Dranouter Aan Zee: a modest success

With a turnout of some 9.000 people on Saturday and just as many on Sunday, thanks in part to the lovely weather, the first edition of "Dranouter Aan Zee" (a seaside version of the Dranouter folk festival) went rather well.

De Panne seemed all set for it. The Esplanade beach promenade looked like some kind of fair: food and drink-stalls, children's entertainment, a brass band moving around, stages for young, new talent and lots of people sitting outside having a drink. For many people a day at the seaside thus inadvertently turned into a festival visit. The tent where the concerts took place was on the beach. The sea, however, was not within easy reach, because it was outside of the festival site perimeter. Too bad for those who wanted to nip out to the water in between gigs.

Saturday's bill turned out to be rather unfortunate. The Belgian (rock) band Stash was not a surprising choice, and neither was the fact that they played right before Woven Hand. Leading man Gunther Verspecht once covered 16 Horsepower's Black Soul Choir and Belgian magazine Humo recently compared his (dark) lyrics to those of Nick Cave and David Eugene Edwards (with or without good reason). The fact that even Stash, the most popular Belgian band at the moment, could only half fill the tent was not a very good sign. Only the sounds of Sadness, the band's biggest hit, could lure the people momentarily away from their sunbathing.

David Eugene Edwards and Woven Hand were announced on stage under a clear blue sky and warm spring sunshine. Tin Finger powerfully opened the set. Edwards was bursting with energy and threatening thunder clouds gathered in the tent while young kids kept on playing in the sand, unaware of it all. The proverbial hellfire however did not manifest itself! The fact that the tent was less than half filled did not go unnoticed by Edwards. He didn't exactly look very cheerful or high-spirited, also because his creaking microphone was almost inaudible all the while. "Go into the Lords house!" he howled, but at whom? Peter van Laerhoven, the new Belgian guitar player, did his job, but clearly was still a bit ill at ease. A good and solid version of Your Russia brought Edwards as well as the devoted fans in ecstasy. The bar stool hit the floor and he finished the song standing up. The heavy electric sound Woven Hand produced was at the very least surprising. It proves once again that David Eugene Edwards is a great artist.

The flowers, offered by the organisers, clearly put the singer off guard. "What is this in aid of?", you could see him thinking. Were he and his band mates perhaps also wondering what they were doing here? Woven Hand should have been playing in the local church at midnight and not on this stage. Gabriel Rios and El Tattoo Del Tigre are the ones who belong here. Why they were not on the bill, beats me.

West Flanders' Flip Kowlier filled the attractively lit tent effortlessly, which was no real surprise. Outside it had cooled down significantly meanwhile and Kowlier managed to wake up the audience little by little with his up-tempo songs and in-between-song chat. There was no time left, unfortunately, to go and see Ray Davies, the legendary Kinks front man. But no doubt he also gave it his all.

by Bert

I was curious about the first concert of David Eugene Edwards after the break up. It seemed to be that the 'divorce' gave new force to him. There was a lot more energy on stage compared to the concerts of November 2004.

Ordy Garrison played his drums with passion and David had little compassion with the audience. He was on the mission tour. He was spreading the gospel with al his senses. His fingers were hitting the guitar (unfortunately, just the banjo in Straw Foot); his eyes were hitting the viewers and his mouth was very outspoken. It looked like a kind of relief. He seems to be freed from the limitations of 16hp. Maybe he didn't have to take in account the opinions of Jean Yves Tola and Pascal Humbert?

In fact, in Chest of Drawers, he teased his old mates by singing about God "He takes no pleasure in the strength of sixteen horses". Compared to the text on the CD, this clue was remarkable. In Chest of Drawers he is using a few lines of Psalm 147. By using the line of the concert, it looked like the son who made a decision that brought him nearer to his Father. Did he sing the same line on the other gigs in May?

by Jan