Paradox Hotel is the name of the new Flower Kings album and it has been a while since I last Stolt & Co. in the flesh, so on Easter Monday I headed for Belgium to witness the Flokis in the cosy Spirit Of 66.

The show started really early (19:05), but the “spirit” was quite alive right from the start with songs like the Check In, followed by the title track of the new album: It’s a living hell, Paradox Hotel….. Roine looked a bit pale (it turned out he had the flu), but his guitar playing was beautiful and skilful as ever. Nine new songs were played this evening of which Life Will Kill You, End On A High Note and especially Pioneers Of Aviation (sheer magic) pleased me the most. This is of course because those songs are loaded with spacy melodies and outstanding guitar picking by Roine.

Naturally we were also treated to some “old” Flokis material, like: Last Minute On Earth (The Rainmaker), In The Eyes Of The World (Stardust We Are), Love Supreme (Adam & Eve), The Truth Will Set You Free (Unfold The Future) and I Am The Sun (Space Revolver). Most of these songs were shortened and contained lots of unexpected improvisations, making this evening even more special.

After approximately 2,5 hours the regular show was over but the Spirit “demanded” an encore which consisted of The Blade Of Cain from their previous CD Adam & Eve and A King’s Prayer from the album Space Revolver. The latter ended in a rather shy singalong version of Hey Jude.

An excellent show and as always in "The Spirit" the sound was nearly perfect!

Review & photos by Martien Koolen.
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Official Flower Kings website www.flowerkings.se