Every Thursday I look back to the past.
Almost six years after ‘Much Against Everyone’s Advice,’ Soulwax released their third album ‘Any Minute Now,’ on August 23rd, 2004. Expectations were high, not only because of the success of its predecessor but also because of 2manydjs blowing up in 2002.
One day before the release of the album, the band played a show at the Lowlands festival in the Netherlands, one of the country’s biggest festivals. They had a spot in the biggest tent on Sunday night.
Unfortunately their return to the live stage was a let down. And it kind of broke my heart at the time. They looked great on stage: all dressed in black, Steve Slingeneyer making his return to the band, the backdrop with the black and white stripes. But the band was not ready or not able to bring the new tracks alive. Mind you, no one had heard the new tracks at that moment except for the single ‘Any Minute Now’ that was released earlier that month.
After the show, the band knew they hadn’t delivered. They didn’t give permission to broadcast anything from the show on radio or tv. And a few weeks later, Soulwax cancelled all remaining festival shows to go back to the drawing board.
With success: a year later, ‘Nite Versions’ proved that they had found a formula that worked on stage and in clubs.
At the Sonar festival in Barcelona, they played a full ‘Nite Versions’ set:
But merely two weeks after Sónar, the band did not play this ‘Nite Versions’ set at Rock Werchter. They performed songs from Any Minute Now, with bits of Nite Versions. In the video below, you’ll hear an extended version of ‘E-Talkin’’ with samples of Roman Flügel’s “Geht’s Noch?” and Alter Ego’s “Rocker.”
And Nancy Whang joined them for ‘NY Excuse,’ which started with the Lipps Inc. sample of ‘Funkytown,’ later reworked as ‘NY Lipps’ for the Nite Versions album.
It took Soulwax six years to release their third album, but it took them another year to find their new form: how to perform as a band on both festival stages and in clubs.
Without this successful transition from ‘Any Minute Now’ to ‘Nite Versions,’ who knows what might have happened to our beloved band from Ghent.
Here’s fifteen minutes at Rock Werchter 2006:
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