Both the album and the live show are like a kiss from your sister: nice, but not what really you wish for.

Maybe it's me, but Woven Hand just doesn't do it for me, though there are certainly some very nice and good tracks on the album. I think it has something to do with the 'colour' of the songs being very much alike. At least to me, it's that way.

So, the last show in The Netherlands, in a provincial town in the south, before they're off for Scandinavia. I guess I was in some luck, as it was probably the longest show so far, reaching the 90 minutes mark. Most of this due to David Eugene Edwards playing a handful of songs solo, among which, I think at least 3 or 4 16 Horsepower songs: Straw Foot, Wayfaring Stranger (yeah, I know it's a traditional ;-) and a twisted Black Soul Choir, and with twisted I mean that the music was different... different picking of the banjo strings and perhaps there's some new lines here and there... not sure.

But back to the Woven Hand part of the show. What I noticed first was how packed the stage was... band members nearly had to jump over amplifiers to reach their positions! :-) Same faces on the first row, as always ;-) I think the band members were well adjusted and acquainted with each other... very well rehearsed. David's position to the right of the stage was nice. To me, the four members of the band came across as a band on its own and not just as three people supporting David Eugene Edwards. The drumming now and then was a bit too loud, drowning out the other (acoustic) instruments, but this could vary, depending on your position in front of the speakers.

You know, some songs should never ever be covered. Ain't No Sunshine is such a song *sigh*. Like on the record, I find the Woven Hand songs all breathe the same air, which makes it kind of dull after a while. The highlight of this section was definitely 'Story and Pictures'.

In the end, if it hadn't been for the rather large David-solo section, it would have been a night soon to be forgotten by me. Next please.

By Reno

I went to this concert without having heard the album and my last 16hp live-experience being Pinkpop 2000. A couple of minutes into the Woven Hand concert I realized that this was probably the best way to be introduced to Dave Eugene Edwards' new project: with an open mind and no preconceptions.

Listening in with this attitude, I found that Dave has been able to make some remarkable new songs and to find a sound for them that has less of the apocalyptic 16hp-doomsday trappings and more of a musing and spiritual feel. In this context the instrumentarium is sparse, consisting mainly of drums, acoustic guitar, harmonium, keyboards and cello. The performance is subtle and composed, leaving space for contrasting (and brief) flashes of abandon, like when the drummer picks up the pace or Dave kicks down his bootheels on the stage. These elements set the scene for a concert that I found fascinating because of the challenge that Dave obviously poses for himself and his audience with Woven Hand, abandoning the familiar all-out devil-may-care drive and urgency of 16hp, focussing instead on a purer form of the gospel and folk blues that he has always incorporated into his music.

This challenge was most apparent in the encore, when Dave took to the stage to calls for more 16hp-songs. He responded by playing a chilling rendition of the classic "Black Soul Choir", stripping the song of it's tempo and liveliness, bringing the message of the evil inherent in humanity to the fore. The audience appeared confused for a moment, hesitating between enthusiastic cheers and a polite applause, because Dave didn’t seem to be interested in simply belting out a signature tune. Instead, he seized the oppurtunity to transform the originally up-tempo & up-beat folk/new-wave hybrid into a brooding monster, an end-of-days ballad to end all days. The high points of the set consisted of "the Good Hand", "Glass Eye" (perhaps the two tunes that leaned most towards familiar 16hp-territory), but also the beautiful "Your Russia" and "Last fist". There’s been a lot of talk about the Woven Hand take on "Ain’t no sunshine", and none of it good. Let me make my stand for this version, though. There is great care and consideration for the original, yet also the guts, the artistry and the skill to make it into an entirely different kind of animal. Besides, much of the criticism seems suspect, focussing on the relevance of the version as opposed to it’s quality.

Ultimately, what will be made of Woven Hand, the album as well as the project? Is it a one-off? Does it merit more attention than a "side-project", a pacifier for impatient 16hp-fans? Sure, it is impossible to view Woven Hand separately from it’s front-man’s mothership, because they share the one-in-a-million voice and his particular language and style. However, it would be unfair, as well as unjust and shallow, to dismiss it without further notice as a "light-weight 16hp". There is a depth and substance, a distinct feel to the songs and the music that places it above such considerations. Just make the effort to appreciate the album and the live experience like I did: with an open mind and no preconceptions.

By Robert Brown

Setlist by Martijn