dEUS and all-round bon vivant, has excellent taste. This much is evident from the impressive spread laid out in their dressing room; Gauloises cigarettes, Spanish tempranillo, chilled Grey Goose, and a bottle of 16 year old Lagavulin, a whisky that connoisseurs note is an “intense, smoky-sweet single malt, with seaweed flavours and a huge, peppery finish.” I’ve been ushered backstage prior to the band’s soundcheck at Utrecht’s Tivoli Oudegracht, and they’ve yet to arrive. One by one they drift in from the early afternoon sunshine: violinist Klaas Janzoons heads straight for the red wine, bassist Alan Gevaert engages me in a conversation about footwear, while guitarist Mauro Pawlowski is mostly concerned with hunting down some coffee. Finally, there’s Barman himself, affable and carrying several full garment bags, keen to get things started. “We haven’t played for two months,” he confesses as they stride towards the stage, “so we have to run through basically the whole set.” Two hours later, they’re still up there, playing, tweaking, honing. dEUS, it would seem, never do things by half.