The Rock Ittervoort concert was one I was looking forward to for a long time. Main reason; two bands I highly regard (Kingcrow and Threshold) were booked and after visiting previous concerts of both bands the expectations were quite high. But first of all, a big thank you to the organisation of the annual concert for managing such an event.
On this sunny Friday we drove to Ittervoort, parked the car, and after a quick snack we walked to the venue. To our surprise we saw a sole camper standing outside, which turned out to be the home of Kingcrow during their Dutch adventure. Nice as these Italian guys are, we quickly got to into a more than friendly conversation; talking about music, recording of the new album, and other future plans. When the doors opened, the place filled up with musical companions who, like us, were hoping for a night filled with great music, beer and friends.
 

Nem-Q

Paul Sieben

On stage the first band got ready to start their show. Nem-Q is almost a local band that lives around the corner from Ittervoort. Just a few weeks before the show, I was given their second album 301.81 (2012, see review)

Twan Bakker

to listen to and I just could not hear why fellow reviewers were so positive about this band. But hey, perhaps the live show would change my first impression about the band's music. Right.. that didn't really happen, the band tried hard and I really have to credit the drummer for his enthusiastic way of playing, but the spark did not reach me. After a few songs it seemed they were repeating themselves, the compositions sound alike a lot, but for warming up the audience it was alright, we could get a beer, buy a T-shirt and get in the mood for what was about to come.
 

Kingcrow

Ivan Nastasi

As written above, I had high expectations of the band Kingcrow, who had played in Uden (2013, see review) last August and totally blew me away with a magical performance, so my personal question was whether they could come close to that performance. The answer was YES; the band entered the stage with a kind of energy that immediately was absorbed by the audience and was returned to the band in multiple ways. What this band shows on stage is power, intimacy and a lot of pleasure. I guess two days of driving and been locked up in a small campervan has to find a way out. For guitarist Diego Cafolla the energy showed, while he was jumping around playing this parts flawless; rough power chords and emotional solos were

Diego Marchesi

blended perfectly together. On the other side of the stage guitarist Ivan Nastasi was playing the more technical parts; impressive melody lines and technical soloing. Kingcrow's eye-catcher is the more than impressive vocalist, Diego Marchesi. He lets himself go completely during a performance, his mimicry showing all the emotions that a good song can fill you with. Drowning Line, Morning Rain and In Crescendo are perfect samples of his mix of emotion and power. During the longer instrumental parts and the unexpected encore, bass player Francesco D'Errico left his spot in the back of the stage to join both guitarists in the front. His playing is flawless and on stage he might not be the guy that wants to be in the middle of attention, but he is a real monster on the bass. Another monster was right in the middle, at the back. Thundra Cafolla provides the power, including the subtle percussive parts that make him stand out. As a keyboard player it usually is hard to get the attention that you deserve being positioned behind your rig, but Cristian Della Polla did a great job and without his input, I suspect Kingcrow's music would not be the same. Kingcrow closed the set with the highlight of the previous album, Phlegethon, but for me the whole set was a succession of highlights and the unexpected encore was just perfect. The audience, who felt the energy during this performance, needs to be credited as well. Their response to the band was amazing every time; yelling and clapping, and I had the strong feeling they wouldn't have had any problem with a dozen more songs.
 

Threshold

Damian Wilson

When Threshold entered the stage, the atmosphere was still filled with Italian energy, and the band got the audience's attention from the first second when they came on stage. After a nine month hiatus, during this reunion concert, as vocalist Damian Wilson named it, you couldn't notice they hadn't seen a stage for so long; it was like the band only gained enthusiasm. During the entire show, guitarists Karl Groom and Pete Morten were fooling around and searching each other's company to play those impressive double leads the band is famous for. I guess you can see true friendship between these musicians when they play live. The moments Karl and Pete were not in each other's company, there was always bass player Steve Anderson they could fool around with. It seemed to me that the latter takes front of stage more often and gets the attention he deserves. As always, centre-point of attention is vocalist Damian Wilson, whose performance is always flawless. He

Karl Groom

really excels in the personal bonding with the audience, he knows people by their names and is seen by many fans as part of their family. This evening was no exception. He was telling stories and blended the whole show to a perfect evening. Richard West also was pointed behind his keyboards, but he definitely got his share of attention with super solos and backing vocals; even the grunts in Slipstream seemed to come from his microphone. At the last minute, the band changed the set-up and deleted a new composition from the list, thus preventing a lot of pre-release Youtube video's of the song. Instead we got a strong version of Avalon. Other highlights were Mission Profile, Long Way Home, Pilot In The Sky Of Dreams as well as compositions of their previous album, March Of Progress (2012, see review). My personal request to the band would be to position the drums closer to the audience next time, for there is one hell of a one man show going on at the back of the stage. Drummer Johanne James is more than the average drummer; he is without a doubt, a stunning performer. Threshold ended with a double encore of two masterpieces; The Ravages Of Time and Ashes.

However, with all this positive energy still floating through my veins, I do have one remark. This isn't in regard to any of the bands, but has to do with the venue the concert was held.
It's too bad the acoustics were terrible. I know the regular marching bands that play there don't have any problems with this fact, but during a heavy rock concert the sound is bouncing back and forth all over the place. Therefore the overall sound was not perfect and I heard numerous people complaining about this. For the organisation: this is meant as positive criticism and perhaps curtains on the wall would increase the sound quality.

To sum up; the evening was awesome, great bands, good music and well organised.
After the show the band-members took the time to talk to their fans and answer their questions as well as take photographs with them. After a night well spent, we drove home and tired but satisfied we headed for our beds. Thanks for a wonderful evening and see you next year!

Pedro Bekkers (edited by Esther Ladiges)