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Sophia (+ string quartet) - May 27 '05: Primavera Sound Festival, Barcelona (ES) |
 Review 1 The concert was good but rather short, a little more than forty minutes. It was rather odd because when they started with 'If only', they stopped it 2 times because they were not satisfied with the sound. At first I thought they were still doing the sound check. It was only at the end of the song that I realised that the concert had already started! After 'If only' they also played 'Swept back', 'Every day', Oh my love', 'Desert song no 2', 'The river song' and 'If a change is gonna come'. Sophia played with the full band and a string quartet. The biggest problem was the Spanish audience who didn't stop talking! When the gig started, there were no more than 150-200 people but as the concert went on, the audience kept growing to reach 800-900 spectators. Seems like the New Order gig was rather banal! Fred. Review 2 Holidays Are Nice… Is Primavera Sounds the best music festival in the calendar? Definitely! Beautiful setting, beautiful weather, beautiful people. And because it runs from 7pm till dawn over three days you get to party all night and sleep all day. From Manchester to Melbourne you’re humble scribe has never had so much fun with his clothes on. And in no way was my opinion swayed by the free VIP bar…honest! No, the main reason is the music maaaan!!! Sounds 2005 featured Mercury Rev, New Order, Iggy and the Stooges, Echo and the Bunnymen and Sonic Youth to name a few. And of course there was Sophia. Finally, after nearly decade of trials, tribulations and top tunes, Robin Proper-Sheppard, resplendent in white pants to mark the occasion, finally got around to shipping the Sophia show to Spain. But despite the idyllic setting and carnival atmosphere it wasn’t the ideal situation in which to play. The timeslot Sophia was given overlapped between New Order and Mercury Rev, and to make matters worse it was moved 10 minutes forward at the last moment. This meant that as Sophia took to the Danzka CD Drome Stage people were just beginning to drift in. Luckily Sophia has never been a band to let a timetable blip ruin festivities. They blasted into the seven-song starting with “If Only” and overcame niggling sound problems to end with a blistering “If A Change Is Gonna Come”. The only shame was that they were gone too soon just as the locals were beginning to realise what they’ve been missing out on for all these years. All in all, sublime stuff. Roll on Basel! Paul J Laverty Review 3 Sophia anunciaban su primera visita a nuestro país como un concierto con formación completa de banda y cuarteto de cuerda, lo que me predisponía para disfrutar del concierto más esperado de todo el festival en un recogimiento que la coincidencia de horario con New Order hizo propicia. Unos diez minutos antes de su hora de comienzo, Sophia comenzaron a tocar las primeras notas de "If only", uno de los mejores temas de su mejor trabajo hasta la fecha, el inmenso "The infinite circle". Todo pintaba maravillosamente, sonido perfecto, poca gente frente al escenario….. Pero a partir de ahí, pocas concesiones a su sonido originario. Robin Proper-Sheppard y compañía tiraron de su repertorio más guitarrero y ofrecieron un contundente y perfecto concierto de rock. Apenas recuperaron algún tema más de su vertiente más melancólica como "Swept back", "Everyday" o "Desert song nº 2", y para desesperanza personal, tiraron de temas como "If a change is gonna come", "Oh my love", o endurecieron otros como "The river". En definitiva, un excelente concierto de rock con dos lecturas bien diferentes. Los que les vieron sin conocer sus discos de estudio, se encontraron con una excelente banda, compacta y precisa, y los que íbamos adorando sus primeros trabajos, y esperando una translación al directo parecida al de aquel "De natchen", nos quedamos con las ganas. Quizás si les hubiesen programado en el Auditorio… Juanra, www.moonpalacefanzine.com Review 4 Robin Proper-Sheppard van Sophia had er op het eerste zicht niet zo veel zin in. Misschien was hij bang dat zijn rustige muziek niet tot zijn recht zou komen op een festivalpodium. Een onterechte vrees natuurlijk, zoals hij reeds meermaals bewees. En ook nu weer want openers ‘If Only’ en ‘Swept Back’ bleven probleemloos overeind. Vanaf de gitaaruitbarsting in ‘Desert Song No. 2’ werd wel duidelijk dat dit toch een iets steviger concert zou worden dan we van Sophia gewoon zijn. ‘Every Day’ en ‘Oh My Love’ klonken erg luid dankzij een portie rockgitaren en het meegebrachte strijkerskwartet was eveneens medeverantwoordelijk voor het volle geluid. Het fenomenale ‘The River’, waarin Proper-Sheppards verleden in The God Machine weer even naar boven kwam, is al sinds 1997 de vaste afsluiter van alle concerten van Sophia. De extra lange, beukende outro was zo energiek dat het je niet onverschillig kon laten. Sinds vorig jaar volgde hierna nog steevast ‘If a Change is Gonna Come’ uit People Are Like Seasons. Geslaagd einde van een stevig rockende set. Noot: de immer stijlvolle Proper-Sheppard krijgt van mij de prijs van best geklede artiest van heel Primavera! Geertje Cools, www.kindamuzik.net Set list 1) If only 2) Swept back 3) Desert song n°2 4) Every day 5) Oh my love 6) The river song 7) If a change is gonna come Line up 'Danzka CD Drome Stage' 18:00 Sr. Chinarro 19:00 Vetiver 20:00 Micah P. Hinson 21:00 David Thomas & Two Pale Boys 22:00 Kristin Hersh 23:00 Sondre Lerche 00:35 Sophia 01:45 Psychic TV 03:00 Piano Magic 04:00 Nathan Fake 05:00 Optimo DJ's       |