Gig Review: Laura Jansen at Patronaat

Laura Jansen Patronaat

Laura Jansen plays intimate Valentine’s Day gig in Haarlem

On Friday the 14th of February, het Patronaat in Haarlem was filled with quite a lot of couples who chose to spend their Valentine’s Day, listening to a concert of Laura Jansen. The Dutch singer is busy touring across the Netherlands in all kinds of club venues. Jansen released her second album Elba last year and is still busy promoting the record on tour. In Haarlem she played a nice mix of songs from her debut Bells and this second record in front of an enthusiastic crowd.

Jansen brought her friend Glen Faria, also known as MC Fit, to play the support act. Although this combination of Laura’s singer-songwriter pop and MC Fit’s Hip Hop seems a bit unexpected at first, Jansen and Fit explain that they both tell honest stories in their music and that this is how they are connected. MC Fit’s stories, tunes, enthusiasm and charming personality warms the crowd up nicely and when he returns to the stage together with Laura, at the end of her set, to play the duet ‘Stapje Terug’, it is completely clear that the music of the two actually matches pretty good. They sound great together and it makes for one of the absolute highlights of the evening.

Laura Jansen Patronaat

After MC Fit warmed up the audience, Laura Jansen takes to the stage completely alone and she opens her show behind the piano, singing the personal and fragile ballad ‘Pretty Me’. Throughout the song, the crowd is completely silent and listens carefully to every word. In the first part of the gig, she and her guitartist and drummer, focus more on songs from her first record, like the Kings Of Leon-cover ‘Use Somebody’, which was Jansen’s first hit. Everybody in het Patronaat sings along which makes for quite a magical moment. Singles ‘Wicked World’ and ‘Single Girls’ get a lot of response from the audience as well.

Halfway through the gig Jansen decides to shake things up a bit as she takes her ukulele and stands in the middle of the venue, asking everybody to sit down. Then she starts to sing ‘If Moon Was Cookie’, made famous by Sesamestreet’s Cookie Monster. This might sound like a weird choice of song, but the result was actually a pretty cute moment. After this, she promised that the rest of the show would be a little more uptempo and would allow people to dance along. That is where she started to sing more songs of her sophomore album Elba. Songs like ‘Light Hits The Room’, and ‘Lighthouse’ are a little more drum-based which is nice for the diversity in the show. During ‘Smalltown (Come Home)’, a brilliant mash-up of Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ and ‘Johnny Come Home’ by the Fine Young Cannibals, she managed to get the crowd dancing.

Laura Jansen Patronaat

Her beautiful and pure rendition of her latest hit ‘Queen of Elba’ was another highlight. This is definitely one of the best pop songs of last year and her delivery of it is outstanding. Throughout the show it is obvious that Laura is one of the best vocalists of the Netherlands and both albums are full of great songs that reach their full potential in a live setting. Her personality on stage is as disarming as ever and she definitely gave her audience a Valentine’s Day to remember.

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Concert Recensie: Laura Jansen in het Patronaat

Laura Jansen Patronaat

Laura Jansen speelt intiem Valentijnsconcert in het Patronaat

Het Patronaat was vrijdagavond 14 februari goed gevuld met vooral veel stelletjes die besloten om op Valentijnsdag naar een concert van Laura Jansen te komen kijken. De zangeres speelde in Haarlem in het kader van haar clubtour waar ze het hele land mee doorreist. Jansen bracht vorig jaar haar tweede plaat Elba uit, die ze nu nog steeds promoot met deze tour. Ze speelde een fijne mix van liedjes van haar debuut Bells en deze opvolger voor een enthousiast publiek.

Jansen bracht haar goede vriend Glen Faria, ook wel bekend als MC Fit, mee om het voorprogramma te verzorgen. Op het eerste gezicht lijkt deze combinatie van Jansen’s singer-songwriter pop en Fit’s hiphop wat vreemd, maar de artiesten leggen uit dat ze beide persoonlijke verhalen in hun muziek vertellen en dat dit de belangrijkste overeenkomst is. Fit weet het publiek in te pakken met zijn sterke teksten, pakkende liedjes, zijn enthousiasme en charmante persoonlijkheid. Als hij aan het einde van Laura’s optreden samen met haar opkomt, om het duet ‘Stapje Terug’ ten gehore te brengen, wordt meteen duidelijk dat hun muziekstijlen eigenlijk heel goed bij elkaar passen. Ze klinken prachtig samen en dit levert dan ook één van de hoogtepunten van de avond op.

