Robby Valentine
Bizarro World Vinyl Release Party

February 20, 2016
Pop- en Cultuurpodium P3, Purmerend (NL)


 

The Dutch multi-instrumentalist Robby Valentine released back in 2014 his most recent album Bizarro World. In 2016, the album finally got a limited edition pressing on vinyl. People who pre-ordered the album
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Robby Valentine
were invited to join the official vinyl release party. This was held in Purmerend at the P3. It was for me the first time I ever went to this venue and strangely enough also the first time I witnessed a concert by Robby Valentine. So you could say I was very curious that evening.

Wow! When the band started to play it was an instant hit. What an energy and what a performance. What also helped was the bright and colourful stage lighting. The music is a real mixture of symphonic rock and metal, but with a lot of pop influences as well. Robby Valentine plays several guitars and also on a grand piano that was on the right side (for the audience left side) of the stage. His voice was in good shape and that also applies to the band. After playing a couple of songs, Robby thanked the audience for coming and said that he saw a lot of familiar faces but also new faces too.

The band obviously didn't only perform tracks from Robby's latest album but several tracks from other albums as well. Robby also surprised the audience by
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Anna Postumius
playing and singing Life On Mars from David Bowie on his own behind his piano. I noticed that female vocalist Laura Guldemond was only on stage when she had to sing along with some of the songs. Furthermore Robby announced that the other female vocalist, Maria Catharina, sadly couldn't perform because of voice problems. It has to be said that guitarist Paul Coenradie is a fantastic guitarist who knows how to play interesting guitar solos. During the whole show it became clear to me that Robby is a real virtuoso on the piano. Playing not only his own compositions but also played some classical piano pieces composed by Chopin and Tchaikovsky.

After the set, the band came back on stage, treating the audience with the track Mustapha, a song from Queen. A contributor of the magazine Aardschok entered the stage in between the encore tracks, and handed out the first pressing of the vinyl version of Bizarro Wold to Mister Valentine himself. During the track Black Rain Robby pointed his microphone towards the audience from time to time. The audience replied by singing along with the song and this was done of course very loudly.

I really enjoyed the performance of Robby Valentine and his live band. They played a lot of varied music and were very good too! You could tell they certainly know how to entertain an audience. Finally I can only hope to see Robby Valentine and band perform again in the near future soon!

Iris Hidding (edited by Robert James Pashman)

Setlist Robby Valentine:

Intro/Bizarro World
Rockstar
No Turning Back
Megaman
The Magic Breeze
Dear Dad
Fear Of Heights
You’re Tearing Me Down
Magnum Opus
Deadbeat Boy
Life On Mars (David Bowie cover)
Schizophonicated
Trip To The Moon
Close The Door
The Mistake
Make Way (For The Messenger)
Piano Solo Chopin/Tchaikovsky
4th Rate Razorback
Save Myself
Encore:
Mustapha (Queen cover)
Black Rain
Over And Over
Outro

Pictures Robby Valentine by Iris Hidding

>>> Click here to view all pics on one page.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Robby Valentine:

(left to right)
Luuk van Gerwen:
bass guitar
Robby Valentine:
lead vocals, guitars and piano
Johan Jay Jay Willems:
keyboards, backing vocals and guitars
Andre Borgman:
drums
Paul Coenradie:
guitars
Anna Postumius:
violin
Laura Guldemond:
vocals
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