Happiness in Brugge, April 24th, 2003 Belgium
By Hans K.E. from the Netherlands.
Before the concert I had dinner at one of the many restaurants and bistro's
situated on the square called: 't Zandt (yes, the sand). When sitting at the
table having dinner you can't help wondering which people are coming to the
concert or are just passers-by. In this case it's hard to tell, no long lines of
screaming fans or such. The Concertgebouw is a sharp contrast to the medieval
appearance of the town Brugge itself, but it showed to be a good place for
Happiness. When entering the concerthall all I saw on stage was a keyboard and
some electronics on the floor. Having read on laurieanderson.com (new window):
"Laurie Anderson will continue to tour "Happiness" in performing arts centers
in the Far East & Europe. This solo work features stories and simple, mainly acoustic
instruments".
So I expected the "wood" would come during the performance,
but it didn't. But the stuff on stage was good enough, no doubt about it! It had no
trouble at all filling the big concerthall with beautiful sounds. No distortion
or vibrating of loose parts of any kind. Good work of "the German"!
For two hours we sat listening to the stories in their musical frames...
This is what I like most of Laurie's work, like I found on US Live I to IV which
I discovered sometime during the 80's. Triggered by the single "O Superman" like so many people I quess.
To anyone in doubt of going to this concert: go!
Thanks to Angelika for having me on this website.
hkleinentink@yahoo.com
"- Uh, Hans, it's a pleasure! Thank you! :-)"
