Anyway, it's a tradition that people give presents to their children on this day, and sing Sinterklaas songs (like Christmas carols) with the children.
So it was on this special day that CH performed in Eindhoven. The music centre is a modern concert hall, where people are seated. Now I hate to sit when I attend a pop concert, but luckily the die-hard fans could stand in front of the stage. BTW: the concert was sold-out, like the other two concerts in Holland.
The evening started well. When we entered the hall they were playing Tom Petty's _Full Moon Fever_, which I regard as one of the best albums ever made. At 20.10h the support act started, a band called Frente! from Australia. They were quite good and got nice support from the crowd.
At 21.10h, the lights were dimmed and Maori music was played. In the dark, Paul was walking around the stage a couple of times, before actually sitting down. On came the rest of the band, under a giant round of applause. They started the show with _There goes God_, which turned out to be a good opener. In addition to the set list, they also played parts of these songs:
The band had also noticed that it was Sinterklaas day, which they dubbed Saint Nick's day. Of course they asked for presents, otherwise they refused to play on. So a fan gave them a cigarette, which Paul later on smoked. Neil got quasi- angry, saying this was the first time a member of CH had ever smoked on stage. The crowd joined Neil by boo-ing at Paul, since it was a no-smoking concert. Paul simply said, "F*ck you". No offense taken.
Nick got a box of issues. Neil and Paul urged him to test the tissues, thinking they were women's sanitary towels. "Let's see if these wing tips really work, Nick", was one of the few printable jokes about this matter.
They also made fun of Mark, who mostly stood there on stage (e)motionless. He seemed to take the jokes well, although I can't say that he actually fits in the band when they play live. He himself made some fun when he started to play a Hawaiian tune on keyboard, with the other Crowdies joining him.
When the crowd started to sing Sinterklaas songs, Neil simply said, "Well, it's a local custom, so I guess it's ok. We get paid anyway.". Needless to say that he didn't understand a word of the songs as they were dutch songs.
About the music, I must say that CH sounded very good.The TA songs sounded less dark than on the album, probably because the bass was turned down a little. They rendered long versions of Nails in my feet and In my command, without getting boring. The song that got the crowd moving was Locked out, as expected.
It's only natural sounded pretty rough, it was almost a rock version of this lovely song.
During the first part of the encore, Paul placed a subset of a drumkit on the front of the stage, so the whole gang stood next to each other, making fun all of the time.
Weather with you lasted long due to the crowd participation. I noticed that the crowd knew the words to the Woodface song quite well, as opposed to the other songs.
Born on the Bayou was sung by Mark Hart. At the end of the song, the four members of the band each took turns in singing a line of the song. I had the feeling that Neil, Paul and Nick were making up the words.
When Paul complained that he felt bad (after the cigarette incident), the crowd started to sing Always look on the bright side of life. CH liked that and started to play along, followed by Que sera sera and other silly songs. They let the crowd choose which song was to be the one but last. We chose Chocolate cake over Sister Madly and Mean to me. Well, it really got us going again, so the choice was OK.
CH closed the show with Fall at your feet, played with heavy bass. At 2315h, the show was over.
I find it hard to review a concert of CH. It's not just music, it's also making fun and having a good time. It's impossible to express the atmosphere of the evening in words, but my wife and I and 2,000 other fans had a great time. The only minor point of criticism I have, is that I felt that CH overdid the fun part a little, where I feel that the emphasis should be more on the music.