Luka in Paradise

Well, I went to see Luka again, this time in Paradiso in Amsterdam. Known locally as the temple of pop. It was once a church, and that is still very obvious when you're inside. The stage set as always, guitars, flowers, Luka seated again. The first half of the concert he used the Spanish guitar, the second half it was Rudy's turn.

He played a lot of new songs, some written about a year ago, some written during his recent German tour. And he sang a lot of old favourites, some unexpectedly. The second song of the evening was one of my favourites, about the uprising in Tibet, called "As I Waved Goodbye". I first heard this song shortly after it was written, when I first saw Luka in concert in Utrecht. At the time he still had the sruti box for accompaniment, which made it special. Then came the version on the album "Between the Mountain and the Moon", and now the accompaniment is on the guitar. He played a lively version yesterday, which I liked very much. And a beautiful "City of Chicago", a hard subject to sing about but it just is such a beautiful song. And good to know that both Christy and Luka sing that one.

He played a lot of old favourites. I was happy to hear "Exploring the Blue", still one of the most beautiful songs he's written. Two surprises were "Chiara" and "The Fertile Rock". He mentioned not having done "The Fertile Rock" for a while, which I knew, so I was surprised to hear him play that one. And "Chiara" is an old favourite, for the name, for the story behind it, for the lyrics and the passion.

He also did the songs that will always make me happy, the ones that make it hard for you to stay in your seat. One is "You Couldn't Have Come at at Better Time", the other one "Perfect Groove". He ended this one the way he ended the concert earlier in the year in the Amstelkerk with "Wave Up to the Shore", no accompaniment and no amplification. A lovely way to end a concert in a, former, church.

For every favourite I heard there was one missing, but that is simply because there are so many songs that I love. I can understand why there was no "Delirious", I would have loved to hear "Black is the Colour". The elusive one for me is "Don't Be Afraid of the Light That Shines Within You", but that one I certainly didn't really expect. It was good to see him again.