Montezuma's Revenge Pop Art
November 5th 2005 - Stadstheater Zoetermeer
Finally it's time for another Zuma concert. My mother didn't see the show yet and after the enthusiastic stories of me and Martin, and of my sister Gonneke, she decided she wanted to see the show too. And we didn't mind to joy her, of course :) We had to decide where we would go and choose one of the Saturday-shows, for that's easiest while Martin and I have to travel from east to west or my mother and my sister have to travel west to east. We choose the Stadstheater in Zoetermeer. It fits perfectly in my a cappella concert scheme haha ;) So Martin and I had to travel west this time. We almost had a problem because I almost forget to bring the tickets.... I guess my mind is mostly on other things right now... [sigh]
Saturday evening. We drive off. The theater is easy to find. We park our car and walk to the theater which is next to the parking garage. A big sign tells us we are walking past the artist entree. There are two doors with circular windows in it and Gonneke and I are a bit silly and walk to the doors to look through. We don't expect to see anyone, but there is Hans talking on his cellphone. Hey Hans!! We wave and he waves back. He comes outside and Gonneke says "Hi, you know my sister Corine, right?" He raises his hand and wishes us a lot of fun and closes the door again. "Why did you say that?" I ask Gon. "He knows who you are, right?" she says. "Well, I'm not so sure about that", I tell her. "Oh." *grml.. haha* Anyway, a funny start of the evening.
We hang our coats, visit the toilets and get ourselves a drink. There is plenty of time left before the show starts. At eight we are going to find our seats. We are terribly far away. There is a big balcony with 11 rows and we are in 10th row. We have a good view on the stage though, but can't see the people sitting below the balcony, which can be a pity during some songs. But hey, we knew we had these places, and we tell each other "it's all about the sound" and "we're gonna love it anyway" and things like that. The theater is sold out tonight. There are always people who haven't got a clue what they are going to see and hear. I'm always curious how many people are visiting the show without ever hearing Zuma before. But, these guys don't do an audience-interview like the Wise Guys do, so I'll never find out. But if I hear someone say "There are quite a lot of people here, are theys guys so popular??" I have to smile. Yeah of course they are popular, just wait and see (and hear!!).
8.15. The show begins with Beautiful. It's one of my favourite songs on the album. I really like the way they are dressed and have to laugh wenn Menno shuffles forward with the shoes on his knees like a lilliputian. It looks so funny because his arms are too long compared to his body length! So funny :P The lights go from dark to bright and their voices start off really soft and become louder and louder. I love the arrangement so much. The stage is empty, except for some thick red cords hanging in the back and forming a theater-curtain-kind'a-thing. Go and see it, I don't know how to describe it in english, or german, or even dutch ;)
The continue with Looking for a place to land. A song with great beatboxing from Sanne and a song with a lot of energy coming from the stage. I'm fascinated by the choreography, it's so perfectly simultaneously. It's a powerful song, I love that. Next is Another day which is more calm and also so very nice to hear. It will come in time is next and it's one of the funniest songs in the show, just because of the choreography. Menno is doing all steps wrong and Sanne is explaining him how to dance (If one goes left, then the other goes right). I remember they also sang this song during the Vocal Group Contest in Tilburg (they were performing, not contesting) in 2002. If I'm right about that, it means they are singing this song for the third year already! Edit: I was wrong. Menno arranged the song and he wasn't with the group in 2002, so I must have dreamt it I guess :P Thanks @Hans. Doesn't that starts to be annoying for them? It doesn't look like it, it looks like they are having so much fun on stage. Although the song shows us Menno can't dance, he actually is a very good dancer. We know, and we will see it again later on.
