A David Eugene Edwards show isn't a feast in the true sense of the word. The Sixteen Horsepower singer seldom is light-hearted. He doesn't meddle with the audience, during the whole show he sits on a chair or stool and plays with an enormous intensity.

Woven Hand is the name of a project, as an excursion during Sixteen Horsepower's self-imposed rest. But the reality is that his fellow band members wanted to distance themselves temporarily from Edwards' lyrics, in which religion (on the recent Woven Hand CD he continually refers to Scripture texts) plays an increasingly prominent part. Edwards' starting point is that man is a sinner. The American seems to look for redemption through music. To sin. That is the main theme in his lyrics. The music is heavy as lead, a horrible mixture of country-blues and folk, matches his words.

That Edwards obtains a hearing is evident from the fact that last night Woven Hand performed before a full house in the small hall of 013. Although, above all things, the Woven Hand songs sound heavy (also because of the howling sound of the harmonium) it is too simple to conclude that those present were consciously looking for musical torment. Edwards' charm is that he's playing music passionately. It is of no consequence what others (God at best) want from him. Words like modest, melancholy, fragile, vulnerable and splendour were in place on 013. At most a few times the four band members broke through the restrained tempo and the roll of drums and guitarplaying hung like a thundercloud over the stage. Even then the melancholy remained.

The headstrong sound that Edwards produces with both Sixteen Horsepower and Woven Hand, envelops him like a second skin. Sometimes that is worrisome. On stage there was a man with a mission that chiefly pertained to himself. There's no longer room for slightly airy melodies that did appear on the early Sixteen Horsepower albums. Edwards hardly grants himself any relief.

No matter how beautiful the songs may be, the image of the tormented man sometimes seemed pathetic. Listening to Edwards, and taking stock of all the misery in this world, the question rises: surely God didn't mean it this way.