Blues Express has now been happening for a number of years, and the location is fairly unique, around 10 stages spread over 2 old mining locations. Tiny streets, and a sea of people. No direct access, and thus a logistical nightmare which was felt quite nicely at the end of the show, when the shuttle busses could just not keep up with the demand, poor planning or something unforeseen? It sure looked like something was wrong as the busses came with such irregularity, and were so overcrowded, that by the end we decided to hoof it, and from the next intersection call a cab. But still a very fun night! But now let’s get to the important part of the evening, the Blues Pills who took the Bofferding stage around 21:30, and opened their set with High Class Woman. The live power of this band is just apparent right from the start, as is their joy of being on stage and playing! All of them wearing a smile for the majority of the show! Elin was dressed in a black 1 piece and black boots which she had taken off before the first song was finished! I love when people dance barefoot and thus connect more with the world around them! A little softer ground and less pebbles in front of the stage and I’d have done the same! I think when they started, the place in front of the stage was not quite packed, but by the time I turned around again, shortly into the second song it was filling up nicely! Considering the smiles I saw on my friends’ faces, I knew they were enjoying it as much as I, and the band! The sound was not ideal for the first few songs, being fairly heavy on the bass end, and the rest being a bit drowned out, but even this did not take away from the fun, and enjoyment of this band! Blues Pills are an excellent live band, and the joy and energy you get from them, makes up for the sound troubles, but I hope they will eventually find a sound tech that is as amazing as they are, and thus make them an even better live band! Because with the exception of the crispest possible sound, they have it all, great stage presence, energy, pure power, musical talent, great songs, and not too forget, the power of Elin to front the whole thing! She is just an amazing singer, she hits the notes spot on despite whirling around the stage like a Tasmanian devil, and the ease and pleasure with which she takes command of the crowd, is breathtaking! She just seems so natural and in her place up there it’s amazing, and she is just quite charming, in the way she speaks with the crowd.
Unfortunately I did not jot down the setlist, and did not find it online either, but it was a solid mix of old songs, a few new ones, and a couple of covers! For me the absolute highlights were Black Smoke, Little Sun, Lady in Gold (which actually gave me goosebumps from beginning to end), Ain’t No change, Bliss (just love the Swedish version, no clue what she is singing, but it sure feels like bliss?), Astralplane, and of course Devil Man! For Devil Man which was their last regular track of the night, Elin invited the crowd to sing along, and to my surprise it actually sounded fairly loud right from the beginning, and again at the end, when she alternated a gnarly “Oh Devil Man” with the crowd. The absolute highlight of the evening for me, because it was also the biggest surprise in the setlist was their cover of Jefferson Airplane’s “Somebody to love”. Elin announced the track saying that they would now play a cover that we would recognize, and it was only the second time they played it, and that she hoped they could do the song justice. Well at least in my humble opinion: FUCK YEAH! Not only did they do it justice, they made it maybe even a tad more powerful than the original, and with their rendition just blew my mind! I sure hope they’ll release a live recording of this song sometime! Just WOW! Following Somebody to love they played the aforementioned Devil Man, and then left the stage about a quarter to 11, and thus a little early. They came back under loud cheers, despite the fact that the sound guy already played some other song, and played us their version of Gypsy! I sure could have listened to them for a lot longer, but yeah it was over after this! On the good side it left us elated but yeah on the bad side, it was over. Just a mindblowing gig, and I for one look forward to seeing them again! The crowd seemed to enjoy the gig a lot overall, and there were lots of cheers, and even some dancing which is fairly rare in Luxembourg. I must have bumped into a few people, as two older gentleman, when they left demonstratively bumped into me, but you know it’s a rock show, and when you dance sometimes you touch someone.. so I just looked at the second one, and said, no problem, just peace! To which he did smile after all, so all good.
Following the Blues Pills, we walked around a bit, listening to a band here and there, but nothing was able to measure up to the performance we had just seen, so we decided to head home.. This is where the logistic chaos became apparent, it was about 12:30 so the festival was supposed to go on for another 2.5 hours, but a lot of people apparently either wanted to head home or change sites, and the busses just did not keep up.. it was so bad we even saw some fighting breaking out in one of the busses, and then decided to take the train, but this was already sold out long before the last ride at 2am.. So we just decided to get another drink and walk up hill to the next intersection and call a cab to take us back to the park and ride. Besides this, which I imagine has to be a nightmare for the organization of the festival right from the start.. I mean get around 10-15’000 people to a festival and back by bus, on tiny streets is no easy feat, the festival is a very gnarly event, and well at least if Blues Pills play is more than worth a visit!
