Rock Ittervoort 2015

Sylvium, Arena, The Gentle Storm

March 28, 2015 - CC de Mortel, Ittervoort (NL)


On March 28th, Rock Ittervoort 'The Anniversary Edition' featured a very interesting line up. Dutch band Sylvium were there to celebrate the release of their 2105 album Waiting For The Noise, Arena included the festival in their 20th Anniversary and Unquiet Sky tour, and The Gentle Storm played the second gig of their The Diary tour here.
 

Sylvium

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Ben van Gastel
Early in the evening Sylvium were there to kick off the show. With three bands playing in a relatively small venue, they didn't have a lot of room to stand, but they made the best of that - and the best in this case was very good. This gig marking the album release of their latest creation Waiting For The Noise, they played the album from beginning to end. And to much acclaim - the music of this band is comparable to that of good old Porcupine Tree, and with that band being idle for so long, this could make fans of that band very happy. Mastermind behind Sylvium Ben van Gastel can be proud of himself and the band - upon hearing their music I knew I wanted the album, and I ended up going home with both their albums. His guitar, accompanied by the keyboards of Antal Nusselder and the guitar and vocals of Richard van der Geest create a musical landscape that is nicely kept under control where needed by the bass and pedals of Gijs Koopman and the drums of Fred den Hartog. They found at least one fan this evening, and looking at the number of CDs sold, probably a few more as well.
 

Arena

After a short change over, during which Sylvium had to remove their gear from the stage, it was time for UK proggers Arena. This band should need no introduction to regular visitors of Background Magazine... Founded by Mick Pointer (ex-Marillion) and Clive Nolan (Pendragon) the band has been around since the mid nineties, and were dubbed as a 'superband'
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Kylan Amos
from the start. This year, they are on their 20th anniversary tour, on which the founders are accompanied by 'lonely robot' John Mitchell (with Arena since 1998) on guitar, Paul Manzi on vocals and freshly hired bass player Kylan Amos. With the back catalog of Arena and the new album just released, this quintet surely rocked the stage. If you like their studio materials, the only thing that tops it is a live gig - a party on stage. This mainly due to the theatrics and interplay with the audience of Paul, and the great moves and bass faces of Amos. Even John Mitchell, who always looks a bit 'grumpy' cannot suppress an occasional smile with these two around. As Clive wrote on Facebook the day after the festival 'You can dance on 7/8, Kylan has proven that'. The band led us through 20 years of their own music, in which all albums except for their debut Songs From the Lions Cage were touched. All crisp, with the keyboards of Clive only stopping during the closing last encore Crying For Help VII, and the fiery guitar of John Mitchell playing flawless solos. On top of the experienced time keeping of Mick Pointer, Kylan has become one of my favourite bass players in a single gig. The energy of this man is contagious, and his bass playing is flawless. I'm still surprised he didn't bump into Clive's new toy - a (horizontally) rotating keyboard. I hope to see this band in action any time soon!
 

The Gentle Storm

With Arena finished, another change over took place on the stage, to set things up for The Gentle Storm. A new set of keyboards for Joost van den Broek, a huge drum kit for Ed Warby, guitars for Ferry Duijsens and Merel Bechtold, and of course microphones to capture the voices of Anneke van Giersbergen and
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Anneke van Giersbergen
Marcela Bovio. Two days earlier, I had the pleasure of being present at the opening gig of their tour at De Melkweg in Amsterdam, where composer of most of the music of the album The Diary, Arjen Lucassen, also joined the band for a short acoustic set.

