Wim Vandekeybus has excellent taste. Ultima Vez' choreographer previously asked David Byrne and Marc Ribot to compose music for a show and last year he popped the question to David Eugene Edwards. He is the singer of 16 Horsepower and Woven Hand and together with that last band he took care of the sound to the Blush show. Sunday night the Ancienne Belgique witnessed a live performance by the Woven hand formation and it resulted into a pleasant concert.

The support act turned out to be superb as well: the Dutch band At The Close Of Every Day played in the vein of Low and Sparklehorse, but with a much lighter texture. The threesome disposed of a whole range of clever songs. Their CD Zalig de armen van geest is certainly worth the discovery.

David Eugene Edwards might have become famous with 16 Horsepower, apparently a different name does not stop him from completely selling out the Ancienne Belgique. Woven Hand essentially is Edwards' solo outing. It stands to reason just to what extent the band is merely a different vehicle (in addition to 16 Horsepower) for Edwards's ideas and songs. The difference between both in terms of sound, for instance, is minimal and some members of Woven Hand moreover join 16 Horsepower live. The second CD with the music to the Vandekeybus-piece Blush is in the shops since this weekend and may truly be called a gem. It contains a series of adaptations of songs from the first Woven Hand-CD and a number of instrumentals. Sunday's play list consisted primarily of those songs supplemented with a large amount of atmospheric sounds.

The evening started off with 'White Bird', where the bass player ominously brushed the big drum and Edwards leaned towards his audience like a possessed storyteller. The man from Colorado sang most of the set through an old microphone that gave a gritty retro sound to the whole thing. Edwards represents an authentic atmosphere in which a mythical past filled with heaven and hell plays a big part. This devotion to history is further expressed by the whole range of antique guitars, mandolins and banjos he plays. Daniel McMahon's organ may also rightly be called a museum piece, but the feeling created by those vintage instruments is indispensable to Woven Hand's music. It possesses an old-fashioned flair without sounding winded, which was nicely demonstrated by a passionate version of 'My Russia (Standing On Hands)' one of the songs off the Blush Music-CD.

The set contained almost all of the songs we know of Woven Hand, including a very powerful 'Blue Pail Fever'. Equally magnificent was 'Story And Pictures', the song that provided the name for the dance-project. Edwards furthermore skilfully played slide guitar in 'Aeolian Harp (Under The World)'. Just one encore, which was 'Beyond The Pale' [sic] off the most recent 16 Horsepower-record Folklore. The audience jumped to its feet for a standing ovation, upon which the singer thanked us and quickly made the sign of the cross, like a Brazilian striker after a golden goal.

Review
Who: Woven Hand
When and where: Ancienne Belgique, Sunday night February 9th
Our opinion: Woven Hand's music, a side-project of David Eugene Edwards, displays an old-fashioned flair, without sounding winded.

Translation by Lot.