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11th September 1999 — Waremme Capitale Rock '99 Festival, Waremme, Belguim
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Go to the Capitale Rock & Culture home page for more information.
There was also an official interview with Alison for the event
Setlist
Cloudless
Everywhere
Rêverie
Adoration
Breeze
Here Comes the Day
Slide Song
To Be
Future Song
On Top of the World
Lilies
Paris and Rome
Encore I
E.g. Shining
Far Away
Adrift
Encore II
Tangled Up
Starblood
Reviews
Ok, well first i have to confess that despite knowing lots about the Cranes and having been a fan for many years now (discovering them before the Cure), this was the first time I was to see them play live, and excited I was. Waremme when it was announced, was the only forseeable gig in the near future, so there was no way I was going to miss this opportunity, despite being only 2 hours from Portsmouth (when that gig was later announced!) As an added bonus, thanks to the organisers (Jean-Phi and Hervé) i found myself with a v.i.p. backstage pass!
The festival itself was set in the open market square (i assume), fenced off from the rest of the town, with a covered stage and crowd area, and beer and band items stalls (the essentials). The weather was magnificant - hot and sunny and not a cloud in the sky. Is it like this in Belgium all the time? Early on, Ali, Jim, Paul and John took a stroll through the grounds before the crowds started to arrive - my first glimpse of them in the flesh!
The earlier bands played well to steadily growing crowds, although the larger numbers didn't turn up until later - Electro:lux were brilliant, with Paul, Jim and John enjoying them from frontstage also, and Curiosity plays the Cure pulled an obviously large crowd. The only anomoly in the line up for me was Perry Rose who were a kind of Levellers styled bouncy-jig style (apologies!) which seemed slightly at odds with the semi-gothic (stereotype!) overall feel to the event, but certainly had an appreciative audience in any case.
Before they went onstage at 11pm, it was nice to have a chat with Jim, and afterwards with Ali, although due to my sudden shyness I had to be introduced by certain individuals who shall remain nameless (you know who you are!) They seemed very willing to take time to talk, and answer questions - about potential Polish tours, the 'new' drummer (for whom they were full of praise), talks with distributers, label negotiations, and the upcoming album (about half done). Jim was especially impressed with his flashing L.E.D. lighter that he claimed represented their light show for the evening (he was curiously semi-accurate!), and Ali didn't seem to take too much offence when asked if her singing voice was altered by special effects or not (not by me)!!
The gig itself consisted of 17 songs, past present and future. It started with the ethereal Cloudless, and a few other pre-Population Four favouites to warm up the crowd. One high point was Adoration, which although it was already a personal favourite of mine, came across exceptionally well, despite the crowd being blinded every 2 beats by the slow pulsing strobe! Then came a selection from both Population Four and the forthcoming It's a Beautiful World (the new songs being the pre-released Here Comes the Day, and two new ones with pet names 'Slide Song' and 'Future Song', which will probably be renamed before the final product is released.) Future Song sounded excellent, and i personally can't wait to hear a mixed down version of it. Here it was interesting to note that much of the crowd did not seem to know the post-Loved songs, being subdued and restless (also occasionally and predictable calling for their 'older' favourites - although not many people also seemed to recognise e.g. shining for the encore either).
Then of course towards the end and through the encores came the Cranes anthems, although there were unfortunately a few sound problems, particularly with the piano/harp sounds on Paris and Rome, and Far Away with the amplifiers distorting the notes to higher pitches than the rest of the instruments, which sounded a little off, and Ali curiously singing the first verse of Starblood at the wrong pitch. But overall the evening was fantastic, and it even seemed that the crowd might tempt the band back to perform a third encore, until Paul signalled the end of the act. The line-up for the gig was Ali, Jim, Paul and John. If Mark was there, then i didn't recognise him (all i have is official photos to go on!), but it is possible that he didn't tour with the rest of them.
Afterwards there was plently of time for signing of albums and posters (not forgetting the official limited edition festival t-shirts!), and also the lucky people who managed to catch Johns drumsticks thrown from the stage prior to the encores (they went just over my head, i couldn't believe it!), before the band retired to the hotel. There was then an unofficial party in Waremme railway station for invited guests only!
In its entirety the festival was very well organised (by lawyers and astrophysicists apparently!), and it was enjoyed by both fans and Cranes alike. The show was not recorded, so it was a once-off experience. Thanks must again go out to the organisers, for making the event work, and for those of out there I spoke to that made this a great debut experience for me. Here's to the next one.
- reviewed by scott
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