Luka Bloom » live reviews
Luka Bloom - Live in Concert
Rivierenhof Deurne Fnac, Leuven Vicar Street, Dublin
 concert » reviewed by
17-04-2004  Burgerweeshuis, Deventer, Netherlands
Sandra Berkemeyer (Netherlands)
18-04-2004  Concerto, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jolande (Netherlands)
08-05-2004  Fnac, Leuven, Belgium
Karl Catteeuw (Belgium)
29-05-2004  Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin, Ireland
Gudrun Spanka (Germany)
24-06-2004  Bickford Theater, Morristown, NJ, USA
Deborah Sandford (USA)
24-06-2004  Bickford Theater, Morristown, NJ, USA
Vicky Romani (USA)
26-06-2004  Knitting Factory, New York City, USA
Deborah Sandford (USA)
29-06-2004  United Methodist Church, Nantucket, MA, USA
Anna Hight (USA)
12-08-2004  Rivierenhof, Deurne (Antwerp), Belgium
Dirk Goris (Belgium)
12-08-2004  Rivierenhof, Deurne (Antwerp), Belgium
Rena Bergholz (Germany)
11-12-2004  Handelsbeurs, Gent, Belgium
Sabine Dunne (Germany)

Burgerweeshuis, Deventer
Saturday, 17 April 2004


Of course I did not really go bananas I mean - we are talking Before Sleep Comes promotion tour... Before the concert I admitted to Rena I am not a quiet songs girl really (have grown to love BSC, but mainly after I had a bad bad cold a few weeks ago and was so sick for about a week I could not do a thing. not even read or watch Oprah J All I could deal with was the soothing melodies and the whispering voice of Luka in my ears and it really made me appreciate the music). So, I was hoping he'd throw in some wilder songs. not too many. maybe just one or two Over the moons or a tiny little Delirious or even a semi-wild Shape of love to come. And when we got into the room and saw three mics, I said, that's it, he's gonna do a 'Damian Rice' on us and come up with a really soft and quiet cd and then blow our head of with all these drums and electric guitars and go mad when he performs the songs live!

But no such thing. Did not blow our heads of. Just blew our minds...

So I did not go bananas (probably not a surprise to you all. hardly a banana girl me ;-)). But boy did I love it! Such an unusual Luka concert. Definitely one of my favourites! (then again, too lazy to go and check in the archives, but I think I always say that...) He called it an experiment. Well, a very successful experiment it was!

And wasn't he looking smart in his black suit with a tiny little stripe on it? (still, also love him in jeans and that mad shirt he wore in the Melkweg last year or in an old Neneh Cherry t-shirt.

Luka made 1 big mistake though: He invited 2 of his friends onto the stage for most of the concert: Suzy on violin and Claudia on percussion. She was sitting on a box and while her body moved to the music the brushes in her hands just seemed to happen to hit the box and some things around her producing the music. amazing stuff!). Anyway, big mistake of Luka to invite them, because: 1) they were about 20 times as pretty as him and 2) because we will now always feel there is something missing when they are not there. The three of them were suuuuuuuuuuuuuuch a perfect match. Ruined every future Luka-solo concert for all of us present there yesterday I think (Tanks, Mr.)

He/they played good few of BSC songs (not all of them). And LOADS of new ones. Some written only 2 weeks ago or 3 weeks ago. I loved the song 'Thank you for bringing me here' about the loving environment this 8 yr old girl is growing up in. And absolutely LOVED the version of Keeper of the Flame the trio did!!!! And loved As I waved goodbye. Realised it was exactly 1 year ago I left Tibet after my incredible trip there.

Luka told us after that he only found out it was a standing concert after he saw this message on the Lukalist. He kind of panicked but it was too late to change it because too many tickets had been sold at that stage. (Actually, after a few songs I got pretty tired, and when the girl at the bar saw my belly she let me sit on the bar for the rest of the concert. Great spot!

Played for ages and ages. Very chatty him... was clearly enjoying it as much as we did. (was only scheduled for an hour and a half I think, but played for nearly 2 hrs. When my sis went to the hall to get a drink she saw a big queue of impatient partygoers giving out that their Eighties Party was being delayed.)

All was perfect! Apart from the ridiculously loud air conditioning of course. Ruins our changes on a 'Deventer' cd as a sequel to 'Amsterdam'.

