**UPDATED 22nd January 2020 - Added HomeAtBerlin's German Radio Rip. Many thanks to you ;)
A reaffirmation that 3FM know how to put on a show. You take a band that's wildly popular in that region, put them in a venue that's far below their drawing power and let them do their thing. The location for this gig, the Zonnehuis in Amsterdam has a capacity of around 350 people. Compare that to the Sportpaleis which is a venue on the Black Gold tour next year with a capacity of 20,000, that I believe they've already managed to sell out, and you can see how special this was. I had a similar experience in 1992 when I saw The Cure on my birthday, no less, at a local venue called the Mayfair in Newcastle. That held 1500 people and at this point The Cure were a stadium filling band all around the world. It was magical.
So this was the first opportunity to have a longer, more full setlist from the band with the addition of Sergio on cello. The big question going in was would they pull out any surprises? The recent avalanche of radio spots they undertook tended to rely upon the usual standards, so there were some songs which were expected. Perhaps there was room for something that would match the sense of occasion?
There was.
What we have here is the complete running order. I've confirmed this with Hannah and they aired one more song that wasn't even supposed to be on the official setlist, The Phone Book. They also played a dormant monster in the form of Two Hearted Spider, as well as the full version of Upside Down for what I believe is the first time in public.
Acoustic events can often be quiet, brittle events in terms of how they sound. You're dealing with unplugged instruments that can reduce the volume and therefore the impact of the material. The addition of Sergio to the band has counteracted that effect, with his cello playing not only providing a new shade to the colour palette but also expanding the sound to better fill the space around it. It's such a mournful instrument anyway, and you can get some really good "sad sounds" from it, which considering the band he's currently playing with is so very appropriate. These acoustic shows have actually reminded me a lot of In Utero period Nirvana, and in particular their unplugged show for MTV with Lori Goldston. Her playing improved the music, and the music was already pretty damn bullet proof. I'm thinking of tracks like Dumb and Jesus Don't Want me for a Sunbeam. She, and in turn the whole band made you listen to things differently.
There's some MP3s and also the photos from the official 3FM website available to download below, enjoy the music and thanks to 3FM for putting it all together ;)
stream it here
3FM MP3s
No Sound But The Wind - download here
Munich - download here
An End Has A Start - download here
Cold - download here
Two Hearted Spider - download here
Magazine - download here
Violence - download here
Upside Down - download here
Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors - download here
Papillon - download here
Half A World Away - download here
A Ton Of Love - download here
Blood - download here
The Phone Book - download here
HomeatBerlin's German Radio Rip
stream it here
Bonus Material
stream it here
Photos - download here
Blood filmed by Annmarie
From possibly the closest vantage point you can get without actually being onstage, here's a video shot by Annmarie who was situated right next to Tom for Blood. It's awesome, many thanks Annmarie.
stream it here
brought to you with lots and lots of lemming-love :) x
