A full 4 minutes of thundering applause, screaming and whistling followed. This was truly an impressive moment.

First let me apologize for the lack of pictures to accompany this report. Let’s just say that of all the evenings I had technical problems (damn card readers…) on the worst thinkable moment. Right before the show my two memory cards refused to work. This was particularly painful to me because I could vividly remember the last time I had seen Roisin Murphy (with Moloko at Sonne, Mond & Sterne 2003) and I was preparing to capture her charismatic appearance on film this time.

It was not to be so. However… This did give me the ‘freedom’ to keep my attention to the music and not be distracted by trying to get my shutter-time exactly right and other technical issues I usually think about during events like these.

In hindsight it was a blessing in disguise. A concert like this is best enjoyed with no distractions. I listened to the concerts without earplugs (forgot them again…) and it was one of the best experiences I’ve had in Paradiso in a long time.

For the occasion Roisin was accompanied by 3 horn players, an electric guitar player, a drummer, a bass player (who dubbed as keyboard player AND as warm-up dj) and a guy playing a VST keyboard and controlling Ableton Live. The first samples from the laptop where greeted with much enthusiasm and as soon as Roisin appeared, holding a large flashlight dressed in a black outfit with a huge cape and a top hat, the crowd went wild. The first half hour of the show the atmosphere remained charged with the audience’s enthusiasm. The first tones of “Sow into you” were greeted with roaring cheers and whistles and every track was followed by a lot of applause. This reminded me why I like going to concerts. At concerts people aren’t afraid to clap and cheer, something I miss dearly in today’s ‘dance’ scene. Show some love people! It won’t hurt you and it will sure as hell make the show more worthwhile.

On stage I noticed Roisin was sometimes using two microphones simultaneously. One was just there for amplifying her voice, the other was used to sample bits of her voice and at one point even an old-fashioned alarm clock into Ableton Live. I actually am beginning to wonder if there are still live acts left that do not use Live, I’ve been seeing it used everywhere and by everybody lately. But I’m not complaining. It definitely worked. At one point she was singing over a sample of her own voice and it sounded amazing.

She still had that touch of eccentric madness in the way she moved across the stage, although at times I questioned the authenticity of this. The way she fell out of her role when some audience members in the front row made her laugh, followed by the way she regained herself just before she sang a line was suspect to say the least.

The tap sequence she did, including the change of shoes to go with it, was great. I think I heard her sampled voice singing: tap your feet. This could just as well have been: clap your feet, since everybody in the audience was clapping at this point. After a particularly striking bass solo with Roisin singing over it the band played Ruby Blue which of course caused a lot of cheers of recognition in the audience. She put on the headdress she wore at Lowlands especially for this track. And then the band stopped.

A full 4 minutes of thundering applause, screaming and whistling followed. This was truly an impressive moment. The band returned and the encore seemed to have satisfied many of the audience members judging by their reactions to the band leaving the stage for the second time. I guess most people were either exhausted, or planning their next move into the (for once) active nightlife of Amsterdam.

I truly think that this show is not done justice by the label ‘dance’. This goes beyond dance. I hope that one day our top 40 charts will be filled with music like this. And as for Roisin Murphy; she is even stronger without Moloko. Forget idols, she IS the X-factor.

Report by: TR-909

More info: www.roisinmurphy.com / www.paradiso.nl