Guido Belcanto

On a hot day last summer, Guido Belcanto drove his silver Cadillac to Brussels, towards the Jubelpark. There he stood in a pavilion in front of the gigantic relief ‘De Menselijke Driften’ by Jef Lambeaux. Between the bodies in stone, he also recognized himself. The busker who traveled from café to café with songs by, among others, the Zangeres Zonder Naam. The man who later sang his own lusts, without shame. And also the shadow sides of others – with much compassion, but not without humor. Back home, he took pen and guitar in hand and wrote with a sinister smile on his lips: ‘Life is a barren horror… We are all in the same boat: everyone, rich or poor, we are going to die’. But in anticipation of that, there is the Emperor of the Levenslied, comforting and imperturbable, to make everything right. Soon the silver Cadillac will zoom over Belgian and Dutch roads again. In his trunk is a new record, Het Paviljoen der Menselijke Driften, but also old hits, a few murder ballads, and his versions of songs by Loudon Wainwright III, David McWilliams, and the Zangeres Zonder Naam – from the family of her discoverer Johnny Hoes, Guido gained access to the original recordings. There is no concept for the show. Or rather, there is. The concept is called Guido. So expect the unexpected. But also a veteran who can still do it. Someone who sings with a sweet, familiar voice, shaped by nights, lusts, and love that does not yield. Guido Belcanto + full band