Ever since this was a promotional tour and ever since people started smoking inside the room like mad after he finished he went into the courtyard to sign cds. We walked into the courtyard and he had a big gang of fans around him.

There, the moral of this story is: the BSC concert in Deventer was great! And it was really nice to chat with Luka after and to see him in great spirits and to hear he had loved it loads as well (hope he'll be able to talk Suzy and Claudia into doing a bit of a world tour with him so you can all experience it!!!).

- Sandra

> setlist & photos


In-Store Performance @ Concerto, Amsterdam
Sunday, 18 April 2004


We had a wonderful time at Concerto this afternoon, so many new songs! And Luka was so relaxed. Suzy and Claudia, who played in Deventer, played at Concerto too. Luka played for over an hour, until well after the shop officially closed.

I loved the new songs, all of them. I guess my favourite for the moment is Love in a Strange Old Place because it is about Amsterdam. Luka described how he came to be touring at all, he was in Concerto a few weeks' ago and the owner of the shop asked him why he couldn't sell the new CD. Luka said he could if he wanted to, and they decided on this little tour. I think he sold a fair few cds, and signed most of them.

- Jolande

> setlist
> photos


In-Store Performance @ Fnac, Leuven
Saturday, 8 May 2004


It was a small 'living room' size bit at the end of the shop and it was already full of people when we got there. So we sat on the ground, and then this sound technician came with a big cart full of amps and speakers, scratching his head and calling Niall on the phone saying there was no room anymore for a concert. So Niall rushed in, flew all over the place, got some people up, violated some security regulations and got everything going smoothly. Then Luka came in a bit early. Rudy, the nice but overworked sound technician, was still hooking up all the amps and wedges and speakers and cables, so Luka kindly tried to help out. The amp didn't work (if Luka reads this: it had a 'mute stand-by'-button, Rudy found that out afterwards, it worked fine then) so all sound went straight into the PA and there was no time for balancing mikes, but everone in the audience was really relaxed. How would you be, in a living room with these guys trying to get you a lovely sound? Someone even gave up her chair, so the mixing board could rest on it.

The gig set in, and Luka was very talkative. Saying how this record came about (or rather, non-record which he was about to non-promote, he almost sounded like the singing 'non') but how he kept playing newer songs which weren't on the record at all. Give the man a mike, and he'll have a good time. Some very beautiful new tunes, brand new even, balanced by about the same amount of 'before sleep' songs. My guess was the people loved it. My sister and Liesbeth did, as did the kids in front. One even tried some shy dancing on gipsy music. The innocence song is quite special - my guess it's as much about childhood as it is about catholicism. It's about the smells and bells and rituals and chants you experience in church as an altar boy, and only in the second or third verse he says how that innocent way of looking at catholicism gets lost when you grow up and how you then long for things to be simple and mysterious again. At least, that's what I got from it. And 'thank you for bringing me here' is a very beautiful song, especially if you know where it comes from. But I can imagine that standing at the entrance of the room would give some noisy disturbance by shoppers and ruin part of the musical experience. And if anyone ever has problems with their in-store air conditioning unit, give Niall a call - he's becoming a real expert at this.

The set 'took off' a number of times. Luka almost floating, levitating on his chair, sounds twirling around, drones and soft high cries, instrumentals leading up to songs and back. An (Irish sounding?) lady with her daughter asked for an older song as an encore ("But this is an old song I wrote last year!") so after some thought he dove into Sunny Sailor Boy. While we tried to sing the chorus ('refrain' means 'stop yourself', right?) in the 'Dutch-speaking-and-Flemish-speaking-kind-of-way', Luka talked about the first time he played Leuven, just after Iggy Pop who had been doing Parental Guidance things with amplifiers on stage, and how he truely panicked before going on stage and asked the sound man turn his guitar up 'really loud' (like in 'up to eleven') and how he got people coming back to the stage and how he then found out it's about having confidence in yourself. Anyway, if you play quietly, people will eventually shut up and come closer and listen. So quiet is the new loud, if you get that. There's no real sense in ranking or comparing concerts, but this one was very good. And lovely.

't Was different, 't was gorgeous!