Laura Jansen Patronaat

Nadat MC Fit het publiek goed had opgewarmd, kwam Laura Jansen helemaal alleen het podium op om haar optreden achter de piano te beginnen met het liedje ‘Pretty Me’. Deze persoonlijke en breekbare ballad wist de zaal gelijk helemaal stil te krijgen. Iedereen leek met ingehouden adem naar elk woord te luisteren. Hierna focust ze, begeleid door een drummer en een gitarist, het eerste gedeelte van het optreden vooral op liedjes van haar debuutplaat zoals haar eerste hit ‘Use Somebody’, een cover van Kings Of Leon. Dit wordt door de hele zaal uit volle borst meegezongen, wat een magisch momentje oplevert. Ook de singles ‘Wicked World’ en ‘Single Girls’ worden in de zaal goed ontvangen.

Halverwege het optreden besluit Jansen alles even helemaal anders te doen. Ze verplaatst zich naar het midden van de zaal waar ze iedereen oproept om eventjes te gaan zitten. Daar zet ze ‘If Moon Was Cookie’, bekend van Sesamstraat’s Cookie Monster, in. Het lijkt misschien een nogal vreemde liedjeskeuze, maar Jansen weet het zeer schattig en aandoenlijk te brengen. Hierna belooft de zangeres dat de rest van de show wat meer uptempo zal zijn, waardoor het publiek ook een beetje kan dansen. Hier richt ze zich meer op haar recente werk. Liedjes als ‘Light Hits The Room’ en ‘Lighthouse’ hebben sterke drumpartijen wat de afwisseling in de show ten goede komt. Met ‘Smalltown (Come Home)’, een briljante mash-up van Bronski Beat’s ‘Smalltown Boy’ en ‘Johnny Come Home’ van de Fine Young Cannibals, weet ze de zaal met gemak aan het dansen te krijgen.

Laura Jansen Patronaat

Een prachtig pure versie van haar meest recente hit ‘Queen Of Elba’ levert ook een mooi moment op. Sowieso is dit één van de beste popliedjes van het afgelopen jaar en Jansen weet het met haar live vertolking naar een nog hoger niveau te tillen. Gedurende het hele optreden wordt duidelijk dat Laura absoluut een van de sterkste zangeressen van Nederland is met twee prachtige albums op haar naam. De liedjes komen live vaak nog beter uit de verf dan op plaat en Jansen weet met haar ontwapenende persoonlijkheid het publiek zonder moeite voor zich te winnen. Ze heeft haar fans absoluut een Valentijnsdag bezorgd die ze niet snel zullen vergeten.

The best pop singles of 2013

It is time for the last list of 2013. It was a good year of music. Here are my favourite pop singles of the year.

25. Karise Eden – Threads Of Silence
Karise Eden won The Voice Australia last year and launched her first self-written single ‘Threads Of Silence’ a while later. The song is a heartfelt piano ballad where she shows the strength of her vocals in the big chorus. It kind of reminds a bit of Adele’s more stripped down tracks, which is obviously a compliment. Impressive debut!

24. Tom Odell – Another Love
Tom Odell launched his career successfully with the beautiful and heartbreaking single ‘Another Love’. The lyrics are touching and definitely relatable and Odell’s delivery is heartfelt. The moment where the second verse kicks in, always gives me goose bumps. Those lyrics are so honest and powerful. What a song people, what a song!

23. Laleh – Colors
Laleh had to follow up the huge success of ‘Some Die Young’ and the album Sjung. She came back with a single and album called Colors. The single is not miles away from the sound ‘Some Die Young’ has, but it is even more catchy and a little bit more uplifting. Her style of both her voice and her writing are distinctive and ‘Colors’ is a typical Laleh track in that sense. Absolutely nothing wrong with that!


