When we arrived at the Vooruit after a short dash from the Flemish opera house an acquaintance told us that last night's Woven Hand show had been a special affair. In the publicity it had been announced that the setlist would consist of songs written for the Ultima Vez performances Blush, Sonic Boom and Puur. Well, that didn't seem to be the case. It was a regular set. Which is a good thing because no songs have probably been written especially for these productions. Some were used in them or reworked for them. What was special was the rendition of the songs. Very precise and loud with a perfect sound. So with high expectations we entered the Vooruit's beautiful theatre (not the main concert hall).

Unfortunately our hopes were soon crushed. The three Woven Handers were quite a long way from the edge of the stage. A safe distance behind the P.A. With the exception of one quiet song, the sound that came booming from said P.A. was loud (okay) and also rather distorted (NOT okay). Only that one song sounded brilliant. Sorry to say, the rest didn't. But the band was not to blame for this. The trinity seemed to be concentrated and self-assured but we just didn't hear the sound they heard on stage and the show that was in their heads. We just heard the distortion and it was impossible to “listen beyond that”. The set-up was perfect for a great show, but alas! In medieval Gent a medieval punishment for the man behind the mixing desk seemed to be in order for ruining this part of the evening. Bring back the pillory or just quarter him! ;-)

What went before was the performance of Puur at the opera house. This was the third Vandekeybus show we've seen and his signature was easy to recognise: the physicality, falling, running, jumping into each other's arms or backs, spitting, nudity and speaking in different languages. The scene in which sticks were thrown (and caught, not an unimportant detail) looked great. There were several other inventive and great looking scenes. For instance the one in which a woman was literally thrown around for quite a while by five men with her face sometimes missing the ground by an inch. Very impressive.

There was more dancing than in Blush and Sonic Boom and some of the movements looked beautiful and you couldn't help but admire the physical strength of the dancers, especially of the woman holding up men for a long time. The old tubby Ghostbusters fellow (you'll get the Ghostbusters remark when you see the show ;-), Tone Brulin had his comical moments, especially when sneering at the dancers in Flemish.

All in all it was quite a happening. But perhaps the show is more about style and form than about content. And speaking about the content, the story, so we read, is based on King Herod. Well, the infanticide part was obvious. But when you're in Belgium and you see children locked up in a basement the name Dutroux is the first that comes to mind.

Like in previous shows Vandekeybus made sure that it was quite a spectacle. Puur lasted about two hours and there was always something to see that looked interesting. Usually there were several things going on at the same time. Vandekeybus sure has an eye for what looks good onstage. Like in Blush he also used film. In which David Eugene Edwards plays a confused man speaking in a made-up language attacking the old tubby Ghostbuster in a house, with Edwards being outside. Later he himself got attacked by grasshoppers. We expected that some grasshopper would take the route of the frog in Blush (Fear Factor style) but that didn't happen. Three 16 Horsepower/ Woven Hand songs were used in the show. Among them a solo version of Horse Head, To Make A Ring and Silver Saddle (with the appropriate line: "We hear the locust rasp back and forth."). Most of the songs had been reworked or remixed.

Some people left the theatre amazed by the spectacle and full of admiration for the dancers. Some grumpy old men thought it was only eye-candy that ultimately left their stomachs and hearts empty. Well some people...

By TYFC