It probably is chance. But after the autumnal set of Dutch opening act At The Close Of Every Day, very much moulded by Dutch reformed faith but devoid of the urge to convert, you suddenly hear some things in a different light. When 16 Horsepower-leader David Eugene Edwards exchanges the guitar for the antique squeezebox, he knows how to unearth a sound that is very reminiscent of the harmonium, the pre-eminent instrument in Dutch reformed sitting-rooms.

Melancholy appeared to be the dominant emotion during At The Close Of Every Day's set, for 16 Horsepower it still is thunder and lightning. No Christian hallelujah whatsoever. Especially Edwards, grandson of an itinerant Methodist preacher, realizes very well that the bible doesn't only contain good news, but also hell, damnation, murder, manslaughter, fire-and-brimstone sermons, incest and other subjects which form excellent raw material for an artist. However, he who isn't aware of Edwards' religious conviction, can relate to his work just as well.

He puts a howling emotion in his voice, a hefty intensity that is made even heftier when he uses the 'slide' to make his guitar strings cry. The thing is that, on closer and more frequent examination, it seems to become a trick more and more. Edwards learned from Blind Willy Johnson and many other great predecessors, especially in the field of blues, that a well used, howling slide-guitar represents a heavy, almost demonic intensity. With that you give messages of salvation and those of doom an effective double layer. So: slide away!

The way he sings still resembles the way Jeffrey Lee Pierce sang, who in his lifetime drew from similar sources. The rural chord he strikes when he exchanges the guitar for the banjo or the bandoneon is welcome, but when the devilish idea of a trick has settled at the back of the listener's mind it is not easy to get rid of. Yet, on previous visits to Leeuwarden and Groningen, Edwards succeeded in rising above that notion, displaying a great deal of intensity. Last night that didn't work, but only just. But well, even the most enthusiastic reverend sometimes preaches a not so inspired sermon.

And here's the TYFC review of this show.