Baby Woodrose

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author BV date 05/04/14 venue DR Koncerthuset Studie 2, Copenhagen, DEN

It’s a strange feeling to get when you find out that a band you really like is playing at a venue which, at first glance, seems like an awful mismatch in terms of general aesthetics and overall atmosphere. In any case, I hadn’t really ever thought about matching up Baby Woodrose and Koncerthuset which, from my point of view, seems to be one of those places where the atmosphere is generally a bit full of itself and somewhat fancy, if you will – a stark contrast to what I associate with the music of Baby Woodrose which is straight to the point, no frills psychedelic garage-rock. However mismatched I might have believed it to be though, I ventured out to Koncerthuset’s studio 2 to once again experience a band which I never quite seem to get tired of.

All photos courtesy of Christian Søes

Baby Woodrose

Arriving at the venue somewhere around 20:00, my companions for the night and I realized, or rather remembered, that we had seen a notice saying that there would be no support act on this night. So as the clock eventually reached 21:15 Baby Woodrose took the stage in a humble, yet attention-grabbing manner which was briefly interrupted by a faulty instrument-cable. - Small issues solved, Baby Woodrose launched into the upbeat set-opener “Information Overload” which proved to be a perfect opening track due to its forceful riff and quirky lead-guitar parts that quickly got a hold of the crowd. The band subsequently launched into “What a Burn” – a track that, if anything, can get some people dancing whilst instigating mild cases of sing-alongs in some portions of the crowd. At this point I also began to wonder why such small portions of the crowd were acting out and actively moving about. My conclusion was quickly drawn, as I attributed the stoic nature of the crowd to the overwhelming, delightfully psychedelic visuals that were accompanying Baby Woodrose’s mind expanding garage rock on this very evening, seeing that they were highly addictive and enticing.

With “Disconnected” Baby Woodrose threw themselves at a guaranteed crowd-pleaser. “This is a song about being a loser” remarked front-man Lorenzo Woodrose, before hurling out lyrics like; “People try to tell me that I’m no good / That I do what I want and not what I should / It’s not my fault that I don’t belong / It’s the world around me that’s just got it all wrong”. These lyrics obviously resounded clearly to an audience that probably recognized at least something of the feeling that was being conveyed from stage. If one didn’t feel entirely swayed by the lyrical side however, the band was luckily also on fire on the instrumental side. Flurries of dual guitar solos, heavy and forceful drumming and groovy bass-licks where of the essence and we, the crowd, got plenty of everything in this tightly packed, yet astonishingly clear soundscape.

During “Love Comes Down” the band slowed the tempo down a bit, providing an effective breathing space wherein one’s body could rest up for the oncoming and inevitable frenzy of movement. However, “Love Comes Down” worked on many more levels than as a mere breathing space. Take for instance the sublime vocal harmonies provided by Mads Saaby and Kåre Joensen which sounded utterly exquisite and really benefitted from the sharply focused mix. “D’ya Get What You Give?” then followed and became the first true highlight of the evening for me, personally, as I’ve always loved the repetitive and never-ending nature of the track whilst it still maintains some sort of pop-sensibility. The rendition of the track on this particular night did not fail to meet the expectations as it was droning, rocking and soothing all at the same time, with Lorenzo Woodrose displaying some pretty cool falsetto-like vocals at certain points of the song.

Oddly enough the band chose to once again slow down the proceedings with “Emily”. However, the real treat was actually that they played a noticeably stripped down version of the track wherein Hans Beck’s drumming duties had been reduced to utilizing the hi-hat whilst Mads Saaby and Kåre Joensen provided a subtle backing for Lorenzo Woodrose’s chiming guitar and haunting vocal work. As per what could probably be deemed tradition by now, Baby Woodrose’s most psyched out work of the night came in the form of crowd-favourites; “A Child of A Few Hours”, “The World Ain’t Round, It’s Square” and “Baby Blows Your Mind” – a veritable triple-threat of tracks best suited for the live setting wherein the instrumental sections can obtain plenty of howling feedback, fuzzy grittiness and reverberating echo madness so as to become a proper freak-out that would then go on to end the initial part of their set.

Naturally, the band came back for encores – settling on three in total via the microphones as someone had been up on stage during the brief intermission to claim the set-lists for himself. The first of the encores was the trusty “Pouring Water”. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; if you want to get a decent party going, you definitely won’t go wrong with this track. I know it, the band knows it and the crowd most definitely knew as well, as the venue was brimming with energy – forming a stark contrast to the beginnings of the set where most people, myself included, were captivated by the sprawling psychedelic images on the backdrop. With a few words regarding the legality of certain plants, the band then kicked off the absolute highlight of the night in the form of “Right to Get High”. If anything on this night spawned a sing-along, this was most definitely it. The simplistic chorus of the track created the framework for an experience wherein most crowd-members (from where I was standing) had finally joined the festivities by singing along and dancing like mad-men. Closing this fine evening with the trusty “Born to Lose”, Baby Woodrose left the stage to great applause – positively proving me wrong in stating that Koncerthuset and Baby Woodrose were a mismatch – in fact, it suddenly seemed like a perfect fit.

9

Setlist:

  • 1. Information Overload
  • 2. What a Burn
  • 3. Disconnected
  • 4. Let Yourself Go
  • 5. Here Today Gone Tomorrow
  • 6. Nothing is Real
  • 7. Volcano
  • 8. Love Comes Down
  • 9. Light up Your Mind
  • 10. D’ya Get What You Give?
  • 11. Emily
  • 12. A Child of a Few Hours (West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band cover)
  • 13. The World Ain’t Round, It’s Square (The Savages cover)
  • 14. Baby Blows Your Mind

--Encore--

  • 15. Pouring Water
  • 16. Right to Get High
  • 17. Born to Lose

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