Mangrove - December 11, 2009
Bluescafé, Apeldoorn (NL)
Once again, Mangrove performed in Apeldoorn, dwelling place of at least one member of the band and many of their fans and crew. It’s becoming a tradition for me to attend these gigs in the Bluescafé. It is nice to experience progressive rock music from The Netherlands in a small café and at the same time seeing friends. The show, which turned out to be extra long, kicked off at 22:00 pm. At the time, there weren’t so many visitors, but as the evening progressed, it got busier. Perhaps people outside heard the music and decided to pay the ten Euros to witness the show.
Mangrove started with the entire Facing The Sunset album (2005). Although this album only contains four songs, it runs approximately one hour. I’m a big fan of bands playing entire albums live on stage, so I can only applaud this move. Their
latest and amazing release Beyond Reality
(see review)
followed next. It was a great
joy to watch some Mangrove-fans in ecstasy listening to epics like
Hidden Dreams.
As usual, Mangrove played very well.
Roland van der Horst
always steals the show while walking with his guitar from the stage and mingling
with the audience. Of course, he is the singer and so he gets a lot of
attention, but during Mangrove-gigs, I like to watch
Chris Jonker playing
keyboards. You cannot only see, but also feel the passion in his playing. I
admire that attitude, especially with musicians as young as he seems to be.In between the two albums, there was room for older material as well. I recognized some of it, such as Zone III from Coming Back To Live, a live album released in 2006. In effect, this is a ‘best of’ of Mangrove’s early work. I have to admit, though, that all I really wanted to hear at this point was Beyond Reality, the first Mangrove-release in which I feel cohesion between the tracks. With earlier Mangrove-albums, some parts of the songs appealed to me, while others didn’t. After nearly two hours of playing, we finally got to the epic track Daydreamer’s Nightmare from Beyond Reality. From the very first tones, the music carried me away. I know this album by heart, for I’ve listened to it so often. However, I have to admit that I don’t like everything about it. Roland’s voice doesn’t always appeal to me, but it’s a secondary aspect of the album, I feel. The typical Mangrove-sound is just something you either love or hate, but one thing is for sure: Mangrove’s music is never boring! Experiencing the band’s music live on stage is completely different. It would be highly unusual for prog rock lovers to say they don’t like it. The power and energy coming from the stage is incredible.
Mangrove played Voyager, the closing epic from Beyond Reality and my favourite on that album, with verve. Roland came in front of my camera, so I could watch it even better without my glasses. Three hours of playing and singing and he still gave me the impression that he could go on for hours. Strangely enough, I wasn’t tired either and my feet didn’t even hurt. Voyager was the absolute highlight of the evening, just as it is on the album. It was a bummer, however, that some people just wanted to have a drink and a chat. In the end, that took away some of the magic, but there will be many opportunities to come...
From
the beginning to the end, this performance was a journey, one that made me very
happy. I was at the release party for Beyond Reality
as well, but it didn’t impress me
then. However, having the opportunity to get to know the album in the meantime,
this live experience was a different story. I’m sorry I haven’t listed this
album on my best prog albums over 2009, but again, I was just trying to be a
fair judge. During the gig, I was standing among ‘prog friends’, some of whom I
always see at gigs. It was also special, because in such a small café, in the
middle of our country, you don’t expect such an outburst of emotion in response
to the music. To be with friends at these times is very important.The big news is that Mangrove will finally play a full show at De Boerderij in Zoetermeer in November 2010. Come along and see them, Mangrove deserve it. There’ll be some surprises, perhaps special guest appearances? They arrange a bus for their fans and crew from Apeldoorn. Maybe I go to Apeldoorn that day just to be on that bus! It’s great to see a band of this calibre being so normal and down-to-earth. We must be very lucky to have them.
Janke Rijpkema (edited by Peter Willemsen)
