The concert was almost sold out, which means nearly 5500 people at the gig.
Just like last year at the second Melkweg concert the weather was terrible in Amsterdam. When we were walking from the car to the venue there was a cloudburst above our heads and like many people we entered the concert hall soaking wet.
The support act "Aqua Nebula Oscillator" from France forced us to leave the hall after two numbers of noise, so we could dry our clothes a bit and have some food and drinks.
When we heard they had finished we entered the hall again and found a place near the front at Billy's side.
At 9.25 the intro tape started and the eyes of the Indian on the video screen appeared a little later.
The band walked on stage and took over from the intro tape.
Then Nirvana started with Ian surprisingly skipping the 'hey hey' yells which appear at the beginning of the studio version. All in all it was a rather tame opener with a tame crowd reaction.
There was not a great atmosphere at the beginning of the concert and Ian didn't help to improve it by saying 'Willkommen', which is German, not Dutch, for 'Wellcome'.
It took a few songs for band and audience to get into the right mood, but by the time the band started Rain the atmosphere got better. Although Ian kept complaining about the low crowd reaction during the concert he and Billy were in a good mood from then on.
Ian talked a lot, saying while pointing at the no smoking sign in the hall, a smoking ban in Amsterdam is insane, because 'you people invented tobacco'.
He also sang 'Rainy nights in Amsterdam', but asked a little later if we were tired because it was a Sunday evening.
After the ten songs from the Love album and a few minutes intermission, in which a guitar technician oddly did a soundcheck on stage, they played the seven songs they always play this tour in their second set. No Lil' Devil as an encore like they did in Valencia.
But judging from the YouTube footage the Valencia crowd was the best they had this tour.
In the second set Billy joined Ian in complaining about the low crowd reaction, which was not completely fair in my opinion. Where we were standing the crowd went wild. But in the back of the hall there are two levels of seating places and there was no audience movement whatsoever over there.
Before Love Removal Machine Ian said there was time for one more song because the city of Amsterdam doesn't like rock music after 11 o'clock. I can really say this is far from the truth. They only had one more song left.
After the last song Billy invited us to see the band again in Eindhoven on Tuesday. We'll think about it, Billy, because it's a long drive from where we live.
Our conclusion is that this was a very, very good show, but it will not be the best from this tour. We also came to the conclusion that Ian often had to struggle with his vocals and that this band relies for more than 50 percent on one man: Billy Duffy!
The opening band couldn't warm up the crowd, and have a too difficult name to mention them (sorry).
The Cult did a great performance. I've seen them almost every time they've played in Holland since 1985, but this was high standard musicwise ! The big screen in the back adds positively to the content of the show. I enjoyed the show very much, but the crowd were not like The Cult is used to normally when they play in Holland / Amsterdam.
The sound was great, Mike, Chris and John in great form, as was Ians Voice and Billy's guitarplaying (ofcourse).
For me highlights were, apart from the classic songs that always get the crowd going (Rain, SSS, LRM) >>> Electric Ocean, Sun King and Hollow Man.
Ian and Billy made some nice/funny comments about a non-smoking sign ("impossible in Amsterdam") and that Ian sucks at improvisation (when Billy needed to change an out of tune guitar) and seemed to be enjoying themselves, but clearly expected a bit more from the crowd. It was too quiet...
The Dutch lost a bit of their built up credits this night, but it did not spoil a fantastic concertnight for me !
Great show guys, THANKS AGAIN !!