece of insane intensity and perfection. They would continue to showcase their jamming chops with a brilliant version of "Starhammer" which totally slayed the brilliant version played the night before with a high octane chaotic jam part which features several distinct movements. These days it seems as if every version of "Starhammer" is the best they have performed yet. The Berlin "Starhammer" is a perfect example of how great they have become at improvising. They manage to pack these pockets of improv in their sets with fully developped extremely versatile ideas. More of this magic happens later in the "The Tower", also an exciting version. The long "Spinwash" seguefest delivers the funk in spades, it goes deep, dark, far out and spacey, with a well-rounded and long version of "Halleluwah".
A fantastic and mindblowing night at Conne Island! In what might have been my first genuine 3h show the band was on fire throughout, despite Tomas being sick. And though this concert didn't feature an outstanding long jam highlight like the 2017 Conne Island "Lacuna/Sunrise" or the 2010 Conne Island "Arne H" (both of course immortalized on "Roadworks") everything was performed with precision, consistency and a lot of extra sauce.
The improvisational highlights: It took them almost an hour before they would first cover uncharted territory with a very unusal jam on "August", taking it down and getting quiet all the way. Next up was a "Mountain"-jam the way I have never heard it before, effortlessly slipping into "PPP"-like sounds for a while before resuming and then they also extended the final bang. Wow! My notes simply say "THIS MOUNTAIN!!!". The next jam highlight was a stellar, intergalactic version of "Starhammer" and finally a sick Crimson-esque excursion in "Tower".
Other highlights included "Granny", a nasty "Bonny Lee", the oddly placed but rocking "For Madmen Only", a rearranged acoustic "On My Pillow" and an emotional and überepic ending with "Fool's Gold".
The sound was fantastic. The band played with precision, even in the shredding parts, which I loved. Though loud, but not too loud, the sound and show was less of an onslaught as some of the sets that I caught in the spring.
Many traveling fans in attendance, a very quiet audience, lots of tapers and a radio truck. Conne Island remains a treat! Thank you Leipzig and Motorpsycho.
See you in Berlin tonight!
Looks like this was "California (I'm so sold)"? Also "Chien" tour debut! Another great set, fairly mellow and psychedelic on paper.
Just wow! Another new song, "Bonny Lee", a genuine seguefest and an unusally placed "Year 0" make this look so tasty!
Sounds like my type of night! We are headed straight into their best territory — little leftfield place in Belgium tonight. Bound to be another sure shot highlight.
