KENT
21 may 1998 - Amsterdam, Melkweg

Their English debut album Isola was one of the surprises of the year for me. After 3 albums in their native language, Kent decided to take the step to English. A great step, since they sound like a true British band. Isola is great album that combines the sounds of Radiohead, Suede and The Verve and it's been stuck in my CD player for quite a while. I had the chance to interview them for Music minded and I found the band to be very friendly and the interview made me want to see this band live.

Well.... it disappointed me quite a bit to be honest. In the first place becouse of it's shortness... only 50 minutes including the encore. In the second place the presentation disappointed me. I thought Oasis was a boring live band... well Kent might be even more boring. If it wasn't for singer Joakim Berg, I would have left the Melkweg before they had even finished.

Joakim is a good preformer, but he makes almost no connection with the audience. The rest of the band just stands still and plays the songs. The extra keyboard player/ guitarist adds a lot to the live sound of the band and the songs sound almost as good as on the CD. But playing live is more than just playing the songs of your album.! It's about connecting with the audience, it's about sharing emotions. But the spark that had to light the flame in the almost sold out Melkweg just wasn't there.

Maybe it was just that the band needs to get used to playing for foreign adiences or whatever. I will give them a second chance becouse their album is superb. Maybe next time they will sound and look more confident. I will be there for sure to check it out.


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