Oooh, so good, baby...

It was Mark's third show in the Netherlands in less than 3 months and I think it was the best one (or at least comparable with the one in Utrecht). 'De Melkweg' was not sold out but it was nicely filled, although I think mainly by people who don't know more than his last album (it ranked #1 for a couple of weeks in an alternative albums chart in the Netherlands). Mark started early and kicked off with Sideways In Reverse, followed by some 4 other songs from Bubblegum. Shelley was dressed in white this time. And contrary to his first visit to Europe Mark brought a keyboard player with him. I don't know the guy's name as Mark didn't introduce the band. He didn't say more than a few Thankyou's and something (did I hear a 'God bless you' there??) when he left the stage after Fix in the encore.
The band played well and Mark('s voice) was in good shape. Personal highlight of the evening was On Jesus' Program: the wonderful howl in the last words... The crowd had to warm up a bit but appreciated the hard work (now I understand why Mark is drinking so much mineral water: the guy is sweating like hell! By the way he smoked only two cigarettes, both when he entered the stage).
After having seen Shelley three times I have to admit that I'm still not too convinced about her contribution, although I guess it's not easy to sing when you only need to sing half of the songs.
He played most(ly) songs from HCTWC and Bubblegum. But I recall One Way Street, No Easy Action/Miracle and Blues for D (start of the encore).

I enjoyed the show a lot, just to hear his voice live. I was with a friend who hardly knows his music and she concluded that it wasn't really a show. True. Don't expect him to give a show (let Robbie Williams entertain you, then). But the voice...
I wonder (after having seen 4 shows in 11 months) how long I have to wait before I see him again. I'd really like to see a (semi-)accoustic show... Looking forward to a new show!

Edwin

setlist from Kiek

track 21 not played. track 10 first then track 9

review by Shoeshoene

We got there not as early as we'd planned, so we rushed to the bar and poured down 2 soco's straight up. We kept fooling around, acting silly, laughing our asses off. Doing weird dances too hahaa… not too weird though.

Mark was running a bit late and Judith & I were in the middle of a hilarious story when Mark started with Sideways in Reverse. Which, as you know is a very loud, kick ass song. We were still laughing, cus you know, you can't just quit laughing all at once!

My friend wants to be a drummer so she kept her eye on Norm's drumming. All through the show we were dancing and having fun. My classmate who was standing somewhere else told me later that where we were standing was the centre of all the movement in the crowd. hehehe the peeps were great there.

So we finally went out to get our coats, and who did we see there signing a woman's ticket?? Norm I waited till he signed and walked up to him with my recently gotten setlist!!!(1st ever)

I asked him:"Would you sign this??" holding up the list.
N.:"Sure."
N. (while signing): "The show was great. I love Europe. You looked like you were having fun tonight. I saw you dancing."
Me: "We were having the greatest time of all the people out here."
N: "Yeah, it sure looked like you were enjoying yourselves."

He was glad to see us and said that he was gonna get a drink inside. He asked us to join him. I've never met anyone who meets new peeps so easily! He was never without someone to talk to. He's so approachable.

So I finally asked him when he was coming back.
He said that Mark was probably doing some work with the Twilight Singers after this tour!!
Me: "WOW, that's amazing. Is it gonna be like the Gutter Twins?"
N: "No, I don't know when they're doing the Gutter Twins. This is just Mark doing some work with The Twilight Singers."
Me: "omg, greg dulli and Mark. I just asked cus it seems that the GT is just about everyone's wet dream."
That made him smile.
Me: "Is there a big difference between the crowds in Europe and in America? Which crowd do you like more?"
N: "There really is a big difference. The European crowds, definitely.. We all thought the Pukkelpop-festival was the best festivalshow of this tour."
Me: "Yeah I thought it was magical. With Nick Oliveri being there and also Greg Dulli. Amazing night."
N: "Yes, it was a great night."

Norm, he's the best. Wanted to hang out with us. Got to love that guy. Even more then Mark, there I said it.