It beggars belief that it has been 15 years since Worst Case Scenario won our hearts and our love affair with Belgian’s finest non-alcoholic export began. Tonight dEUS display an energy the equal of any of the latest skinny-jean brigade, and the set, culled from the entire back catalogue, sounds as fresh as ever.
That said, ‘When She Comes Down’ from latest opus Vantage Point gets the night off to a rather underwhelming start. Fine, pick an opener from the album you’re touring, but make it a belter! The show quickly moves up a few gears when the combo launch into ‘Instant Street’ and ‘Fell Off The Floor, Man’ from 1999’s The Ideal Crash.
The new material blends seamlessly with old favourites; the pleasantly purring, sleazy electrorock of ‘Slow’, ‘The Architect’s pulsating edgy groove and the gloriously anthemic ‘Favourite Game’ – all elicit a comparably frenzied response.
Barman’s unfailing enthusiasm is contagious: he leaps and dances about the stage – knocking the mic onto the venue floor at one point – and hollers encouraging banter at us between tunes. The performance is slick and flawless, with a special mention due to the multi-talented Klaas Janzoons on violin, keyboards and percussion.
An explosive ‘Suds And Soda’ closes the main set but they return triumphantly after much hollering to play the sublime ‘Smokers Reflect’ and a smattering of gems from In A Bar, Under The Sea.