Brilliant Move

Inviting Venice was a brilliant move because the four Californians lifted the evening to a higher level.  They were the first ones to get the audience on top of their chairs.  The Americans were also the first ones to bring up the fire-related disasters in Enschede and Volendam.  A bit sour were the De Kast songs titled "Door het Vuur" and "Hetere Vuren."  A counterbalance in this respect was "The Family Tree."  This song was played during the funeral of one of the firefighters who died in Enschede.  On Saturday, Venice brought this Simon & Garfunkel-type song in a quadri-voiced version.

Venice's strength lies in their superb voices.  Stevie Nicks' "Landslide" created one of the most intimate moments of the evening.  However, mega-intiem (mega-intimate) did not refer to an acoustically a-dynamically babbling show this Saturday.  From time to time, De Kast and Venice went wild, especially in 'One Quiet Day," Fleetwood Mac at its best, during a well-known Venice medley with golden oldies by The Stones, Lou Reed and Buffalo Springfield, and during "Woodstock" by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, giving everybody, including the most experienced concert visitors, goose bumps.