In a mock elevated tone the announcer was misquoting Black Soul Choir to introduce David Eugene Edwards. No word about Daniel McMahon. "Straight from the South of the States. Here is the son of a preacher man". Well, wrong on both counts. And that must have amused David. Just as the host was starting to speak about a tormented soul struggling with good vs. evil, David walked on stage and laughingly dismissed those cliché's with a casual throwaway gesture and a hammed up "can't they come up with something original" look which made sure he had the laugh on his side. Exit the presenter.

Enter Woven Hand. Both David and a very severe looking Daniel McMahon played acoustic guitar and mandolin. David also played what might possibly perhaps be a banjola, maybe. Or maybe not. Daniel played keyboards as well. Sometimes making those organ noises you, or I at least, associate with (ice) hockey arenas. But that was only in between songs. Besides a drum machine they also used a chirp and twitter machine. The warbling of birds could be heard repeatedly. No banjo or bandoneon as during previous solo or duo performances.

Highlights of the evening were My Russia, Phyllis Ruth, Golden Rope and Red Is Grace. My Russia is firmly founded on monumental organ lines. It is heavy, dramatic and big in the best sense of those words. Though David is not papistically inclined, I would call this Catholic drama. That's one thing that you have to give the Roman Catholic Church, a knack for decoration and theatre. The rendering of Phyllis Ruth, during which we were introduced to her twin sister(?) Phyllis Ann, was particularly intense (watch those eyes roll and blink). Slow, chock-full of tension with a menacing drone in the background. Golden Rope was stark, solemn and powerful. My eyes as empty as my Saviour's tomb (for the nitpickers: that's how he sang it tonight :-) remains one of my all-time favourite lines. The hymn-like Red Is Grace is just church organ and David's voice. And some camp acting. And the first two elements are enough to impress.

The new material is a logical next step (song wise, lyrically and sonically) after Secret South, a sequel. Which means that some songs are very good. And some, unfortunately, are not :-). This continuation also implies more overt religious lyrics (I am nothing without His ghost within/How great Thou art/Thy will be done/Thy kingdom come) and a smoother 100% swamp-free sound.

When using the adjective "light-hearted" to describe any performance David is a part of, it can only be used absolutely relatively. And keeping that in mind tonight's show can be called more airily than that of last night in Amsterdam. Despite the muscles from Brussels, the overzealous security (who would seem more in their element in a penal institution. Working there or being incarcerated. I'll leave that an open question :-) the atmosphere was more relaxed. Probably because the Ancienne Belgique is not such a formal and imposing place as the Amsterdam Stadsschouwburg. Instead of the latter venue the Ancienne Belgique is not bums-in-seats only. Here the faithful stood close to the stage, flocked together. They had made a dash for the stage, like shoppers rushing into Harrod´s when it opens its doors on the first day of sales, the very second the author who was on before Woven hand had uttered the last word of his reading. David was cutting jokes. Holding himself up to ridicule when he had inadvertently plugged his instrument into Daniel's amp. Teasingly stopping the intro to The Good Hand Upon Me(?) to let the audience confirm that they liked it. In brief there was more interaction. And because the pauses between the songs were shorter (less tuning and fiddling) there was more of a natural flow. All in all, it was a better show than in Amsterdam.

Which leaves the question whether this show would have been better in a 16 Horsepower setting. It would have been more powerful of course. A song like Something Always(?) lacked energy, made little impact, but that's because it is to weak to stand on its own feet. With a band it still wouldn't be a good song. An acoustic, more or less, solo performance can be as powerful as a band in front of a stack of Marshall amps turned up to eleven. There's place for both. And hopefully there's place for Woven Hand and 16 Horsepower. Which means alternating necklaces. The cross for Woven Hand and the horseshoe (the absence of which has led Kremlin-watchers to deduce or fear for the end of the band) for 16 Horsepower.

By Martin

PS Wayfaring Stranger was performed twice tonight. Once by Woven Hand. And once, later on, by Giant Sand, with David watching from the wings.

Click here to read a (translated) review by Belgian newspaper De Morgen.