Outside of ACU in one of the busiest streets in Utrecht – a previous home for squatters, a bright-summer-day-sky façade lighthouse to those who seek a refuge from unwritten rules of mundane life – the atmosphere is buzzing. It’s electrified by middle-Eastern sound of beating Moroccan drum and conversations between strangers that just left the building after the first live appearance of three-piece Fugitive TV. There they are as well – the guitar and the voice Mario from Italy, the drum-beating heart Jeroen from the Netherlands, and the bass-of-a-backbone Mark from the United Kingdom. “We met five years ago in Hilversum where I helped Mark with organizing jam sessions, when this young Italian kid who just moved from London appeared,” reminisces Jeroen. “There were moments when we jammed and felt chemistry by looking into each other’s eyes,” he romantically adds. It seems like the appearance of Fugitive TV – long awaited and preserved, fermented like an artisan sourdough – was inevitable. 



A small CRT TV (the one with a booty, you know?) will probably become Fugitive TV symbol since its appearance on stage in front of Jeroen’s drum kit. Burgundy red hand-written name on its TV static screen should have triggered memories of mindless binge-watching from the olden days: suddenly you are woken up from your living-dead slumber by the noise coming from the lifeless machine that rather looks menacing in a radio silence pitch-black room. Remembering wise words by a prominent media scholar Marshall McLuhan – the medium is the message – the image of an unresponsive electronic appliance that is meant to connect you with the world drowns you under the wave of alienation. The medium of Fugitive TV is just as any other TV: media manipulation and people’s exposure to this kind of input. Already with the opener of their set, Fugitive TV gave a clear position on their stance – they will bring tension and end up with a grand explosion that will grab you by the surprise. It’s almost all about surprises - just like watching a program that you are fully invested in and then interrupted by an ad. Just when you feel like you found the perfect moves to dance to a song they are playing, Jeroen throws the conformist 4/4 rhythm out of the window and instills anarchy with the 13/8 odd beat. There’s a confusion in your face, what looked like sick moves now remind of bodily contortions, and you feel like someone has just pull the rug under your feet while the band on stage is thriving in their instilled confusion.  

“It’s mostly darkness in there, but there are light parts too,” reflects Jeroen on their sound. Partly this is because of the guitarist and singer Mario, the Italian doppelganger of Johnny Depp with a voice of Robert Smith from the Cure and Matthew Bellamy from the Muse. He makes it sound like a song “Stay” is a classic ballad that all classic rock groups end up making at least once in their carrier, but a closer look into the lyrics will reveal that it’s about the difficult of adapting to a forced way of living. However, Mario’s responsible position as a singer accepting the challenges that life is throwing at him is supported by the bassist Mark, stepping in to create harmonies that let a glimpse of light in. 

“It’s like after sex – it’s amazing,” said a girl behind me while catching her breath after Fugitive TV’s song that’s been called “Pesto” on their setlist (no mention of pesto there, but just as good as this legendary Italian sauce). Even if it didn’t tickle everyone’s fancy that came to see Fugitive TV’s debut appearance, it did manage to sweep someone off their feet, and that is a legitimate achievement for the start.