Quasi, Melkweg, Amsterdam, 28 Mar 2005

Show two, after seeing Quasi at the Nighttown in Rotterdam on Saturday. I didn't enjoy it quite as much this time, but I'm not sure how much that might have to do with seeing them already two days before. I'm not used to stalking after bands. But also in Amsterdam they didn't play as many songs and less people seemed to be into them.

Before I say more, the setlist:

Our Happiness is Guaranteed
New song with chorus going "Merry Christmas, Happy New Year"
Piece of Love (new)
New song with a line "Not going down without a fight" and mentioning "dollar sign"
Mama Tried
Sword of God, which lead into...
...Apparent Who cover: See Me, Feel Me
I Never Want to See You Again
Good Times
New song, loud, messy, mentioned "chimpanzees"

So I'm not down with what most of the new songs might be called, and I didn't know it was a Who song they played; I got that info from a post on the Quasi 2x2 site. The set felt shorter to me than it did in Rotterdam. First of all, the medley of three songs on guitar was cut short after the Who cover when Sam broke a string. He went over to Janet at the drums and they stopped, then she must not have understood why because he held out the broken string with a look on his face of "Uh, can't really play anymore with this..." So that sucked because it meant no "Sea Shanty". Then I swear there was one more new song in Rotterdam, one I really liked that had some cool thumpy little drum break that I'm pretty damn sure didn't get played in Amsterdam. Otherwise the setlists were fairly identical. My only doubt is that I'm not sure whether "Never Want to See You Again" was played in Rotterdam, and I'm pretty sure that in Rotterdam they played "Under a Cloud" but I start to doubt myself as more time from the show passes.

In the Melkweg we again stood right at the front, this time more near Janet, which made for some good views of Sam, but a crappy view of Janet because too much drum and cymbal was in the way. Oh well, they were so much closer to us this time, which was cool. O preferred the Amsterdam show, but I don't agree. I think Sam was disappointed that he broke a string and he just seemed frustrated with things at times. I dunno, that was my impression. On a more positive note, I never thought that much before of the song "Good Times", but I fucking loved it live. They both were just belting out the first singing part, and then I really like the melody of the second part.

By the way, in case of any confusion, The Thermals were actually the main band both nights, and Quasi were the opener. I hadn't mentioned anything about them though because I don't know their stuff as well, and they can be a bit same-y after awhile, which I felt on Saturday and got restless. Last night I enjoyed them more, though we did leave during the encore. Plus it was just fun to watch a band from the very front, I almost never have done that. They were two very different crowds though. In Rotterdam, to quote O: "What's with all the 15 year olds?" Yeah, it felt like we were ancient in that crowd, but at least the youngsters were energetic, and were moshing a lot during The Thermals. In Amsterdam, I then worried about getting mooshed where we were standing when The Thermals came out. In the end, I didn't need to worry, as no moshing took place. People weren't even crowded that close behind us. A much more toned-down crowd. Though I saw at least two you'd-never-expect-it 40/50-somethings totally rocking out to the band. Weird and cool.

I miss both bands though, getting to enjoy the music, see Quasi and get lost in Portland thoughts and reminiscences. I think the shows, more than the long weekend, made it hard to come back to work this morning, thinking of watching Sam and Janet just a few feet away from me only a few hours before and having my ears still ringing. I'm happy to have photos though, O got some great shots which he is putting up tonight.