- Karl

> setlist


Pavilion Theatre, Dun Laoghaire
Saturday, 29 May 2004


I have just come back from Dublin and I can tell you that Luka's gig on Saturday night was absolutely georgeous/deadly!! Luka, Claudia and Suzie received standing ovations at the end - it was just incredible!!!

But let me start with Louise Killeen. She was the support act for the night. Luka couldn't have chosen a better one! Louise is such a lovely person with a fantastic guitar play and a lovely natural sounding voice; she couldn't believe her luck, i.e. the audience who was so happy hearing her...it was just a very special atmosphere in that theatre! Two lovely guys accompanied her, one on a guitar (this one very similar looking to Luka, he seemed to be very shy) and the other one on another instrument who also sang with Louise - both were great, too!

After a 15-minute break Luka came in, stuck his nose into the flowers that were standing on a table - very nice to see him cherish the flowers ;) - and greeted everybody. He started playing on his own and after a couple of songs Claudia came on stage. Amazing what she is doing. She is so concentrated to really have the proper/accurate rhythm, to find the right way of accompanying Luka's guitar play. Just incredible!

Later Suzie came on stage, too. Such a great and talented violinist! Luka was nagging her quite a lot on stage - very sweet ;)

You wouldn't believe what Luka did the later the night got. It was like he was trying to get everything out of everyone. The rhythm was so quick, the two ladies had to give whatever they could. Luka was just carried away ... faster and faste r... Luka's whole body was in motion although he was sitting on a chair - amazing! Nothing like a very quite evening as I had announced to my friends... it was quite, slow in the beginning and got faster and louder ;) So everybody had something he liked or everything. I loved really everything, it was just great.

I went with two friends who had never seen Luka playing live and who really enjoyed it, too. One of my friends was really excited, bought two cds (BSC and TAMB), went to get the camomile posters that hung at the window and had our picture taken with Luka. That was incredible as it was very unlike her ;))) You see what one Luka gig can do to people who haven't seen him before ;))))

I am sure you can feel how excited everything was. It was an outstanding night, with very fantastic musicians. I am sure everyone was very happy and full of joy afterwards! I couldn't tell which was my favourite song that night. Luka played of course new songs but also many old ones. My friend Wiebke most enjoyed "No matter where you go...". For me it is the same situation: My friend asked me which cd I'd recommend but I couldn't recommend a particular one because for me all cds are great. And so was the night and the songs.

Most impressive was the idea about "forgiving" ...If I remember correctly, Luka said at the end of that song: I forgive you, please, forgive me. Or vice versa. That really struck me somehow. I think if everybody forgave the other one, war would not have any chance, any basis...

Alright, I could go on writing for ever.

Sorry about not giving the complete set list in the correct order...I remember the following songs: my singing bird, nora, thank you for bringing me here, love is a place, i'm a bogman, she sings her songs with open eyes, camomile, jordaan, primavera, in between days, no matter where you go, forgiveness (or something like that), gypsy song, keeper of the flame.

- Gudrun


Bickford Theater, Morristown
Thursday, 24 June 2004


The concert last night at the Bickford Theater was just lovely. Alyanya is perhaps the most beautiful talented lovely sincere awesome creature that I have ever witnessed. And no ego about her. It's like you get enveloped into her pure aura.

I'm hoping Vicky took down the setlist--because I sure didn't! Luka and Alyanya sang a song that Alyanya had just composed before the show, after a conversation they'd had at lunch. It was entitled "It's Gonna be Alright". (I think) It was about living and dying and about keeping the faith. We're all gonna die, but it's going to be alright.

At one point, Luka put down his guitar and sang a song in Irish. It was so beautiful. It made me want to close my eyes and just concentrate on the words, the voice (so I did!).

He played lots of new songs, and had his notes on the music stand (on yellow pad paper?) and would glance at it from time to time. I was very glad for the new material. It makes me think of the old days (I'm a pre-1970s rock n roller!) when we went to concerts to hear new material. Our mindset was: you could hear the old stuffis on your already-owned CDs (oops, it was records back then!!!!!!!!!!!!), and you went to a gig to see the artist doing something different.

Luka seemed very relaxed and chatted of course between songs and thanked the audience profusely many times. He kidded himself about his age (49) and spoke about the transformation that kind of comes upon you at midlife. (although he didn't say it like that) It's the awareness of needing and wanting to hold on to or to rediscover a childhood innocence, although he didn't say it like that either. But, any of us who have hit that age milestone in our lives know exactly what he's talking about.

