Already at the first song, screams can be heard in the back of the hall. Hysterical fans? No, just as the band Elephant plays the first song in Rotown, Wout Weghorst scores the equalizer against Argentina in Qatar. Nevertheless, the fever that has arisen around the Rotterdam foursome in the past year should not be underestimated. Debut album Big Thing is critically acclaimed by the music press (four balls in NRC). Friday night’s concert, like many other shows during this winter tour through the Netherlands, is sold out.
Elephant makes soft, sunny American songs with guitar solos that grind like they come from a vintage amplifier. It is reminiscent of the folk rock of the seventies, and especially of the band that brought that sound back in the nineties: Wilco. Where the album may flow a little too pleasantly at times, the visible fun in Rotown adds a lot of dynamics to the songs. Drummer Kaj van Driel not only plays strong, he also sits behind his drum kit with an infectious grin, singing along word for word (give that man a microphone!), as if he were listening to his favorite band to listen. The harmonies à la Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young sound flawless live and just as soothing as on the record.
Warm songs
That interplay is therefore the foundation of Elephant: the members met each other in a Fleetwood Mac tribute act. That worked so well that they continued to play together. Due to corona, initially behind closed studio doors, but since this year finally in the outside world. In Rotown it turns out that’s where the band flourishes; where those warm songs fill the room and drive the winter chill from your bones.
The moment Argentina delivers the fatal blow to the World Cup dream of Orange with a well-aimed penalty, Elephant starts the last song in Rotterdam. In any case, this home game was won.
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