musician, but it is his incredible singing that I admire the most. It's hard to put into words, but hearing him sing always lifts me up somehow. My husband feels the same way and we've been to see his group, Arid, twice live, and have most of their albums.
So when I saw Jasper was going to be doing a "Try-Out" tour at small venues we were both excited and got tickets right away. The closest location for us was a small club we had never been to out in the middle of nowhere.
We got there and we surprised to see how small and intimate the venue was - a dark basement-level club no bigger than my own living room, with a small stage set up at the front and a bar at the back. We grabbed some bar stools and got a spot about 5 feet from the stage.
The only downside to the entire evening was that it took a long time before the concert actually began. Not being savvy about how small clubs operate, we got there not long after the doors opened (8 pm) and were finally put out of our misery when Jasper finally came out a bit after 10. The lady next to us had been stressing and looking at her watch for the past two hours, because she was worried about being home too late for her babysitter, but when Jasper began to sing, all was forgiven.
He sang new songs from his upcoming solo album, but also a lot more of the old Arid favorites than I had dared to expect, and most of them with an "unplugged" pared-down arrangement; after all, the only accompaniment was himself on guitar and his excellent pianist Valentijn Elsen. Several of the new songs sounded great, but it was of course wonderful to hear some songs I really love; I was especially happy to hear "You Are".
What an amazing experience to hear all of this so up-close and in such an intimate setting. I don't think there were more than 60 people in the room, and Jasper kept us mesmerized for two hours. Not an easy task with people drinking and chatting at the bar at the back of the room, but he did it. His stage presence and warm personality as well as lots of eye contact with the audience made everything seem effortless. I was so captivated I didn't even notice the lady next to me slipping out at some point to relieve her babysitter; it was only at the end I realized there was someone else in her seat. Wow.
I can't wait til the new album comes out and then hopefully a full tour to support it; we'll definitely go. But somehow I can't help but thinking that nothing will ever quite compare to the unique evening in Glabbeek last Saturday night. Thanks, Jasper.