At one point he was talking about the lovely Inn at which they were staying and mentioned the innkeeper by name, and she was in the audience and shouted out "I'm here!" He was kabitzing how there is a picture of "W" (our prez) in the breakfast room and he had to look at "W's" face while he was eating the homemade granola. He also made a crack about "W's" remark that the US is not part of Europe... yet. I was laughing because I had heard the quote, but it did go over the head of my companions. So, he's definitely up on his politics!

Then he said, I better shut up or she'll kick me out of the Inn" and a lady shouted out, "You can stay at my place!" And we were all laughing, and even then another cat call from another lady about staying at HER place.

On the whole, the audience was very quiet, just revelling in the magic. Luka was VERY pleased when the audience recognized the opening strums of a few old tunes (Sunny Sailor Boy, Make You Feel My Love).

This is only the second Luka concert I have ever seen, but, thanks to Vicky and Jeannie and Rena (who is visiting here!!!), they've persuaded me to be present at a couple of other gigs....

- Deborah Sandford

> setlist & photos


Bickford Theater, Morristown
Thursday, 24 June 2004


I'm knackered but smiling! Quite the drive and worth every mile though crossing the George Washington Bridge still breaks the heart because the sky is just sooo dark (normally you'd be greeted by a beautifully lit sky as the towers would stand lighting the downtown area and all the sky around it. You think of all that's lost. But I kept holding onto the thought 'It's gonna be alright' in my head. So thanks Alyanya. And on the curve off the bridge we saw a BEAUTIFUL orange harvest-like moon. Could it be that it's a musical harvest time? Or just the warm energy sent skyward from a lovely theater in New Jersey by several talented people? Hope everyone there last night saw it, including Luka and Alyanya!!!

The setlist was of course kept track of by able hands, Deb. I get too into the songs and forget to write 'em down so I always have pen and paper for able hands. But able hands were at the ready!!!

I can remember some of the songs Luka sang so not in order:

1) She Moved Through the Fair - First Light of Spring - She Moved Through the Fair
Great segue way and GORGEOUS song!

2) Venus - very cool song...I love the feel of it...like a bit of a edgy and sexy tone during the chorus about the movements in the sky. It feels like it ends too fast but that's likely because I don't want it to end at all! I'm not demanding MOI?? Noooo! :-)) Luka's playing a LOAD of gorgeous new songs and with each one it like like: "Wooowwww...don't be over...don't be over!!!" ;-)

3) June - I'm madly in love with this song and so is everyone who seems to hear it!! They CAN NOT keep still hearing it. Even in those gorgeous REALLY comfy seats at the Bickford, there was definite wiggling and tapping! ;-)

4) Gypsy Music - looking forward to all the mad gypsy sounds in the new Europe! Wooohoooo!

5) Old Jordaan - sorry I always mess up the name of this song...but it makes me want to go and visit the 'off the beaten (tourist) path' of Amsterdam for sure! Remember to sing along during the 'ahhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahh-ahhhhh-ahhhh-ahhh.... ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahhh-ahhhhh' part. It sounds even more lovely when people do that!! :-)

6) Innocence - so important to hold onto as the days turn into years and decades. I love this song sooo much. It's hard to pick a favorite from the new songs, but at the moment, this has to be it. Just because it's as if it's getting inside my head about a little boy and saying exactly what it is about childhood that he and WE all need to never give up on, EVER!!! It's really lovely.

7) Miracle Cure - forgiveness and love, doesn't get much better! I LOVE the image of a closed fist turning to an open hand turning to healing, which Luka so beautifully phrases in this song. And he can walk the walk because he asks and offers forgiveness in it too. A great song for the world now. But I was thinking it's a great song for humanity anywhere, anytime. For someone mentioning age and time often, :-) he sure is writing a lot of songs with a timeless quality about them.

8) Nora - he must go to a lovely place or just enjoy the sound (WHICH WAS GORGEOUS!!!) because he plays with so much expression; lost in closed eyed dreaming. It's so neat to watch the expressions on his face matching the notes. There's something about really gifted musicians that even when not singing, it's like the music is flowing from this amazing well they've tapped into, and every fiber of them moves with each note. It also makes me think that's how he must have looked recording it... knackered...wind blowing...boards creaking at the Old Mill...amazing...

