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RELEASE PARTY REVIEW

Yes, Patrick of Rockportaal.nl was at our album launch. Besides taking great pictures (they're on our Facebook page!), he also wrote this glowing review of the evening. Dutchies can click here, non-Dutchies can read the translation below.

Sidewalk - October 11th at PopEi, Eindhoven
In May, Sidewalk took the stage at PopEi for a promising tryout. I was also present, and what I remembered from that show was that Sidewalk is not band that looks for extremes, but one that offers catchy-sounding songs with a poppy hook, which naturally brings comparisons with bands like Racoon.



Tonight, the quartet surrounding Coen van der Horst takes the same stage, where the theme of the evening is the launch of their debut album 'Tuesday's A Day To Remember': the opening is hosted by comedian Rob Scheepers, who satirizes everything around Coen and 'his' Sidewalk, while also not forgetting to make fun of himself. The atmosphere in the filled up PopEi immediately becomes relaxed, and Scheeper's bit lasts just long enough for an enjoyable and exciting introduction for the performance. Even the fun contest of the evening - a Twitter competition where audience members can win (fake) Sidewalk goodies by submitting the funniest tweet - adds to the evening.

As breezy as the introduction is, the performance of the band is dead serious. In two sets of five songs (and an encore), the setlist revolves around the album, and I can repeat what I said in May: the songs sound varied, boredom and the feeling of 'Well, I've heard this now' remain absolutely absent. The band plays with a good deal of confidence and the numbers are easily sewn together with verbal banter. So, again, the band leaves the same impression: the focus is on the quality of the music, and it manages to be very convincing.



After the gig, the merchandise table is hauled into the bar, where the album flies over the counter. Visitors linger and chat amongst themselves for a good long while, enjoying their drinks. Often enough, a CD-presentation is nothing more than just a gig where people can buy the album afterwards. Tonight, Sidewalk shows that they clearly thought about a total concept, which deserves nothing but praise. Other bands could learn from them.