© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
Moby has a good relationship with Belgium and so the Sportpaleis in Antwerp was allowed to serve as the setting for his first show on the European mainland since 2011. It had also been since then that he last played in our country, which meant that the anticipation of the audience was great. Richard Melville Hall released a number of albums and music in that period, but he needed a better reason for a real, big tour. 25 years Playhis successful album from 1999, was the only real reason why he visited the Sportpaleis. The fact that he also released a new album earlier this year was simply ignored throughout the set. The man would simply perform a best of with all the songs that made his career and that in a thick two-hour set.
© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
Before that, Lady Blackbird was allowed to open the debates. The American singer stood alone on a large stage with only one musician, but thanks to her fantastic voice she could easily fill the large hall. The disadvantage of this minimalistic setup was that the songs sometimes turned out to be a bit too thin. It was not memorable, but once she opened her larynx, we were completely captivated. Especially when the musician exchanged his guitar for the piano, we were overwhelmed. Together with a striking hairdo and unique robe, Lady Blackbird still made an impression.
© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
Besides being a singer, Moby is also an activist who stands up for animal rights and nature, and that was something that would continue to dominate throughout the set. For example, before his show, all kinds of organizations that are committed to combating animal suffering were projected on the screen and we could later find out that all profits from this show would go to organizations such as Gaia and Vegan Brussels. We can also say that Moby does not go on tour for the money. He just wants to make a difference with his music and that only makes him more beautiful as a person; the fact that he also managed to complete a musically phenomenal set was of course a bonus.
The mysterious “My Weakness” served as the opener of the set, setting the tone right away, without even seeing a band on stage. They would come on stage shortly after, replacing that dreamy intro with a danceable whole with “In My Heart”. Where his songs on record are very dreamy, he always managed to give them a different twist live. As a musician you want to keep challenging yourself and it was clear that Moby did that too. For example, “Go” even started as a techno number that could have come straight from the basement and “We Are All Made of Stars” was actually a funky disco number.
© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
All those extra layers he could give to his music, he also owed to an excellent band that surrounded him. There were two extra female singers, someone who played synths, two strings, a guitarist and finally a drummer. They were clearly very carefully chosen musicians, because each of them had an undeniable contribution to the whole of the show. The voices of the female singers were especially impressive. They carried every song to a higher level by singing very strongly, and above all always sounding soulful.
Production-wise, it was kept fairly simple with a lot of emphasis on lights. As the set progressed, some twinkling lights were projected behind the band, but we shouldn’t expect any real visual extras from Moby, he let the music do the talking. With “Almost Home” he tried to create a kind of melancholic moment after the danceable beginning, where silence prevailed. That was nice, but it was mainly when “In This World” came back that the audience could get going again. Here too, we had to guess a bit before we really recognized it, because the intro seemed to have a completely different melody, but once the fantastic interaction between the voices came along, we were on board.
© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
From then on, it was actually only fantastic songs that would pass by. “Porcelain” broke every soul in the room while Moby reminisced about his first time playing that song, at Torhout Werchter in Belgium. His roots as an electronic wonder also took over at times, so we seemed to have ended up in the Zillion with “Machete”. There was time to stomp around and then get the fantastic voice of Lady Blackbird again with two songs. Especially with “Walk With Me” it came in, although “Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?” was the most enjoyable.
That he had to dedicate a song to veganism was obvious. The man performed the instrumental “Everloving” as an anthem for vegans. Before we knew it, Moby had been doing this for an hour and a half and no one was really bored, especially not when the strings of the intro were milked a bit longer during “Extreme Ways”. In the meantime, Moby had thrown himself like a maniac across the stage during every slightly more uptempo song as if he had to walk every bit. With “Honey” we could still groove a bit, after which the band suddenly disappeared from the stage.
© CPU – Jan Van Hecke
The strangest part of the set was yet to come: Moby would cover “Ring of Fire”, best known in the version by Johnny Cash. And the audience had to imitate the trumpet solo because it was not present on stage. It did help to get the room completely ready for the final salvo, because that cover was mostly ignored. “Lift Me Up” then came out with a dubstep variation that made the song even more danceable and not much later the Sportpaleis seemed to be one big club. The fact that we received compliments on our electronic scene was the intro for some thick breakbeats on “Feeling So Real”. The room went completely wild and that was also the end for the band. Moby himself performed “Thousand” on his own behind an empty table, because he did not DJ. A somewhat strange sight, but yet another ode to his career in the Cherry Moon.
Moby impressed in the Sportpaleis, both the standing and the seated audience went completely crazy at the end. The man has already put a lot of kilometers on his counter, but after a long break from touring, he seems to be back in full swing and he brought a wonderful tribute to Play. He did not do this by playing the songs dryly, but gave everything an extra dimension so that he also remains in the now. Together with an excellent band and the necessary build-up in the set, he showed that he has certainly not forgotten his talent as a musician and producer.
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Setlist:
My Weakness
In My Heart
Go
Bodyrock
Flower / Find My Baby
Almost Home
When It’s Cold I’d Like to Die
In This World
Porcelain
We Are All Made of Stars
Machete
Walk With Me
Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?
Everloving
Extreme Ways
Honey
Ring of Fire (Merle Kilgore-cover)
Lift Me Up
Natural Blues
Feeling So Real
Thousand
