Blog » Bill’s blog – February 1-4, 2009
Monday 23rd February 2009
Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings are back in Amsterdam, with a concert planned for the evening in Haarlem. The concert, held at the Philharmonie Haarlem, is a matinee performance, and Bill and the band travelled by bus along with jazz guitarist Robin Nolan to the venue.
A quick sound check and a run-through of the songs that are scheduled to feature Robin, and then Bill and band relaxed backstage with drinks. The gig kicked off at 2:30pm to a packed theatre, with the first set performing I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), All Night Long (Bill), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), Minor Swing (Instr) (Robin), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A short 20-minute break, then on with the second set that was warmly greeted by the crowd. The second set included I'm Ready (Albert), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie) (where Robin joined us again), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), You Never Can Tell (Bill), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
For the encore (in response to a standing ovation), Robin joined the stage for Tear It Up and Crying In The Rain.
With the evening free from performing, Bill and the band headed back to Amsterdam by bus. In the evening, Bill and Tony headed out to the Melkbar – one of Amsterdam’s more famous performance venues – to see Ellen Ten Damme and her band, who performed an impromptu show to what Bill called an ‘arty’ audience of around 80 people. Bill says that her confidence, exuberance and energy were very striking, and he thought her two musicians performed well.
On Monday, February 2, Bill got the news from Suzanne that London had been hit with a blanket of snow. In the afternoon, Bill and the band headed to Schouwburg Het Park in Hoorn – arriving to perform a sound check. Bill also spent some time in a ‘meet and greet’ session with some teachers and students, taking time to sign their musical instruments – and arranged for them to see the afternoon’s show from the side stage.
The show started at just after 8pm, with the band performing I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), All Night Long (Bill), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley) as the first set.
With the packed venue rocking, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings were back on for the second set, performing I'm Ready (Albert), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), You Never Can Tell (Bill), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
The band performed an encore of Crying In The Rain and Tear It Up to the crowd, who were on their feet and the band left to a standing ovation.
With the tour now over, Tuesday saw Bill up early and packing for the return trip to London, travelling back to Brussels Midi railway station, then onto London via Eurostar.
After travelling for most of Tuesday, on Wednesday, Bill took time to catch up with all his outstanding mail, then went through all the photos and paperwork from the tour. Then, it was time to catch up with some cricket – West Indies and England, which Bill watched as he worked.
Photo by Gert Gort
A quick sound check and a run-through of the songs that are scheduled to feature Robin, and then Bill and band relaxed backstage with drinks. The gig kicked off at 2:30pm to a packed theatre, with the first set performing I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), All Night Long (Bill), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), Minor Swing (Instr) (Robin), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley).
A short 20-minute break, then on with the second set that was warmly greeted by the crowd. The second set included I'm Ready (Albert), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie) (where Robin joined us again), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), You Never Can Tell (Bill), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
For the encore (in response to a standing ovation), Robin joined the stage for Tear It Up and Crying In The Rain.
With the evening free from performing, Bill and the band headed back to Amsterdam by bus. In the evening, Bill and Tony headed out to the Melkbar – one of Amsterdam’s more famous performance venues – to see Ellen Ten Damme and her band, who performed an impromptu show to what Bill called an ‘arty’ audience of around 80 people. Bill says that her confidence, exuberance and energy were very striking, and he thought her two musicians performed well.
On Monday, February 2, Bill got the news from Suzanne that London had been hit with a blanket of snow. In the afternoon, Bill and the band headed to Schouwburg Het Park in Hoorn – arriving to perform a sound check. Bill also spent some time in a ‘meet and greet’ session with some teachers and students, taking time to sign their musical instruments – and arranged for them to see the afternoon’s show from the side stage.
The show started at just after 8pm, with the band performing I Got A Woman (Georgie), Jump Jive & Wail (Albert), Show Me (Beverley), Too Later (Terry), All Night Long (Bill), Cakewalk Into Town (Geraint), Melody (Georgie/Beverley), Till I Gain Control Again (Albert), Race With The Devil (Terry), Green River (Bill/Beverley), and She's Lookin' Good (Beverley) as the first set.
With the packed venue rocking, Bill Wyman’s Rhythm Kings were back on for the second set, performing I'm Ready (Albert), Chicken Shack Boogie (Geraint), Honky Tonk Woman (Bill), Hit The Road Jack (Georgie), Sweet Soul Music (Beverley), Three Cool Cats (Georgie), That's Better For Me Baby (Terry), That Is Rock & Roll (Albert), How Strong Is A Woman (Beverley), You Never Can Tell (Bill), Johnny B. Goode (Geraint), and I Put A Spell On You (Beverley).
The band performed an encore of Crying In The Rain and Tear It Up to the crowd, who were on their feet and the band left to a standing ovation.
With the tour now over, Tuesday saw Bill up early and packing for the return trip to London, travelling back to Brussels Midi railway station, then onto London via Eurostar.
After travelling for most of Tuesday, on Wednesday, Bill took time to catch up with all his outstanding mail, then went through all the photos and paperwork from the tour. Then, it was time to catch up with some cricket – West Indies and England, which Bill watched as he worked.
Photo by Gert Gort
