Friday, July 13, 2007
NORTH SEA JAZZ FESTIVAL: DAY 1
It's really difficult to explain everything that's going on right now, HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE is detonating minds here in Rotterdam. Now that we're at the festival it's pretty clear that the event organizers have set us up to be one of the highlights of the entire weekend—that's really crazy considering the bill includes Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Steely Dan, Snoop, The Roots, Amy Winehouse...and SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE. NSJF is amazing because they're really into mixing up "genres" and all that...you know HYPNOTIC music is all music but it's like older dude said after we played our first set: "This is where the real jazz music is."
We played twice today, first at the "Harlem" space which is basically the center of the massive venue where all the shows are held. Our set was in the early evening and the festival had just started, so the place had that frenetic craze you feel when something's about to go down, everyone walking around hectic trying to decide whats not to miss etc etc. All that changed when we pulled out that heat and started in with "Jupiter"...you know the song so you know how its energy can change the dynamics of a room and that's what happened, almost as if, and i know this sounds grandiose, but almost as if HYPNOTIC took everyone in the place to another level, opened them up and got them ready for the music ahead. Because of the venue design when you play at Harlem you can look up and see 3 floors of people leaning over the railing and staring down at you, it's almost like playing inside of a mall or a space station. By the end of "Jupiter" people on all three levels of the venue had gathered to watch and the festival was at a standstill. We went on to stun with a short, intense set of some of our original certified bangers. By the end of the second tune the crowd erupted into massive applause before the band played the last notes of the song.
Later that night we played at the "Tigris"—a gazebo and deck space on top of the venue itself. 10 minutes before we started it was kind of empty, people getting drinks and enjoying the amazing weather (a balmy sunset that lasted til about 11pm). By the time we got on stage, though, the roof had really filled up with people seeking us out, wanting to hear more of the madness from hours before. Again the band played out of its mind. This shit is on another level.
It's really difficult to explain everything that's going on right now, HYPNOTIC BRASS ENSEMBLE is detonating minds here in Rotterdam. Now that we're at the festival it's pretty clear that the event organizers have set us up to be one of the highlights of the entire weekend—that's really crazy considering the bill includes Herbie Hancock, Ornette Coleman, Steely Dan, Snoop, The Roots, Amy Winehouse...and SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE. NSJF is amazing because they're really into mixing up "genres" and all that...you know HYPNOTIC music is all music but it's like older dude said after we played our first set: "This is where the real jazz music is."
We played twice today, first at the "Harlem" space which is basically the center of the massive venue where all the shows are held. Our set was in the early evening and the festival had just started, so the place had that frenetic craze you feel when something's about to go down, everyone walking around hectic trying to decide whats not to miss etc etc. All that changed when we pulled out that heat and started in with "Jupiter"...you know the song so you know how its energy can change the dynamics of a room and that's what happened, almost as if, and i know this sounds grandiose, but almost as if HYPNOTIC took everyone in the place to another level, opened them up and got them ready for the music ahead. Because of the venue design when you play at Harlem you can look up and see 3 floors of people leaning over the railing and staring down at you, it's almost like playing inside of a mall or a space station. By the end of "Jupiter" people on all three levels of the venue had gathered to watch and the festival was at a standstill. We went on to stun with a short, intense set of some of our original certified bangers. By the end of the second tune the crowd erupted into massive applause before the band played the last notes of the song.
Later that night we played at the "Tigris"—a gazebo and deck space on top of the venue itself. 10 minutes before we started it was kind of empty, people getting drinks and enjoying the amazing weather (a balmy sunset that lasted til about 11pm). By the time we got on stage, though, the roof had really filled up with people seeking us out, wanting to hear more of the madness from hours before. Again the band played out of its mind. This shit is on another level.
# posted by EQUINOX @ 11:34 PM 
