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Dress: Great Band, Great Songs, Lousy Au

Great band from Haarlem.
13 april 2001, Paradiso, Amsterdam (NL.)

Tekst: Manuel Aalbers

Publicatiedatum: 13 april 2001

In Paradiso's main music hall Bonnie 'Prince' Billy is playing a marvellous show, which takes a couple of hours. Meanwhile, Dress is waiting to perform. After Bonnie is working on his fourth or fifth encore, the Paradiso crew has decided Dress' performance can no longer wait. 45 minutes later than planned and with a half-filled (small) hall, Dress opens with a strong and powerful song. Unfortunately the voice of singer Bjorn Uijens is not sharp yet. This problem is taken care of in the next couple of songs ('Won't Be Coming Back', 'Portrait of a Painter', 'Search for One and Open Your Eyes'), which are played quite well, but most people in the audience keep quiet and mute. No wonder, most people probably didn't know any of the songs. And, since 'Self-important' is a grower, the songs need a few listens to really get to you. The short and powerful 'Free Ride' appeals easier to first-time listeners, with its pre-90s Dinosaur, Jr. song structure. Meanwhile, Bonnie is still playing downstairs and keeps interrupting every silent moment in Dress' performance. Only when Bonnie has really ended his show, the audience amounts to approximately 70 people. The ones that came directly from Bonnie to Dress get indulged with Dress' finest song 'Semi-Automatic'. This Boston-sounding, but original song is great, and it is played in the same way. 'Semi-Automatic' should become a college or alternative radio hit, and it might become one, because it is getting some airplay, which is not bad for a band which just released their debut album. Dress' show paradoxically comes to an end with the fragile 'Start the Show'. Again a great song, but the sound is a little too humming and buzzing. Thanks to some friends and family Dress gets to play an encore, which is not one of the best songs. Not including this encore, Dress deserves more than family, friends, the occasional reviewer, and some people who just walked in after Bonnie's show. But, this is no wonder - hardly anybody knows the CD yet. I can't emphasise enough that this is a grower, which makes it hard for people who are unfamiliar with Dress' songs to relate enthusiastically to the live version of it.

http://www.kindamuzik.net/live/dress/dress-great-band-great-songs-lousy-au/164/
Meer Dress op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/dress