Bert sings Aïcha, while sitting on the edge of the stage. We can hardly see him, cause we are sitting so far back on the balcony. That's really a pity in this theater... I love the way the other four accompany him during this song. After the song they walk away and it gets dark. Then we hear the voice of the puppets and Paul appears on stage with his 'son' on his arm. The best part of the show is starting!! Oh I love this!! One by one, the Zuma's appear on stage while they start singing I'll be there for you (Friends-theme). They all have a puppet and they are so funny! During the song 'little Paul' starts crying and they stop singing. I really shouldn't tell too much of the following conversation, for it is too funny and I shouldn't spoil it for anybody. Just go and see it. It's brilliant and so humorous. Even though I could remember this part from last year, I had to laugh again. Eventually they are able to finish the song, and the sons are singing along which is also very humorous. Paul stays behind and talks with his son and tells him he is also able to remember texts. His son can sit with a lady in the first row and Paul will sing a song with words. This is If I ain't got you. It's not really my favourite song, I prefer Paul doing his bass-part or doing some sort of funny songs, this isn't really my type of Paul-song.
Hans starts talking to us! Hey, that's cool ;) I always miss a little chatting in between the songs... He tells us we are going to sing along for the cd they are recording right now (haha). Ah! I know what's coming! We are going to sing Angels together. I love that, and I still remember all three voices the audience had to sing last year. It's easy, but a lot of fun. They split up the audience in three groups. The middle part is group nr. 1. I'm somewhere on the border of group 1 and 3... mmm... what shall I do? Group 1 is very simple, it's the bass-part ;) so I guess I'll be in group 3 ;) But, it's different! The voices I remember are different! The bass-part is practically the same, but the tune group 2 has to sing is different and a bit harder. And the tune group 3 has to sing is really difficult! Hey guys, that's not fair, I remember the three voices and now you've changed it! I decide I'm in the third group anyway 'cause I like some challange, and after hearing the tune a couple of times I can sing along. But it really isn't easy! I think many people agree with me, because around me I only hear some mumbling. On stage all guys try to encourage the audience to sing louder. We are trying as loud as we can, but we are so far back, they probably can't hear us anyway. After practising we start for real, Zuma's included. It's so funny, and it's working! I can hear all three voices now. I don't know if they can hear it on stage, but Zuma, hereby: Mission accomplished. But please use voices a little easier next time, haha.
The Dance Medley is the final song before the break. I can understand why. This medley is exhausting! But sooooo cool. There are a lot of songs mixed up in it, let's list them up for you: The songs are all Gonna make you sweat, but luckely they are In the mood for dancing. In this Boogie wonderland they say You should be dancing too. I feel love and we all Dance in the old fashioned way. We are a Slave to the rhytm and it's so excausting, Menno even falls on the floor and doesn't stand up! We've got a Murder on the dance floor!! Oh no!! But luckily he wakes up again and he tells us to Get the party started. Next we all have to Ease on down the road and spread Happiness even wenn we are a Dancin' fool. There is a lot of dancing and clapping, it's great! They deserve a big break! The audience seems quite calm to me, though.
During the break of such a concert I always enjoy queing up in front of the toilets. Not because I want to wait (actually I really have to go), but because of the conversations I hear. "This group is really good, I like their humor and this dancing it's amazing!" "I'll see them again next year for sure".
Me and my sis Gonneke
The break is over very quickly, we didn't even finish our drinks. We quickly empty our glasses and return to our places. The stage looks the same, but now there are also five wooden chairs on the stage. The second part of the show starts with the Maori dance, which is really funny and crazy. To be honoust, it doesn't make sense at all, but hey, we love to laugh. Next is Smooth in which the chairs are being used in a sort of erotic dance. Ooooolala...
During I want you back, which is sung by Hans, an old lady in the first row is the 'victim' of Hans' approaches. I can't see her reaction because we have to stand up to have a clear view on the first row. It's such a funny song, it's really pity we can't see it all. The other guys also start to interfere and I guess old oma is totally astound of all the attention. (@Monika: werden wir in Münster in die 1. Reihe sitzen?)
