Joan as Policewoman live. Het Zonnehuis, Amsterdam Thursday 12 November 2026

Photo: WdN-vdB

Joan Wasser and her two band members Will Graefe (guitar, background vocals) and Jeremy Gustin (drums, background vocals) put a spell on Amsterdam-Tuindorp's Zonnehuis at the show celebrating the 20th anniversary of Joan as Policewoman's debut album 'Real Life'. The album  has gotten an iterative version this year under the name 'Real Life Evolution', which received a review on this blog on 12 June.

I listened to Real Life in 2006 soon after the review in 'Oor', at that time my only alert media to new music. Part of the attraction will have been Joan Wasser's link to the late Jeff Buckley. The introduction learned that her music was very much worthwhile getting acquainted with. 'Real Life' is a beautiful album but also one that kept growing on me and soon after also on the new woman in my life, now my wife. Come 2026, together we were able to see Joan as Policewoman again for the first time in well over a decade. Somehow she had faded from both our attention.

Until last night, I had never been to Tuindorp. It is in the north-western corner of Amsterdam Noord. All very small houses and streets of a size that are totally not made for today's traffic. Cars were parked everywhere and not a single one-way street. How is that possible? In the middle of this city village was a square with at its centre Het Zonnehuis (The Sun House). It is an early 1930s building in the Amsterdam School style and obviously designed as a civic centre of some sort with a stage for plays inside.

On that stage (note the beautiful decoration around it in the picture above!) stood Joan as Policewoman. The band played two sets, divided into 'Real Life' and other songs. My impression was very mixed. Not on the quality of the music and the evening as such. The band was in top form, the sound in the venue just perfect and an audience that was enraptured. No Dutch disease here in Het Zonnehuis. It was like being at a living room show but only a lot bigger.

Joan Wasser alternately played a bass synth, keyboard, grand piano and guitar. Always with supporting parts, except for when she played solo. Will Graefe just as easily plays a Spanish guitar classical style intro or conjures up the most bizarre sounds from his electric guitar, just Geoffrey Burton did for Sophie Hunger during the 'Supermoon' tour. Jeremy Gustin is able to play rhythms that would cause the drummer of my band breaking in two. It was as if he had a few extra hands to play with. All with these supersized brushes.

Several songs were so intricate and vulnerable that an unwilling audience would have torn the atmosphere apart. Luckily we were all there to listen and be enraptured by the quality on offer. There were a few moments also in which the band ripped it all up, with explosions in sound. Yet, I never needed my earplugs. It was simply perfect, with compliments to sound man Benjamin.

Photo: WdN-vdB

No, it was Joan Wasser who seemed not to be content. In the first set she seemed to be very unhappy. There was a lot of sighing and uttering of "oh, dear" The sound on stage was not right and yes, if that is the case, you have a problem as a musician. On the other hand there was some giggling as well, suggesting something else also. During the intermission a lot of work went into the testing of the monitors and it seemed things were better from there on.

'Real Life' is a beautiful album and all the songs came totally alive on stage. The last song played in the first set, was the first, title song on 'Real Life'. It was played solo by Joan Wasser and no one even dared to drop a pin. It was so quiet, as if time itself had stopped. An absolute highlight of the evening and of my live experiences ever.

In the second set not a single song was played that I recognised. I have never built up a relationship with a Joan as Policewoman album like I did with 'Real Life'. Why? Listening to the second set I can only wonder why. Somewhere in the 2010s I lost sight of the totally. During this set the tension on stage had ebbed away, the musicians seemed to come loose from what had bothered them and started playing for real. The set only got better and better. What songs, what albums?, I had no idea. What I did know however, this was an extremely good show. This trio performed as if there were six persons on stage but clearly did not need anybody else with them. From the audience's side this was perfection. "Scrumptious", as Joan Wasser said about her bandmates before playing 'Real Life'.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght