Audience: 100-150
Concert Length: 56 mins.

I arrived at Le Botanique at 6:30 with my husband, my son’s girlfriend and a friend of mine who was with me at The Servant’s acoustic gig and interview in Lille in February. Le Botanique is a large cultural complex in the center of Brussels. It has eight rooms, a café-restaurant and some gardens. I collected my photo-pass and made a stop at the ladies room next to the café-restaurant. My friend Marina and I spotted Dan & Co. sitting with their roadies at a large table. They were waiting to place their orders. I decided to go over and say hi. Dan looked knackered. Poor thing! They have had a very tight schedule over the last few weeks with a show nearly every night plus in-stores and interviews. The strain of the tour is starting to show. Dan introduced me to Matt and Trevor, whom I had never met before. I thanked Dan for putting me on his guest-list and gave him what I had brought for the band (the CD of the acoustic set recorded in Lille, the interview CD and some milk chocolate). I said I would like to record the show again with a view to sharing it with the fans through my webpage so Dan indicated me who I should go & see for that. I wished them an enjoyable meal and they wished me an enjoyable show. We agreed to meet again afterwards.

The gig took place in a very warm, circular theatre topped by a dome. Though tiny, the room was far from being packed. The boys walked on in the dark. The audience remained rather quiet. Dan was wearing a black & red striped T-shirt & jeans and Matt looked funny with his straw hat on. Devil opened the gig and Dan made the song rock. The acoustics were fantastic. After Devil, Dan informed his mates that the second song would not be Beautiful as indicated on the setlist but Jack The Ripper instead. I had never heard the song before. The song has jerky rhythms. Matt had us clap our hands. At first listen, I didn't find the song particularly impressive, but I'm sure it'll grow on me. Conversation was introduced as “un chanson vieux” :-) With the lesson I taught Dan after the show, one can expect better French next time! We’ll see!! ;-) Next up was another new song, Century’s Time. I liked that one immediately. The tempo was very slow but it grew into a fantastic rock song with the emphasis upon guitar riffs rather than Dan’s singing. Dan played acoustic strings to accompany the guitar magic, piercing sounds and interference effects produced by Chris. Century’s Time is very different from most of The Servant’s songs, and I LOVE bands who do not repeat themselves. Biro was brilliant, with different arrangements from the studio version. Dan was REALLY into that one. Then we were treated to sublime renditions of Orchestra, Liquefy, Body and Cells, all of which got big cheers from the crowd. They encored with a breathtaking Jesus Says. And that was it. A very intimate show it was, but a great one obviously.

After the show, Trevor replaced the roadie at the merchandise stand (posters, the album, Orchestra CDs and black and yellow T-shirts were on sale). About 10 minutes later Matt showed up. The “man with a hat” turned out to be a very affable and pleasant guy whose personality confirmed the looks: FUNNY. The type of person who always has something amusing to say, who takes good care of those around him, bringing everyone drinks, asking if anyone minds before he smokes, etc. Hats off  to Matt! ;-)  Then Chris showed up wearing a brown leather jacket. A very nice person, too. The last one to come was… yes, you’ve guessed right, Dan! Does he ever have a minute to himself? He was busy talking on his mobile when he arrived and he had to answer and make several phone calls over the next hour. Yet Dan is an awfully kind, approachable person, and, as I’ve noticed over the last few months, extremely thoughtful and reliable as well. And he is also very uncomplicated. One highlight of the night was when a fan handed him red lipstick and a mirror and asked him to make up his lips and kiss the poster she had bought. Dan didn’t hesitate a second. He opened up the ladies’ mirror, all smiles, painted his lips with great care, commenting that it wasn’t the first time he had worn lipstick and then he planted a tender kiss on the poster. As he still had lipstick left on his sexy mouth, I offered him to plant another kiss on my 10” inch Orchestra, which he did. The whole scene was very funny and quite memorable. Awesome pictures of Dan wearing red lipstick below! I know Dan will have a good laugh when he sees the pix! And so will you!