Concert information
| Festival | North Sea Jazz Festival |
| Date | 07/12/2019 (also see 07/13/2019 and 07/14/2019) |
| Venue | Ahoy |
| City | Rotterdam |
| Country | The Netherlands |
| Line-up (gezien) | José James, Braxton Cook, Blood Orange, Rag’N’Bone Man, Anita Baker, Ranky Tanky, Joe Jackson, The Internet, Tower Of Power |
Rating
Day 1 of the greatest festival I know.
Together with my youngest son (and sister with daughter) we started off slowly by visiting a number of shows: José James and Braxton Cook. José James is not for me, too sweet and too neat. Braxton Cook was very good. Top musicians playing heavy and inventive arrangments.
The concert I was looking forward to: Blood Orange. I love his music and message (just recently I published an article on his Cupid Deluxe album). And it was beautiful! The first highlight of the festival came fast. However, at the end, the venue had almost entirely cleared out, as was the case with Solange two years earlier. Pearls before swine is what I called it on Facebook, and that’s exactly what it is. The only thing you could accuse Blood Orange of is his lack of charisma, but his music is breathtakingly beautiful, was brought with conviction and was deserving of a standing ovation.
After a little bit of Rag’N’Bone Man, which is not for me, off to see Anita Baker, whom I really wanted to see. The Maas was packed and witnessed a rather disappointing show. I had expected so much more. What I got from fans was that they too thought it was a bad performance. Too bad. Quickly off to see a bit of Ranky Tanky: exciting and good!
And then there was Joe Jackson. Why he was part of the line-up is beyond me, but I was glad he was. From note 1 to the last it was a great professional show. Great songs, great musicians, well executed and Joe Jackson was in a great mood. Highlight number two!
And straight on to what was to become highlight number three, The Internet. Great laid-back hiphop. Good setlist. Nothing to comment.
Closing off day 1 was Tower Of Power. On paper it’s a combination that can’t be beat: Tower Of Power and James Brown, but in real life it’s nothing to get too excited about.
| Artist | Seen whole show? | Rating |
| José James | No |  |
| Braxton Cook | No | |
| Blood Orange | Yes |  |
| Rag’N’Bone Man | No | |
| Anita Baker | No | |
| Ranky Tanky | No |  |
| Joe Jackson | Yes | |
| The Internet | Yes | |
| Tower Of Power | No |  |
Setlist
José James
Ain’t No Sunshine / Lean On Me
Joe Jackson
One More Time / Is She Really Going Out With Him? / Another World / Fabulously Absolute / Strange Land / Real Men / Rain / Invisible Man / It’s Different for Girls / Fool / Sunday Papers / You Can’t Get What You Want (Till You Know What You Want) / Ode to Joy / I’m the Man
Encore:
Steppin’ Out
Concert ticket
North Sea Jazz festival Logo
North Sea Jazz Junior concert ticket
