'Better than the original?'
Newfolksounds (Hans van Deelen)

The album title makes it very clear; this is the second album of duo John O'Dreams, consisting of John Flierman (guitar, vocals & bodhran) and Ed Veltrop (accordeon, piano & backing vocals). John Flierman is the Christy Moore of The Netherlands and you'll only have to listen for five seconds to know why. The lads cover a lot of Christy Moore songs (no coincidence that their first album is titled 'Moore Songs'). Would this be the soundmix show ? Although this feeling is understandable John O'Dreams, with the help of guest musicians Siard de Jong (fiddle, bouzouki & low whistle), Peter Ebiesuwa Cadmus (African percussion) & Mark Gilligan (tin whistle), makes this an album worthwhile to listen to. John O'Dreams knows how to get and hold the listener's attention. Better than the original? Well, that would be a dangerous thing to say!

It had to happen, we've had Abbaesque, Ican Tina and in a more creative vein our own Jack L, yes folk's tribute bands. The common factor? Take up a foreign act's well known repertoire, dress up a bit and do your best imitation of folks who are no longer touring or just too expensive for the Parish Committee to book. John O'Dreams is based in Holland, he sings the songs made famous by Christy Moore, and he does it so well you'd need a very good hi-fi system to detect the difference. How he got the Kildare accent is beyond me, but he has it all right down to a line of Christy T-shirts as authentic as the original. Earlier this year John played a tribute night at Taylor's Three Rock Pub in Dublin. Five hundred people turned up and had a great time. It's not the real thing of course, but boy is it close, and from the unforced laughter on 'Don't forget your shovel' I'd say he's worth every guilder of the entrance fee. If he ever does a full tour of Ireland I'd recommend him to your local committee any day!

Can a couple of Dutch men play Irish music? Not only can they play Irish music, they sing a mean ballad too. John O'Dreams has built a reputation as one of the top Irish duos. John sings Irish ballads with a Kildare accent and it would take a good man to say he was not of Irish blood. Second Stage is an album full of wonderful well-established Irish ballads. Anyone can say we play Irish music, but these guys do it with style and add their own exciting sound in tracks like 'Biko Drum'. The album has a mix of tracks to suit every taste. I can honestly say I was not disappointed when I slipped the disk into the player and out came this amazing blend on instruments combining to make superb Irish Music. Both are excellent musicians. John has the great gift of being able to sing Irish ballads in the way they were meant to be sung, with passion and pride and a voice that would be envied by many an Irish man. Add to this the outstanding musicianal skills of Ed Veltrop whose backing vocals are outstanding to say the least and you have an album of great beauty.

'I was very impressed by  the performance of John O’Dreams. John Flierman suprised me with his music of Christy Moore. His timbre, drive and dynamic are very close to Christy’s. And like with the man himself you feel the shivers down your spine when you close your eyes and listen to songs like Cabaret, Ride On, Nancy Spain, Smoke and Strong Whiskey or The Two Conneeleys. Ed Veltrop accompanies him and I rather hear him on the accordeon than on stage piano. I was touched by their performance!'