Closure

Well, what can i say? About the Scritti Politti gig last thursday in Paradiso, Amsterdam. It was:

I met Marco on the train in Leiden, together we went to Amsterdam, where we had a meeting with German fans in de Balie aroun 17.00. I bought their tickets, so i was pretty sure they were going to be there. After a couple of De Konincks they arrived. We had a quick dinner (i had the fish curry), and then it was already 7.25, so we headed to the Paradiso, which was just a 100 meters away. The first surprise was outside pasted on the wall. A scritti poster! Pictures required ofcourse. At the counter we had to buy a membership card, and then we walked into the Paradiso. It was real quiet in there, being the ungodly early hour of 7.30. But there were already more people coming in. (One had a big cardboard envelope the size of a vinyl record.. hmm...) I walked upstairs to the small hall, where i saw Rhodri, the keyboard player, standing at the bar. I just said a quick hello, ordered some beer. That beertender really needs a 'afschuimer'! I dont know the english word for it, its the small tool you use to wipe the excess foam of a beer, a concept quite alien to the british.

I noticed a girl with pink hair, i had seen her in de Balie, where she walked out pretty fast. She turned out to be Karren, who i had talked to before over email. We had a little chat, and whoah, Green entered the room. I sorta watched from a distance, saw some old Cupid & Psyche and Provision albums being signed. Not my type of thing really, not that kinda fetishist.

Decided to walk up to the front, where i had a little chat with a dutch girl who was there just by chance. The crowd was quite mixed, but i guess the average age was 30-40 years. But still, some young people there too. I'm not sure what the time was when they started playing, but it was close to 20.00. I still have to get used to the songs, its so different being at a live gig as opposed to listening to music safely at home with no distractions. I dont' have a favourite yet, but sofar i like the uptempo songs better than the slow ones. The one that has a habit of sticking in my mind is Robin Hood. Jesus keep your love away form me Definitely singalong. If you want to see/hear for yourself, just check out the videos.

It was over too soon. Even two encores were not enough. But yeah, that was it. I chatted some more with Karren, and also talked a little with Alys, Green's girlfriend. Whe Green came up, i finally managed to ask for a picture, which Alys took. To me thats just so embarrasing, but at the same time, it does mean something. Its just weird this confrontation between a private and public world. Glad i had the nerve to ask, but its not like i'm gonna hang this picture on the wall or something. On the contrary, i can hardly watch it.

Things were heading to a close, the hall was emptying. I was preparing myself for maybe a last drink somewhere and than go home. Karren said she was going to dinner with the band and said we might join too. I wasn't really believing that, but we waited for a bit. Suddenly Green came up and asked us where this restaurant was they were going to eat. And yeah, if we wanted to join? Not something i had to think about for a long time, so there we went to a really nice Turkish restaurant just a few minutes away from the Paradiso. It was pinchtime!

Looking back now, a couple of days later, hangoverfree. What can i say? An evening for the books, or better even, this website. And some pictures to prove it. ****big smile****


Scritti poster on the wall Paradiso
A Scritti poster on the wall!
Michael, Marco, Ulrich, Ernst
Michael, Marco, Ulrich, German friend, Ernst
Karren, Sean, Ernst
Sean, Ernst and Karren
On our way to dinner
Standing outside the Paradiso waiting to go to the restaurant
Green and well.. me
Green and ehh... me... (and German guy)