I love next song so much. Again a solo for Paul in Breakfast in America. I love the cool choreo in this song. It's also a song which suits Pauls voice very well. Much better than "If I ain't got You" - just my opinion. He's wearing a long black coat and all five are wearing sunglasses. In Pauls coat I notice the white fether boa for the next song haha. That's Falling in love again/Ich bin von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt. Another solo for Paul which I love to hear. And according to some comments I got from my German friends: His German sounds very natural and good.
Following Sanne sings Marlene on the wall. He starts off all alone on the stage, just one voice. It's so pure, I'm totally captivated by his voice. Beautiful. And when the other four voices join in I get goosebumps. Oh I love this song. There are so many songs in this show that I would love to hear more often. It's really pity they are not on the album.
They put the chairs next to each other and appear on stage with laptops. Time to get working guys! From 9 to 5. In the end there is a joke - I won't tell you what - which is best visible for us on the balcony. There is not much laughter coming from the people below us, so I guess we had a better view in this case. That makes up for the "Hans & oma show" ;)
Time to do some magic!! During Time in a bottle Hans shows us how to get rid of the bottle. My mother and I have different ideas about how he did it... but that's the fun thing of magic, isn't it? Next is Sign 'o' the times. A cool song, with the beatbox and a very pretty arrangement. The simplicity of the choreography is also worth mentioning. I've said it before, in other reports, it's never boring to watch a Zuma-show. This show truly shows that. Every song has its own dance, or other choreo, and even with a simple choreo it's fascinating.
From now on my favourite song of this show is If you're not the one. Again a solo for Sanne in which his voice is so nice to listen to. He appears on stage with a suitcase. In this suitcase he's got a dress, a hat, a feather boa and a glove. The other four take one of these attributes and in the end they form a woman with it, which is lighted by one spotlight from above. It's so real!! I remember last year, when we were sitting quite close; we could still see them standing behind the 'woman'. But now we were sitting farther away it really looked like a woman who is holding Sanne's hand. And together with this song.... again goosebumps. [Big sigh] Wow.
The final song is Living la vida loca. Last year they didn't sing this song, so Martin and I hadn't hear it live yet. The tie-skirts are just lovely hahaha. It's a great song, and I only have one thing to say about it, specially to all Wise Guys fans out there: Ihr denkt ja das der Sari einen sexy Hüftschwung hat, oder? Na! Dann habt ihr Bert's Hüftschwung noch nicht gesehen! Mannoman! *lach* Das ist wirklich klasse, wie er tanzen kann!!
There is only one extra song (why so few???). Again time for some magic during When I get you alone. I love this song in the original version very much, but a cappella sounds so cool as well. It seems to me it's really hard to sing! It's a pity we can't see last part, where all five of them walk into the audience for the final funny magic tric...
Standing ovation!! and there they go. It's already over! A great night. Now it's time to get hold of some signatures, for Gonneke had her album signed only by Bert and Hans last year. She would like the other three signing it now. Unfortunately Paul has to go home right away, so we don't see him. The others take a shower and then enter the theater café. There are a lot of acquaintances or familymembers, I guess, for they are all quite busy talking to which seems to be familiar people to them. But we manage to get autographs from Sanne and Menno. And we also manage to make some pictures. It feels so funny to act like teenagesuperstarfans hahahahahahaha. There are only a few persons asking for autographs, and only one little girl is asking for pictures. It's silly actually, when I compare this to a Wise Guys Afterglow.... Totally different. Maybe I shouldn't compare but it's hard not to.
Menno | Sanne and Gon | Sanne
Hans tells us he can fake Pauls autograph for us, but we don't want that! That's fraude! No, I just fear we'll have to visit another concert, oh that is such a pity! hahaha. Martin and I tell him we will be there in Münster in March, and Hans wishes us a happy New Year, hahaha. I'm really curious what it will be like in Münster, because I guess I prefer the German audience...
Happy New Year! :D
Bert takes the little girl to a brighter spot for her picture and of course we follow them ;P |
Hans is just about to smile |
Menno - sorry we disturbed you |
Sanne is distracted ;)