When thinking of music from the Netherlands, you might think of Extreme Metal bands or Techno/Trance DJs – not necessarily Psychedelic Hippy Rock! Although he is not surrounded by many peers of the same genre, Jacco Gardner has become one of the most revered modern psychedelic acts – drawing in fans with baroque sounds of harpsichord, strings, flutes, and other classical sounds which takes you into the mystical realms of his fairytale pop dream. In the studio, Jacco plays all the instruments, apart from drums, and has recently come out with a prodigious difficult second album, Hypnophobia (May 2015) which is consistently stunning from the very start. It is an album that hypnotises the listener, taking them on a fantastical voyage to Jacco’s psychedelic kingdom.

 

Jacco instantly won over the audience, admitting that he is elated to be beginning his tour in one of his favourite cities. Nice as it was, there was no need to sugar coat the audience as his first song was very impressive – giving an impeccably tight sound that could have been an audio recording. As a live set up, Jacco Gardner takes shape as an extremely polished five piece band – with Jacco taking centre stage playing guitar and synths along with his airy fairy vocals, a bass guitar played as a lead, a second guitarist, someone on keyboards and synths and a driving drum beat – producing intoxicating prolonged jams that whipped parts of the crowd into flailing, swaying and shape making hippy groovers.

 

Jacco’s music seemed to capture your imagination at will, transferring you away from reality and sending you to a place of tripped out rhythms. This was mainly down to the meticulous dynamism of the band, creating a clean and vibrant sound that jumped from triumphant highs and dark lows along their musical journey. Jacco’s ethereal voice harmonized perfectly with the bands backing vocals, never outweighing them nor the music, and rested serenely atop of the cosmic instrumentation like a winter morning fog on The Downs forming emotive imagery to the sonic bliss.

 

It is hard not to compare Jacco Gardner to the kaleidoscopic retro pop of the 1960s, taking psychedelic influences from everyone from Pink Floyd to The Zombies, but Jacco brings modern ideas to this past pastiche making for his own unique sound. With a crowd that couldn’t hold in their admiration and appreciation for the Dutch Neo-Psych extraordinaire, hopefully it won’t be too long before his next record.

Iain Lauder