No Ninja Am I live, Amsterdam De Nieuwe Anita, Saturday 17 September 2022

Photo: Wo.

With a beautiful new album, 'Plenty Of Blankets, in the pocket Sander van Munster called the band back together for one show to play the new songs live. For now it was a one off as there are no other shows planned for this year.

Plenty Of Blankets is a solo album by Sander van Munster with a little help here and there from friends. In my recent review you can read all about the album and the level of musicianship reached there (https://wonomagazine.blogspot.com/2022/09/plenty-of-blankets-no-ninja-am-i.html).

On stage there is a five piece, playing together as if they do this six days a week. The music changes because of it. From the Westcoast pop it moves towards a more rock oriented whole, with more than enough space to make all the details shine. The band allows Van Munster to sing and perform, while playing an acoustic guitar. Guitarists Gijs en Rens both play intricate pieces that work really, really well together. Just like the rhythm section, brothers Chris and Wubbo, plays as if they do this music together all the time. They don't. I couldn't help but wonder, how are they able to do this with songs they were not involved in and only practising a few times together? And deliver a host of harmony vocals as well.

Looking more closely, I noticed the musicians looking a each other quite closely to see what needed to happen, taking cues from each other. Remember, this was not bringing the band back together and do what they had done a long time ago once again. No, this was getting the band back together and play things they had never played before and get away with it gloriously.

Photo: Wo.

The quality of the songs are so good that there must be so many more people in this country who will enjoy this. No Ninja Am I has the songs, the melodies, the harmonies and the quality to attract far larger audiences. Who can be the connector?

For me I now know three incarnations of No Ninja Am I. The first are the records. The second is the band that does living room shows. Intricate, delicate, mesmerisingly good. Now the electric version was added to the previous experiences. You know by now what my impression is. Yes, it would be a good idea to have a second version of Plenty Of Blankets: the solitary singer-songwriter version and the band version. Both will be very much worthwhile to have.

Wout de Natris

You find the music of No Ninja Am I on its bandcamp page. You can order it there too:

https://noninjaami.bandcamp.com/