9) Camomile - warm warm warmmmmmmmmm....and I was chilly so it was like being handed a warm cuppa and a place by the turf fire! Brilliant and thanks!

10) The Irish Song/Sean Nos (old style) "Caoineadh na dTrí Mhuire" ("Lament at Calvary" or "Tears of the three Marys") [he mentioned the collection it's on "The Seven Steps to Mercy" by Iarla Ó Lionáird]

11) Summer and Friends - 'are forever' and please God may that be so because I've been blessed with so many people these past years that I can call 'friend' both in the U.S. and abroad, so many of which I've met during or very near to summer time!!

12) Sunny Sailor Boy - oooo-ahhh-oooo-ahhh! (-:

13) Make you feel my Love - yeesh if all this new beautiful music isn't doing that, I don't know what could!!! (((-:

14) With Alyanya...'Arise' is a GREAT SONG and I feel like they NAILED it last night!!! LOVELY!!!!

15) Always lovely to hear a beautiful voice and soul with Luka's enhancing the song written for Cristina Noble...yeesh I'm singing it as sit here and can't remember the name...okay better hurry before the last brain cell goes! GOT IT! 'Love is a place I dream of'...

16) The new song by Alyanya with a very touching and then funny intro!!!! Luka's a kook! LOL!!! Alyanya had a giggle so she certainly can take a joke and I loved the way she smiles during her OWN opening set. The only flaw in them is that they are not longer!!! :-))) "It's going to be alright" is a tough one to get through without a tissue because of how warmly it treats some often serious topics! But I had goose bumps because I kept thinking how much comfort this song will bring to so many people facing tough, tough times! Really amazing thoughts set to beautiful music. And Luka doing backing for her with both ARISE and IT'S GOING TO BE ALRIGHT. Wowww...they sound VERY good together!!! Hope they record some of these and songs yet to be born, perhaps, as a duo! They really work well on stage together with really warm energy and smiles going back and forth.

17) Left this song for last: THANK YOU FOR BRINGING ME HERE which Luka dedicated to Deb and it was GREAT to see how touched she was by that warm gesture!!! She was still very touched after the show, and I know how much she cared and how hard she worked promoting the show and so it was well earned! Hope it'll keep her smiling for a long time!!

I agree with what Deb expressed about Alyanya, she's pure joy! Lots of light coming from inside her and she offers it up without reservation or an ounce of worry or fear. Amazing!!!

I woke up with 'First light of Spring' ('first light of spring my love...first light of spring...first light of spring my love is sweeter than anything') in me head today and then Venus ('Veeenus passes by the sunnnn, Venus passes by the sunnnn') followed then by 'June'. I thought I had my iPod on and then realized 'wait' these are new songs! So it looks like my head was re-playing the songs for me as I slept! Really cool!!!!!!!

There was so much smiling going on after the gig and it's SO great to see!!!! Okay it's not just because I'm already a fan or maybe predisposed to enjoy Luka tunes that I think the new show is so good. I heard one man who was there last year say 'that was GREAT...definitely more quiet but GREAT!!!' And there was a LOT OF ENERGY in that superlative.

This is a 'quieter' show but not less energetic or joyous or moving. There are times when at the MOST quiet moments you can sense all the life and it's energy around you better; you're more in tune with it. And that's where the new show takes you...or me....

To all listers, friends and to Deb, Luka, Alyanya and Niall especially: I thank *YOU* for bringing me here!

- Vicky


Knitting Factory, New York City
Saturday, 26 June 2004


Just a quick note about last night about the NYC gig. I met Rena and Erwin there, and Vicky got there, too. It was a standup show (I'd never been to one of these). The show was absolutely terrific. The setlist was basically the same as at the Bickford, but the songs were more polished - there was less looking at the "notes" and a beautiful fluidity, coherence and depth to his voice. I want to say more 'polished' or practiced, but whatever it was, Rena agreed with me.

The crowd was warm (emotionally, and yeh, it was hot in there, too!) full of admiration, and yes, adoration. All eyes on Luka, everyone smiling, couples being lovey-dovey, etc.