22. Céline Dion – Loved Me Back To Life

I have never been a big fan of Céline Dion, but in collaboration with Sia, she managed to create on of the best singles of the year. ‘Loved Me Back To Life’ is a ballad with a modern sound and of course Céline’s voice sounds strong and emotional. For Sia, it was one of the many successful jobs as a writer for other artists. They should work together more often, because Celine’s voice fits this type of songs perfectly.

21. Lorde – Tennis Court
Lorde, the young singer from New Zealand, was one of the biggest discoveries of the year. While her song ‘Royals’ turned out to be a worldwide hit, I still think ‘Tennis Court’ is her best track. Everything is so on point here: her distinctive vocals, the fresh production, the honest lyrics and that undeniably catchy melody. Such a smash!

20. Tove Lo – Habits
This Swedish young woman came seemingly out of nowhere with one of the best pop tracks of the year. ‘Habits’ was her first single, but the heartbreaking character of the lyrics in combination with that immensely strong chorus is such an event to listen to. She showed she has more up her sleeve with single ‘Out Of Mind’ that almost made this list as well. Welcome Tove, you are one of my favourite pop stars from now on.

19. Cassadee Pope – Wasting All These Tears
Cassadee Pope won The Voice USA last year and followed her mentor Blake Shelton’s path and started to make country music. Her first single ‘Wasting All These Tears’ is a big pop/country belter, that you could expect from the likes of Carrie Underwood as well. It is a brilliant song with a huge chorus and strong lyrics. Cassadee has such a beautiful tone to her voice which makes this song all the more special.

18. Marco Mengoni – L’Essenziale
Famous Italian pop star Marco Mengoni won the San Remo Festival and represented Italy in Eurovision with the beautiful ballad ‘L’Essenziale’. The lyrics are touching, the melody is beautiful and Mengoni has got a distinctive and incredible sound of voice. Who does not melt when he sings in Italian about how he would create new places for you when your world falls apart? Lovely!

17. Birdy – Wings
Birdy came back swinging this year. She left behind the piano covers and presented a different sound with the single ‘Wings’. It is such a good song with a melancholic atmosphere, beautiful lyrics and one hell of a strong chorus. Birdy’s soaring vocals top it all off. This single definitely shows her potential as an interesting pop star.

16. Agnetha Fältskog – When You Really Loved Someone
ABBA’s Agnetha Fältskog made a comeback with new original material. She released the beautiful song ‘When You Really Loved Someone’ as the first single. It is a traditional pop ballad with a quite modern production. The lyrics about losing the love of your life are simple, but really effective and Agnetha gives them more meaning with her fragile delivery. She shows that she has still got it vocally as well.

15. Lady Gaga – Applause
All eyes were on Lady Gaga to make a big comeback. The opinions differed a lot when she first premiered lead single ‘Applause’, but the strong pop song turned out to be a success in the charts and on the radio. It is not the best thing she has done so far, but the chorus is great and the lyrics are sharp as ever. Gaga one again showed she is still relevant in the pop world.

14. Florence + The Machine – Over The Love
Florence + The Machine took a break from recording, but still found time to create a song for the soundtrack of the fantastic movie, The Great Gatsby. It is a beautiful song with touching lyrics and of course Florence makes it even better with her impressive powerhouse vocals. The build-up towards the last chorus is very well executed. One more The Great Gatsby track to come in this list!

13. Icona Pop – I Love It (feat. Charli XCX)
This was one of the biggest hits of the year and probably one of the catchiest hooks that I’ve heard in quite a while. This pop banger works very well on the dance floor and it is hard to resist screaming along to the chorus. It’s is a great track to let off some steam and frustration. Such a deserved worldwide hit for these girls.

12. AlunaGeorge – Your Drums, Your Love
AlunaGeorge’s first official single is still their best song to date. ‘Your Drums, Your Love’ is a song that is built completely around an immense chorus that gets to you every time you hear it. Aluna’s soft vocals work brilliantly in combination with George’s productions. This song shows off their lovely style best.