The show at Ittervoort was slightly different than the one at Amsterdam, but just as energetic. Anneke knows how to grab an audience, and her 'right hand' on backing vocals Marcela knows too, which led to a few nice moments of combined singing - to each other and to the audience. All of this supported by a very tight band of skilled musicians. I am still wondering how Johan van Stratum can play bass and leap in the air at the same time without missing a note. A lot of attention in the audience went to Merel Bechtold, the 23 year old guitarist of MaYan, Purest Of Pain and Delain, who shares Arjen Lucassen's guitar parts with Ferry Duijssens on stage. As small and young as she may look (and be) she is a master on her instruments, and knows how to play with the audience as well. She
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Merel Bechtold
is, like Johan, constantly moving around the stage, interacting with other band members and the audience, while playing 6 and 7 string guitars as if it's a piece of cake. One thing is for sure on this tour: four men and three women put on a great show, but the ladies are in control. During the set, the band played all tracks of the new album, with the exception of Eyes Of Michiel, albeit not in the order of the story told on the album. This was interleaved with covers of some Ayreon and The Gathering tracks, and one from Devin Townsend (with whom Anneke performed the night before). Halfway through the performance a short acoustic set of 4 tracks was played, containing The Moment and two of the Ayreon covers. A nice pause in an energetic set, also bringing to attention the acoustic tour CD recorded by Anneke and Arjen, which is only available from the merchandise stand during the tour. With the tour only just started, a number of performances are already sold out. The Gentle Storm is becoming a success already a week after the album release, and people who were at Ittervoort know why.

To top it off I'd have to mention that the musicians in these bands are not only all very good at what they do, they also showed appreciation to each other's fans by showing up in the audience at each other's performances, talking to people in the audience and also being available for autographs and photos after the show. I got some photography advice from Sylvium's Richard, enjoyed (and discussed) the guitar playing of Merel Bechtold with Paul Manzi during the The Gentle Storm performance (what an enthusiastic and nice person he is) and talked briefly with John Mitchell about the mixing and mastering of Lonely Robot (see review, follow up pending!). Meanwhile, Anneke van Giersbergen and some other members of her band were around 'on the floor' as well.

I had a great evening, and from the comments I heard and the faces I saw I wasn't the only one. I hope to visit CC de Mortel for more great gigs in the future.

Angelo Hulshout (edited by Astrid de Ronde)

Setlist Sylvium:


Quietus
Signal To Noise
Fade In/Out
      Part I: Revelation
      Part II: Confrontation
      Part III: Reconciliation
Altered State
Headlong
Fragile
Coda ( For A Dream )



Pictures Sylvium by Angelo Hulshout

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Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Sylvium:

(left to right,
picture from Sylvium webste)
Antal Nusselder:
keyboards
Fred den Hartog:
drums
Richard de Geest:
vocals and guitars
Gijs Koopman:
bass guitar and pedals
Ben van Gastel:
guitars
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Setlist Arena:


The Demon Strikes
Rapture
Double Vision
Crack In The Sky
Moviedrome
How Did It Come To This?
Butterfly Man
Salamander
Bedlam Fayre
Serenity
Unquiet Sky
Traveller Beware
City of Lanterns
Riding The Tide
Hanging Tree
The Tinder Box
Encores:
(Don't Forget To) Breathe
Crying for Help VII



Pictures Arena by Angelo Hulshout

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Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Arena:

(left to right)
Mick Pointer:
drums
Kylan Amos:
bass and bass pedals
Paul Manzi:
lead vocals
Clive Nolan:
keyboards and backing vocals
John Mitchell:
guitars and backing vocals
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Setlist The Gentle Storm:


Endless Sea
Heart Of Amsterdam
Brightest Light
The Storm
Eleanor (The Gathering)
New Horizons
The Moment (acoustic)
Valley Of The Queens (Ayreon, acoustic)
Comatose (Ayreon, acoustic)
Cape Of Storms
The Greatest Love
Waking Dreams (Ayreon)
Strange Machines (The Gathering)
Isis And Osiris (Ayreon)
Encores:
Fall Out (Devin Townsend Project)
Shores Of India




Pictures The Gentle Storm by Angelo Hulshout

>>> Click here to view all pics on one page.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up The Gentle Storm:

(left to right)
Johan van Stratum:
bass guitar
Joost van den Broek:
keyboards
Marcela Bovio:
backing vocals
Merel Bechtold:
electric guitars
Anneke van Giersbergen:
lead vocals
Ed Warby:
drums
Ferry Duijssens:
electric and acoustic guitars
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