Earlier on, someone asked, "Where's Rudy and Judy?" I got the idea that the audience was not familiar with the 'new' Luka, but they were truly accepting of it, nonetheless. Toward the end, someone shouted out, Can ya speed it up? Or something to that effect. He sort of gave his half-laugh and picked up Alyanya's guitar (she had already accompanied him on stage for 'Arise' and 'Love is a Place I Dream Of'. Then he began strumming something I didn't recognize until he started singing: It was City of Chicago, and Rena and I were elbowing each other, and laughing out loud and hugging each other at our great luck to be at a gig where he bestows this gift upon the crowd. He followed that up with Bogman, and needless to say we were crazy all over again.

Afterwards, some fans gathered in the barroom (small and dark) where there were a few small tables and seating. It was a pleasant crowd, and Luka came by, and I didn't even recognize him until he spoke. (well, it was dark!) He had on a cap, and long shorts like the teenage boys wear, sneakers without socks... He looked so darn cute!

- Cheers! Deb

> setlist & photos


United Methodist Church, Nantucket
Tuesday, 29 June 2004


The Nantucket show was gorgeous. It took place in a big, brilliant old Methodist Church right in the centre of town, and the 'stage' was actually the altar. Good sound and a good crowd - a large turnout despite it being a Tuesday night on Nantucket! There were posters hung up all over town, in shop windows and the like, and Himself was on local television for a couple of days before so that obviously helped spread the word.

Alyanya opened and was her usual stellar self (if just a little bit nervous!), singing her songs which are as lovely as she is. She did a fantastic job, am so glad to know of her now! Thank you for bringing her here, Luka. ;-)

The man did all his new songs, and I didn't think to write down the setlist but perhaps someone else did? It was pretty much the same sort of thing as the other shows - Innocence, June, Salvadore (which got a giggle out of the audience), and Caoineadh Na Dtrí Muire, which he sang without the sound system at all. That was, I think, *the* moment for a lot of people in the pews because it was just him standing there, singing these gorgeous words that none of us understood, but we didn't have to because we could *feel* them. Brilliant.

Sunny Sailor Boy was wonderful, with the whole place singing and the moon shining outside the church windows. Lovely!

Then Alyanya came back and after Arise and Love Is a Place, they did The Big Dig again. I am really coming to love this song, though I think it's rather dependent on whether or not you've ever been to the North End and Friend Street, if only because you can picture it in your head and then the song makes that much more sense. What I like about the song though - besides the down-and-dirty guitar, which sounds like someone digging - is that it begins with the intent to make you laugh, then goes quite serious and the result is that you feel guilty about laughing in the first place! Sneaky and underhanded, that!

There was a reception after but for the most part our little group stuck to a table outside and away from the main party, because it was a lovely cool night and we just wanted to relax a bit. It was great fun seeing everyone again, and meeting new faces, and seeing an island I've never been to before. It's one thing to travel to hear new music, that's always good fun, but to also experience a new place at the same time is even better. I loved Nantucket - though, I loved it more when I got out of town and away from the twin sets, pearls and hatboxes. ;-)

- Anna

> setlist


Rivierenhof, Deurne (Antwerp)
Thursday, 12 August 2004


I never thought that a concert that was completely in the rain could be that good. Luka pulled it of once more. 1300 people, sitting in the rain for almost 2 hours and quiet as mice. And this only with one voice and guitar. Apart from the rain upon the umbrellas you could hear a pin drop. What a great crowd we have here in Belgium. The least you can say is that Luka is in a very creative state of mind at the moment. New songs stream out of his body practically daily I think. When Before Sleep Comes came out I wasn't all that convinced this would work during a complete concert but I know better now. How magical can a gig be? Out of an annoying injury came beauty and change. The complete setlist will follow shortly but it was completely different than let say 2 years ago.

This was no. 10 for me but it will definitely not be my last. If I had to pick one song out of all that beauty I would choose his new version of the 20 year old song "City of Chicago". Tears to my eyes.

- Dirk


Rivierenhof, Deurne (Antwerp)
Thursday, 12 August 2004


"When the rain is blowing in your face...
there is nothing that I wouldn't do, go to the ends of the earth for you..."
Well, we didn't go to the ends of the earth, just a 2-hour-drive, but for sure yesterday night we didn't have the best weather for an open-air concert! While it was dry during the performance of the opening act it began to rain just after Luka came on stage and it didn't stop anymore for the rest of the night! Sitting close together under an umbrella, listening to the wonderful songs... only hearing the raindrops falling/pouring down... for me that was a very new and unique concert experience!!!

