Just an hour and a half before the show, I got a confirmation that I was placed on the guestlist for the sold out 65daysofstatic show in Paradiso. I’ve seen this band perform twice before this gig (at Dour Festival 2007 and last year in Patronaat, Haarlem) and both were absolute mind blowing shows. Stupid enough I was too late to buy tickets before it got sold out, but apparently Metalrage always takes care of their crew! Time for some late afternoon post-rock.
65daysofstatic (65DOS in short) has grown in fairly short time to one of the biggest bands within the post-rock genre. Supporting The Cure on last year's tour, in Europe as well as North-America, the band is constantly busy building its way to the top. Awaiting the follow up to 2007’s full length The Destruction of Small Ideas, the band recently released Escape from New York, a double disc including a live performance as well as a DVD. A good reason for yet another European tour.
Because the confirmation for the guestlist reached me so late, the band basically started playing the moment I entered the venue. There was no support act and the show started at five in the afternoon already, a bit strange! The moment the band started with the Zager and Evans intro, the sound was really flat, even with the second song 'Retreat! Retreat!' (one of my personal favorites). I remember 65DOS opening with that track last year in Patronaat, resulting in a crystal clear wall of sound that absolutely blew me away. It just didn’t happen this time, but it could have been due to the fact that there was no support act or maybe a crappy soundcheck. Throughout the set the sound got better, but it couldn’t match the two sets I’ve seen from this band before. However, this was probably the best setlist I’ve seen this band play to date. The set was short (only one hour), but full of hits and no fillers. Tracks such as 'Await Rescue', 'A Failsafe' and the highlight of the set 'Radio Protector' were played and especially the people at the front were going pretty wild for such an early hour show. Same with the band itself, and especially the drummer who’s an absolute beast behind the kit! I wasn’t feeling that well that day, so a short set was fine with me and the band left the stage just before it got boring. It didn’t blow me away like the other sets I’ve seen, but it's still clear that 65DOS is definitely one of the best and pleasant bands to see live within the post-rock genre. If you missed this show, make sure you get your tickets for the 10th of July in Tivoli de Helling (Utrecht)!
