[Dajana] WISDOM OF CROWDS is the promising solo project by Bruce Soord, known as the main man in The Pineapple Thief. He enlisted Katatonia’s own Jonas Renkse to lend his wonderful and charismatic voice to the songs. Meanwhile the self-titled debut got released and caused many benevolent ah’s and oh’s in the media. How much Soord did have a fling on this new project I wanted to explore live at the • Druckluft • in Oberhausen, Germany.

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[Dajana] It is an evening to start totally relaxed with. Doors opened at 8pm and the show was set to kick off at 9pm. When we arrived we learned that :: WISDOM OF CROWDS :: was actually the only band playing tonight and they pushed back the start even more to give us time having another beer ;)

It was around 9.30pm when the gents finally entered the stage and started with Pleasure. As Jonas Renkse explained in between WISDOM OF CROWDS would only play the songs from the self-titled debut, because there are no others. And the debut record hardly runs 50 minutes. I wish they would have played the one Pineapple Thief or the other Katatonia song but I guess there was no time and possibility to prepare and rehearse anything prior the tour. Even the lyrics Jonas had to read from a sheet. If you ever have seen a Katatonia show you know that Jonas Renkse is not the brimming frontman, he rather acts reserved. Also Bruce Soord is not a bundle of energy, so altogether is was quite an unhurried show. Nice to listening to ;) If you know the Pineapple Thief and Bruce’s fondness for Steven Wilson you will be not surprised musically. And he also has not so much of a fling when experimenting with sounds, styles and genres. The tracks don’t get on the point and occasionally offer lengths the wonderful voice and singing of Jonas mostly outweighs. Fans are enthused anyway, frenetically clapping hands and buying CDs afterwards.

[BRT] Well, the debut of WISDOM OF CROWDS left me quite cold. The album sounds torn and doesn’t offer many highlights. Live, the songs work much better. On stage Soord and Renkse get accompanied by Pineapple Thief keyboarder Steve Kitch and drummer Daniel Osbourne. Yes, stage-acting was quite unspectacular but the mood fits the relaxed and entertaining evening. A Pineapple Thief song or a cover version really wouldn’t have done a harm. A 50 minutes show for the headliner without any support band is really meager.
P.S. While listening to the Pineapple Thief compilation I bought at the show I got aware how much WISDOM OF CROWDS sounds like leftovers from the last Pineapple Thief recording session. Well, let’s see what the sophomore has to offer.
[Dajana] Though a really nice and relaxed evening with great music! :) For me it was the last show in 2013. I’m back in January 2014 :)
Setlist: Pleasure, Flows Through You, Radio Star, Wisdom Of Crowds, The Light, Frozen North, Pretend, Stacked Naked, Your God, The Centre Of Gravity