On Friday I went to a show by Johan in Utrecht, who celebrated the 25th anniversary of their album Pergola by playing this front-to-back. At the time of release, the album was critically acclaimed, and it’s viewed as one of the best indie albums to come out of the Netherlands.
The last few years I have finally come to terms with nostalgia in live music. Before I identified with the statement from Hüsker Dü who wrote “Nostalgia is a sign of a dying culture” in the liner notes of their final album in 1987.
While I love listening to classic albums, seeing them performed live after they were recorded always highlighted that things were better in the early days. Especially live the energy of a bunch of 50-year old dudes just doesn’t compare to some 22 year old kids giving it all they have. And I had a few bad experiences, of which the stand-out was a show by The Lemonheads some 15 years ago, which was the worst I’ve ever seen, and I still wonder how I made it through until the end. But I have to accept that aging can’t be stopped, and there have been some great experiences too. The reunion of The Replacements in 2015 stands out as one of my favorite shows of all times. And nostalgia will come full circle next month when we’ll be seeing Bob Mould’s 2nd band Sugar returning to the stage in London after more than 30 years.
Back to Pergola: a finely crafted album with great tunes, that admittedly stood the test of time very well. Performed by a band that really seemed to enjoy themselves, as did the crowd.
