While driving my car with nice company and pleasant music, I'm looking forward to the concert of the Swedish prog band Karmakanic and the opening act, the Dutch top band Knight Area. Karmakanic did only one concert in The Netherlands before moving to Poland.

Knight Area

The concert of Knight Area turned out to be a special one, because the band only played songs from their latest album Nine Paths (see review), except for Mortal Brow, a song from their debut. This gig was special as well since it was the last opportunity to see guitarist Mark Vermeule play with the band. After their tour in the USA later this year, Vermeule will leave Knight Area. The fans that came to cheer for their favourite band got a great live show with perfectly performed songs. They didn't care that the majority of the songs came from Nine Paths, for they were singing along with all the songs. We got fine versions of The River, Wakerun and Angel's Call, just to name a few. Vocalist Mark Smit did a very good job; his voice was excellent with a crisp and clear sound. Occasionally he played on a portable keyboard to support the excellent keyboardist Gerben Klazinga. Because he'll leave the band, Mark Vermeule got some extra exposure with a nice solo part and some wonderful neo-progressive guitar lines. Unfortunately he sounded a bit flat in my opinion; a heavier sound would have strengthened the songs a bit more. The final piece Mortal Brow, ended again with a short showcase of Mark Vermeule. I wish him all the luck in the future and I hope Knigh Area will get a worthy replacement for this remarkable guitarist.

Pieter van Hoorn and Mark Smit

Karmakanic

After a brief pause keyboard player Nils Erikson sat down behind his keyboards and started to sing The World Is Caving In, part 1. Then the other members of Karmakanic entered the stage. Göran Edman, the band's singer immediately attracted the attention of the audience. What a beautiful voice this man has! During the show he turned out to be a kind of vocal magician and often he was accompanied by Erikson and the band's second keyboard player Lalle Larsson. These three voices sounded very harmonious together! Band leader and bassist Jonas Reingold found a perfect mixture of progressive rock and fusion elements that provided the compositions something special on a live stage. The interaction between Reingold and Larsson together with master drummer Morgan Agren sounded as jam sessions which extended the songs to the limit. Agren finally

Göran Edman and Jonas Reingold

got the chance to play live with Jonas Reingold. Although both of them made several Kaipa- albums, this was the first gig they did together. Since I heard some of Morgan's work with other projects, which I think is pretty impressive, I looked quite a while to this incredible drummer. Afterwards he told me that he had practiced for just three days!

The audience got excellent versions of wonderful songs like Where The Earth Meets The Sky and 1969. They were invited to dance when Do U Tango? began. Reingold showed us how to play the bass guitar and he was talking to the audience a lot, which seemed to be appreciated by most people in the concert hall. Guitarist Krister Jonsson acted as if he had eaten a battery for breakfast; he was jumping and swirling around the stage, meanwhile playing strong riffs and bringing the rock element into Karmakanic's music. His rock guitar contrasted perfectly to the fusion sounds of the keyboards and the progressive bass sounds of Reingold. When the band returned for the encores they surprised me with a rendition of Undertow, a song from the underrated Genesis album And Then There Where Three (1978). The band finished the concert the way they started with The World Is Caving In, part 2. It ended an experience I won't forget.

Pedro Bekkers (edited by Peter Willemsen)