Yesterday Zita Swoon gave an excellent performance at the Doornroosje in Nijmegen, Holland. The band had much fun playing and this had a clear and positive effect. Here's the setlist:

Still half a friend
Waiting 'til you're gone (with long intro)
Song for a dead singer ('liedje voor een dooie zanger' as Stef proclaimed)
She = like meeting Jesus
Ice guitars
Stamina
My bond with you and your planet: disco!
One perfect day
At the barber's
How can I resist kissing her on the cheeks? (good samples!)
The middle wave
Love is a heavy brick
? (another song about Josie, maybe an extension of the previous song)
Ragdoll blues (excellent rendition)
I'm on fire (Springsteen's song again merged into Ragdoll blues)
-----------
The man wolf
The French trombone
Everyday I wear a greasy black feather on my hat (not sure on this title, but this song was the first song at the Leidsekade Live set from '96 or so; it may have another title, 'Bo Didley' or something)
-----------
About the successful emotional recovery of a gal named Maria

>wauw, you all who didn't seen it, you mist something, didn't they Natascha?

They did, and to complete your and Pauls episode I'll give my impressions of the show, of which I can't decide whether or not it was better as the ZS-gig in the Westergasfabriek this summer. And that one was amazing...

Zita Swoon didn't play very well at the beginning, they really had to get into it, but starting with 'still half my friend' is pretty difficult I guess. But as soon as they started to play 'Song for a dead singer' the magic was there. After an hour Stef said 'if you all think we're playing too long......Well, we're having a good time' and they played on and one, for two hours in total. Highlight of the evening was imo the Love is a heavy brick-Ragdoll Blues-improvisation thing they did: Love is a heavy brick ("Dit liedje gaat over een meisje dat niet goed weet wat of ze wil") was beautiful, at the end the crowd wasn't allowed to cheer, Tom played some more on the piano and Stef sang more about Josie, I guess about what happens with her later on, but I guess Jinthro will be able to give us the lyrics to that??? Then he sang something like: "and I turned the radio on, the music made my mind wander... then the pianoman played an instrumental song....." and Stef looked at Tom, who looked back with big eyes like "who? me?????", so he played on a bit and turned it into Ragdoll Blues which made Stef smile in a beautiful way. Ragdoll blues was *very* extended, with the 'fire' lyrics in it; screwed up in a funny way. When that song was ended Stef immediately went on playing something else, improvising something on his guitar, he went up to the mic, but couldn't think of things to sing, so he said 'sorry.... sorry' and played on. Bjorn wondered what Stef was playing, and then picked up the tune. Then Tomas and Aarich came into it and Stef sang his lyrics. A beautiful improvisation was born: really an exciting song. I love Zita Swoon more and more every time I see them: the radiance and magic dEUS had in their early days is what Zita Swoon have now. I used to think that this particular magic was something between Tom Barman and Stef, but I believe more and more that Stef is the biggest part in that: he gives it to the people he's playing with. I saw five very happy people playing last night, it made me very happy as well :-)

Later addition by Natascha: Am I mistaken or did "Middlewave" start by someone in the crowd (at the right part of the stage so Stella should be able to fill us in about it) shouting "people please!"? Stef had that glimpse in his eyes after hearing that and answered with "look out for the most fragile, electrifying..." and then the band started playing that song.

Tom had his left-hand in a bandage (or a connection Martijn??), he played a bit slower because of that. It reminded me of the dEUS gig at Lowlands 1995 -the last time Rudy played with dEUS- : he had his rightarm plastered and in a sling, but he still played very well. Which makes me wonder: is Rudy Trouvé such a genius that he plays brilliant eventhough he is tied in medical strings, or is he mistaken for a genius because it doesn't matter how badly he's injured: he plays the same way anyway(so it can't be too difficult then)?

Oh well.... I'm just still smiling and flying... :-)

I can only say, so far it's THE best show of '98 (obviously I wasn't in de Westergasfabriek....buuhuu, I couldn't make it there, sue to graduating from college :( ) Anyway...talk about it all you want, I love hearing about it...And as I'm not going to Den Haag, you all will have to tell me all about it, if you don't mind...

I know I had a blast. It made me smile all day yesterday and today (and it will for a LONG time. Stef's voice is just plain godly. Did you all hear his scream in One Perfect Day? Oh man....I about cried!! I've seen so many of their shows, but for some reasons their shows in Doornroosje are always amongst the best. Must be Doornroosje...I was wondering...what happened to Tom's hand? It obviously really hurt by the end of the night...And the kid who sets up their stuff, is that really Tom's brother? Alright, enough questions for one day...

.....

Oh god...I just loved that show....I think I'm in love with Stef's voice...*sigh*....like I wasn't before! It's just been so darn long since I heard his voice live again!