Eline: ‘So Bjorn, why don’t you do the review then? ‘ Me: ‘Oh yeah, I might be able to do that. Would be nice to get out of this hellish writer’s block.’ Eline: ‘You could do a Brieview if you want, doesn’t have to be that long.’ Me: ‘No way, it was far too nice to fit into a Brieview.’ |
I have to say though that I might have it sound like my life was/is an endless stream of bad stuff. It’s not. A lot of it is really nice. And it will get nicer, I’m confident of that. Which leads me nicely to the actual review part.
One of the nice constants in my life is going to gigs, exploring and enjoying new music, etc.. Seeing shows in the livingroom of Mr. Ashtoreth himself, Peter Verwimp, is something that I immensely enjoy. Peter and Anja host the Palazzo Sessions for several years now and each one I went to was something truly special. It doesn’t even matter who’s playing, or whatever genre they’re playing. You know you will be surprised, intrigued, immersed and entertained on a very high level that very few shows achieve.
The line-up of the night consisted of some familiar faces (Sitka, Stratosphere and Misantronics), someone who I wasn’t yet familiar with (Distant Fires Burning) and the second ever show of the newly formed Synchyse, which I was very curious about.


Tonight the set he played was rather restrained and minimal. Subtle percussive beats, oscillating synths, rumbling rushing noise deep in the background and laden with samples of playing children and what sounded like broadcasts in German. What I like most though is that Misantronics sounds ‘wrong’. And I mean that in the best way possible. Sometimes slightly out of tune, sometimes a bit broken. I’m sure this is deliberate and I hope Serge never stops doing it.
I left Peter’s home, riding my bike accompanied by some light drizzle, some strong winds and the gloomy streetlights of Antwerp’s cheerless periphery road. Normally that would bother me to no end, but not tonight. I was still too elated from witnessing a truly special show. Plus, I knew it would put me in the proper mood to try and actually write something again...
Bjorn