Dotan - Paradiso (Amsterdam) - 21.12.2014
So this is the gig I initially went to Amsterdam for (please find my review of the „added“ Ben-Howard-gig here)– my preferred destination for concert travels because it means meeting up with dear friends and getting to visit a lovely city.
(more photos here if you’re interested)
In this case, it also meant the most beautiful venue I’ve ever been to. Paradiso is a former church (since I know that, the name makes much more sense to me LOL) and though I’ve been told that the small room is quite ordinary, the main hall definitely isn’t.
We sat on the balcony which surely was a good decision given the height of the barrier-less stage (one of the very few disadvantages of the venue).
The gig was sold out and we had been having our tickets for a while when the support act got announced: Bear’s Den. This was exciting news for me. The debut album doesn’t really do it for me (sorry), but I was always sure they’d convince me with a live performance. And so they did – almost. The problem? It was just too short. Good enough however to keep my eyes peeled for another live – headline – date.
7 Layers is Dotan’s second album. From his first album, I can only remember discarding it after a brief listen as „boring mainstream pop“. However, I wanted to be a good girl and well prepared for the gig, but the the album isn’t available on Spotfiy, at least not in Germany. When I confided this failure to my friend Tonny – a fan of the first hour who has been to 20+ Dotan gigs (yes, you read that right)– she told me it wasn’t a problem as he wouldn’t play any of the old songs. Well, I guess that means he shares my opinion about 7 Layers being wayyyyyyy better than his debut ;)
The concert was perfect: sound, lights and performance – which is a compliment, of course, but at the same time my only small point of criticism. I would have liked to tell Dotan and his band „Just relax – if anything should go wrong, we’ll just have a good laugh and that’ll be it!“
Not that I wished anything to go wrong and nothing did. One of the highlights was Dotan’s solo acoustic performance of Ghost.
Time was tight after the gig as the parking closed at midnight and we had to take two different trams to get there. Also, the merch stand was crowded (though I didn’t see the guys of Bear’s Den), so there was only time for a quick photo.
You can find the rest of my photos here.
Dotan is Dutch (thanks to Truusje for her translations of his banter during the gig), but as you can see from his tour dates, he’s „expanding“ to the rest of Europe, inlcuding the UK. Go watch him if you have the chance!
