Seeing two of the best progressive rock bands coming from the Northern part of the
Netherlands on a Sunday afternoon, is something you can't afford to miss!
Unfortunately not every proghead in the Netherlands felt this way, because the acts
Flamborough Head and
Leap Day didn't get the audience they deserved performing at 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel.
The event was presented as 'Friske Prog Middei' and announced in the
language which is spoken in this part of the Netherlands! Which means in
English 'Frisian Prog Afternoon'. The people who did show up however, certainly
got two well performing acts and certainly had a pleasant afternoon with music and the usual snacks!
Flamborough Head
The band that kicked-off this double feature was Flamborough Head. Anyone who has
seen them play before noticed a change in the line up right away. After twentytwo years of playing the bass guitar,
Marcel Derix felt that had been long enough for him and decided to
call it a day!
|
Eddy Mulder |
The musician who replaced him was certainly not a stranger to the band and their fans, namely
Eddie Mulder! Who once touched the electric and acoustic guitars in the band when
Andre Cents
left. He contributed on three studio albums and joined
Leap Day when he left. Well, I guess he couldn't let the band down when they
asked him to replace Marcel for this concert. Anybody who knows Eddie, knows he
is a rather good bass player too. After all, he played this instrument on three albums he made with
Trion.
Very soon it became clear he had practised the material of his former band in a rather
good way. Although his way of playing differs from the way Mr. Derix plucks the
four strings. I could hardly see him making any mistakes, something which I
unfortunately couldn't say about the guitar player who replaced Eddie several years ago. The first three songs
The
Trapper,
Looking For John Maddock and
Lost In Time were played with hardly a wrong note, but
even with those minor mistakes I have to admit
Gert Polkerman did perform a rather strong set with his fellow
musicians. A set which predominately contained songs taken from the band's latest release
Lost In Time
(2013, see
review), such as the opening piece
The Trapper, the title track,
I'll Take The Blame and
|
Margriet Boomsma |
Andrassy Road. I heard the last song for the very first time during one of the band's live
shows. A track that was written when they visited the House Of Terror in
Hungary in 2007. It inspired them to come up with a piece of music which deals
about the bad period this land went through! During this piece it was most of
all the flute, played by female lead singer
Margriet Boomsma,
and the playing of the acoustic guitar by the already mentioned Gert Polkerman that lifted this song to a high level.
One of the highlights of the band's performance was without a doubt the title track of their album
Looking For John Maddock (2009, see
review). An epic piece with many
different moods and several strong breaks. The band said goodbye to their
audience with a song taken from an album made with their earlier line up, namely the epic piece
Garden Of Dreams
from the band's second album
Defining The Legacy,
released in 2000. Through the years the song went through a real
metamorphosis and that's why it sounds differently nowadays, compared to the
one on the studio album. However, this didn't mean it was less interesting; no
way. This song gave this afternoon's first performance a great ending. A
performance that was enjoyed a lot by the visitors and me!
Leapday
|
Leapday |
After a break in which Leap Day did a short sound-check, the final act climbed the
stage to give their show. Once again,
Koen Roozen stepped behind the drums
and the afore mentioned Eddie Mulder could be seen, this time however he didn't
play the bass, but his electric guitar instead. That Eddie is an excellent
musician could be seen throughout the entire set. While looking at the audience
he played his parts very easily, as if it was his daily job. Mentioning only
Eddie won't do justice to the guys on stage with him, because the other five
band members were also in great shape. During their one hour and fifteen
minutes long set they worked through their entire back catalogue very strongly.
A catalogue which contains three excellent albums and a fourth is currently in
the making.
|
Jos Harteveld |
Four songs from their next release
From The Days Of Deucalion, Chapter 2, could already be enjoyed,
being
Gods Of War,
Homo Ignoramus (Amatia),
Death & Destruction and
Phaeton.
The last title had already been played during their performance at last year's Northern Prog Festival (see
review), therefore it already sounded familiar to me. Out of the band's other
familiar tracks, I certainly have my favourites, such as the opening tune
Haemus and
Hurricane.
Both tracks are taken from the band's latest effort;
From The Days Of Deucalion, Chapter 1.
During the start of the latter song lead singer
Jos Harteveld received a
well deserved applause. He managed to sing the difficult opening lines of this track
very well. Since the band's debut,
Awaking The Muse
(2009), is still my favourite album, I was glad they performed
What Would You Do,
Secret Gardener and
When Leaves Fall.
Secret Gardener
started in a funny way with the sound of birds coming from the speakers. After
this song Jos asked the crowd if they liked to hear one more song, because it
was actually the final of the regular set. Well they did so, and the band could
only continue by playing the encore mentioned on the setlist, therefore
When Leaves Fall was performed without
leaving the stage. After finishing this final sing, Leap Day left the audience
behind feeling satisfied, knowing they had succeeded to play a fine gig after
not been on a stage for almost an entire year.
'Friske Prog Middei' was certainly an event I
would like to see at 't Blok more often, however next time with a much larger
crowd please, because fantastic progressive rock acts like Flamborough Head and
Leap Day simply deserve it, and even more so because they proved capable of delivering very good live shows!
Henri Strik (edited by Esther Ladiges)