11. Charli XCX – You (Ha Ha Ha)
Pumping beats, screaming synths, smooth vocals and feisty lyrics. These are the four elements that make Charli XCX’s ‘You (Ha Ha Ha)’ into a geat track. The production sounds great and it is so hard to resist singing along to that ‘in your face’ chorus. It still sounds fresh every time I hear it.

10. Amanda Fondell – Dumb
It is a shame Amanda Fondell did not get far in Melodifestivalen, because ‘Dumb’ is such a great pop song. The verses are even better than the chorus, but the repetition of ‘done/gone’ etcetera, works haunting as well. The middle-eight that almost feels like an emotional breakdown is stunning and her delivery is convincing. I don’t care what the Swedish people voted, this remains a fantastic pop song.

09. Veronica Maggio – Sergels Torg
Swedish singer Veronica Maggio made a big comeback with her single ‘Sergels Torg’. The lyrics are sad and heartbreaking, but the melody is quite catchy and uplifting at the same time. You do not have to understand a word of what she sings in order to feel the emotion in the last part where she almost screams her frustration and desperation away. Such a heartfelt track, I love it.

08. Anouk – Birds
Anouk gave The Netherlands a spot in the final, and even a top 10 position, for the first time in years at the Eurovision Song Contest. She performed her heartbreaking, cinematic, melancholic and above all gorgeous ballad ‘Birds’. The orchestral sound works well with her voice and the track is grand, moving and captivating.

07. Miley Cyrus – We Can’t Stop
2013 was a huge year for Miley Cyrus, who transformed into the most talked about pop star with her controversial performances and outfits. However, miss Cyrus has the material to back it up, because ‘We Can’t Stop’ is a brilliant party track. It is insanely catchy and the production is great. Wouldn’t we all like to twerk a bit to this track? I thought so!

06. Haim – Forever
The girls of Haim broke through in 2013 and their first single ‘Forever’ is definitely one of the best things this year in pop had to offer. The production is perfect, their voices sound wonderful together and that chorus is just undeniable. The track swings and it immediately showed the sisters already found their own style and sound with their first single. Impressive, indeed!

05. Miley Cyrus – Wrecking Ball
With ‘We Can’t Stop’, Miley Cyrus showed she knows how to party, but she also showed her even better emotional side on ‘Wrecking Ball’. This is one of the best pop ballads released in recent years. Miley’s delivery is heartbreaking, especially in the bridge where she sounds fragile and completely honest. The chorus literally hits like a wrecking ball and this all results in one huge pop ballad.

04. Emmelie De Forest – Only Teardrops
Emmelie De Forest managed to win the Eurovision Song Contest in 2013 with her song ‘Only Teardrops’. Although the song sounds tailor made for Eurovision, it has something fresh and contemporary at the same time. Above all, the melody is just irresistibly catchy. The flute, her voice and the drums all complement the strong melody and it made ‘Only Teardrops’ a deserving winner in Eurovision and one of the best tracks of the year.

03. Laura Jansen – Queen Of Elba
Laura Jansen surprised me with her fantastic single ‘Queen Of Elba’. From the moment I heard this song for the first time, I knew there was something special about it. The lyrics about crowning herself the queen of Elba and coming to terms with a life on her own are brilliant. The melody is lush and her voice is enchanting as always. More of this please!

02. Lana Del Rey – Young & Beautiful
‘Young & Beautiful’ was the only new single by Lana this year, but it is once again an incredible song. The melancholy in the lyrics fit the sound of the song very well and the movie The Great Gatsby could not have wished for a better soundtrack than this. Lana sounds beautiful and her delivery of the lines “Will you still love me when I’m no longer young and beautiful?” sounds honest and fragile. What an utterly gorgeous song!

01. Margaret Berger – I Feed You My Love
The best song of the year for me is ‘I Feed You My Love’, the song that represented Norway in the Eurovision Song Contest. From the first seconds on I am captivated by it. It sounds dark and fresh at the same time and the heavy beats and production are definitely ‘in your face’. The lyrics of the song (‘You put a knife against my back and you dare me to face the attack’) fit the dark atmosphere very well and it just sounds so effortlessly cool. Margaret’s voice is perfect on ‘I Feed You My Love’ and I really need her to release a new album soon.