About this event
One hot day last summer, Guido Belcanto (BE) drove his silver Cadillac to Brussels, heading for the Cinquantenaire Park. He stopped in a pavilion to look at the gigantic sculptural relief De Menselijke Driften by Jef Lambeaux. Standing there, he recognised himself among the bodies carved in stone. The busker who went from bar to bar with songs by the likes of Zangeres Zonder Naam. The man who would later unabashedly sing about his own desires, as well as the dark sides of others – with great compassion, and not without humour. Back home, he picked up his pen and guitar and wrote with a sinister grin: “Life is a harsh ordeal … We are all in the same boat: Everyone, rich or poor, we are all dying.” But, in the meantime, there is always the ‘king of songs about everyday life’, comforting and imperturbable, to make everything alright. Soon, the silver Cadillac will be zooming along Belgian roads again. There’s a new album in its boot, Het Paviljoen der Menselijke Driften, but there are old hits too, a few murder ballads and his versions of songs by Loudon Wainwright III, David McWilliams and Zangeres Zonder Naam (Guido was given access to the original recordings by the family of the man who discovered her: Johnny Hoes). There is no concept for the show. Or is there? The concept is called Guido. So expect the unexpected. But also a veteran who still has what it takes. Someone who sings with a sweet, familiar voice, formed by nights, desires, and love that never fades.