The Openluchttheater in Deurne is a wonderful open-air theatre located in a beautiful surrounding. There is a water basin between the audience and the stage, using water fontaines as curtains!

And the concert itself... it was magic pure!! apart from the rain or maybe especially because of all this rain!!

Rivierenhof Luka was in brilliant form! The sound was great - special thanks to Paul! - and the audience was really wonderful! probably only a little bit handicapped with clapping because of holding the umbrellas!!

I always have huge problems with choosing any favourites... ALL the songs he played were simply wonderful!! I LOVED the new version of his 20-year-old song 'The City of Chicago'!! Already one of my favourite songs before, it sounded very new and unique! Also very special once again the Irish song 'Coaineadh Na Dtri Mhuire' (Luka used to translate it with "Tears of the three Marys"). My Singing Bird, Summer and Friends, Salvador, Miracle Cure, Gypsy Music, Primavera, June, No matter where you go, there you are... and 'Doing The Best I Can' is such a BRILLIANT song!! All together it was a really great set, so at the end we can only say "Thank you for bringing me (us) here"!!!

The first encore songs were 'In Between Days' and 'Make You Feel My Love', and finally he finished the show with his brilliant 'Bogman' song and an outstanding a cappella version of 'I'll Walk Beside You'!!!

Once again walking home on clouds... :-)

- Rena

> setlist & photos


Handelsbeurs, Gent
Saturday, 11 December 2004


We just came home from this lovely weekend trip to the Belgian town Ghent. Unfortunately I am coming down with a hefty flu, therefore I gave the gettogether a miss and coughed and sneezed on my own together with my friend Sandra before the concert started.

The venue was the Ghentian stock exchange, an old building done over by people knowing what renovation is about - showing the old traits of a building but adapting it to the needs of today. And they have mastered that job. It was one of the nicest places I have ever been to see a show.

Sharpish at 9 o'clock we were let into the auditorium and 20 minutes later our man made his appearance, starting with I AM NOT AT WAR WITH ANYONE to continue with an adapted BLACKBERRY TIMES followed by PRIMAVERA then some furniture had to be moved :-))
SALVADOR had a great entree story (no, I am not going to tell) VENUS PASSES BY THE SUN was followed by DOING THE BEST I CAN (had me breaking out in tears for the first, but not the last time that night). The guitar picking was so brilliant, it was a completely new Barry for me. A MIRACLE CURE - I do not remember that well but hope it will be on the new record we all can expect pretty soon we have been told..
PEACE ON EARTH was a LOVELY and breathtaking instrumental, played with such virtitude, that I was only staring on your man's right hand and couldn't take my eyes away.
INNOCENCE and GYPSY MUSIC - which held him barely on the stool, and me barely in my very comfy seat
IN BETWEEN DAYS and NOW figure this: DIAMOND MOUNTAIN - in a very new but nevertheless intense and lovely version. I wouldn't have thought to hear THIS song ever again from the NEW Luka.
Then the hanky had to come out again for THANK YOU FOR BRINGING ME HERE.
A long misplaced CITY OF CHICAGO was nicer, than I have ever heard it from anybody else (maybe that's due to the fact, that it was now back at his maker)
We could all join it at the singalong SUNNY SAILOR BOY, which could have ended the show but the sold out house demanded more: WHEREVER YOU GO THERE YOU ARE - which ALWAYS has me in tears, no matter how joyful I am, but it is just so nice...
YOU COULDN'T HAVE COME AT A BETTER TIME wiped them off and replaced the melancholy with a BIIIIIG Smile! The BOGMAN played his song and ended the night with SINGING BIRD

I know, I have said that upteen times before, but I have to say it again: This was the best concert I have ever listened to. And I asure you this statement is not triggered by my feverish mind or the fact that the last concert is always the best, no: there was a person in full unity with himself letting me have a bit of insight to what he thinks about and the way to express that was a very "grown-up" and maybe even "classical" concert. I truely adore his new way of playing and thanks to my friend Sandra who drove my feverish and sneezing self all the 1300km, I could witness this lovely performance Sandra, thank you for bringing me (t)here! Grateful for both the drive and the concert

- Sabine

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