Yesshows & Mangrove

May 21, 2022 - Parkvilla Theater, Alphen a/d Rijn (NL)


It had already been two years since I witnessed a concert by the Dutch progressive rock band Mangrove. It had been taken place on January 17, 2020 at Gigant in Apeldoorn (see review). At the time nobody knew that the Covid 19 monster was going to destroy all concert activities for bands and their fans. If I knew it at the time maybe I would have enjoyed this concert even more than I did at the time. Two long years I cherished the sweet memories of this outstanding performance. And now finally more than two years later I could enjoy another concert of one the best progressive rock band in the Netherlands. This time around it took place at one of my favourite concert venues. Namely at the Parkvilla Theater in Alphen aan den Rijn. A double headliner event was on the bill. So even more fun and musical enjoyment thanks to the Dutch Yes tribute band Yesshows.

Maybe you know that both Mangrove (2011, 2016 and 2018) and Yesshows (2017) have previously been booked by Serious Music Alphen. The reason for getting them back again was obvious. With Mangrove on stage you will always get a performance which turns out a real feast for everybody present. And as for Yesshows, you will get the music of one of the best progressive rock bands ever.

Strangely enough due to several line-up changes in both bands, a substantial overlap with musicians in both bands took place. So I witnessed several people during both performances. Roland van de Horst was the bassist with Yesshows and the guitarist/singer of Mangrove. This also applied for drummer Lex Bekkernens and keyboardist Ebert Zwart who were twice on stage playing the music of Yes and Mangrove. Maybe this was one of the reasons to program both acts on one evening.
 

Yesshows

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Enzo Gallo (►more pics)
Being the opening act, Yesshows had the task to bring the audience into the right mood. And as far as I could tell they certainly did. With their outstanding performance they relived the golden years of progressive rock from the seventies. The band, was certainly on full steam when they copied several songs taken from the legendary live album Yessongs, recorded by the even more legendary line up. Former Seven Bridges guitarist Enzo Gallo sounded just like Steve Howe. Most of all his parts played on the lap steel guitar were really impressive. It was probably an honour for Lex Bekkernens to do the parts of one of the best drummers in the progressive rock scene. At the time he was still alive and had already reduced his playing in Yes during live concerts. Too bad that we recently received the news that Alan White had died at the age of 72. He has now joined Chris Squire in heaven. A musician who was perfectly copied by Roland van der Horst. Something which I did not expect at all when I found out that he would be doing his parts. But it turned out that Roland is a multi instrumentalist who can lay his hands on almost any instrument. I am not sure if the black and white suite and his Rickenbacker bass guitar gave him some extra power to do the job. The only thing I was missing were the bass pedals.
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Katinka van der Harst
They were this time around done by Ebert Zwart on his keyboards. During the whole show he had no problems playing the difficult parts of Rick Wakeman. Finally the biggest compliment goes to the person who had the difficult task to sound like the voice of Yes. I guess hardly anybody expected that a female singer would take over the vocal parts of Jon Anderson. Certainly not me! But if you are looking for a male person who sings like Anderson, the chances to find someone like him are minimum. Therefore it is probably not that strange that Katinka van der Harst stepped in and got the job being the lead vocalist of Yes. She did it perfectly if you ask me.
As for the songs performed it is easy to say the one musical highlight was followed by another. As for myself being a true Yes fan, I enjoyed each and every song played. They started with Siberian Khatru and was followed by one of my personal favourites. Namely Heart Of The Sunrise. Next up was Perpetual Change. Followed by two tracks taken from Close To The Edge. And You And I and the title track. The songs that are most of the time the encores during a Yes concert finished off the one and a half hour live show. Namely Roundabout and Starship Trooper. All of the songs were brilliantly accompanied by a special light show and video animations in the background. Which made this excellent performance even more special.

  Artists active in both bands  
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Ebert Zwart Roland van der Horst Lex Bekkernens
 

Mangrove

After the break it was Mangrove's turn. Something which I was really looking forward to. For those who know the band very well, asked themselves of course several serious questions. How would they present themselves without keyboard player Chris Jonker? And can we expect new songs from a forthcoming new album? Back in 2020 nobody would have believed me if I told them that Jonker is no longer in the band when the new album Bridge To Fiction is going to be released in 2022.
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Pieter Drost (►more pics)
Because they were then already performing new material during concerts. The interaction on stage between the bands keyboardist and guitarist was one of a kind. They were brothers in arms as it seems. It was the hand that perfectly fitted the glove. Would the chemistry between Roland van der Horst and new kid in town Ebert Zwart be the same? I will not go any deeper into the subject why Jonker isn't anymore in the band. Only the future is important today. The past is the past as they say! And according to what I saw during the one and a half hour live show I know that the future looks bright for the band. The two new songs Bridge To Fiction and Reflections had been played during the bands last concert in Apeldoorn two years ago. At the time the new songs most of all showed that the bands new studio album is certainly something to look out for. And this I can say again after hearing them once again. According to the band the album is now ready and will be released this fall. Of course some old favourites were done as well. Maybe I would have loved to hear more tunes taken from their latest effort. But with strong versions of Daydreamer's Nightmare, Voyager and the title track of Beyond Reality I guess I didn't have to complain at all. Off course the band has to do more material from their back catalogue and given the time they had they had to choose from it. But the main thing is of course that the first concert with the bands new keyboard player turned out again a real feast for everybody present. Zwart did a great job behind his stack of keyboards and made me forget his predecessor. He learned the material in a rather short amount of time. So thumbs up for Ebert. As for van der Horst, it is easy to say again that he is one of the most underrated Dutch guitar players. Again an amazing entertainer and at the same time one hell of a guitar player and lead singer. Also this time around he gets off stage to joins
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Mangrove
his fans in front of the stage. Now he did it during the song Voyager. His interaction with his fellow musicians on stage is still there. From time to time he joined bass player Pieter Drost to do some moves together. Drost is off course one hell of a bassist who forms a great rhythm section with the earlier mentioned Lex Bekkernens. Together they are the basis on which Ebert and Roland can do their musical tricks on the keyboards and electric guitar.

After the band ended their excellent performance they got a real surprise for everybody present. Roland announced that all visitors could choose a free CD or DVD from the merchandise table. It was a nice way of saying thank you to their fans for showing up and supporting them after the terrible Covid 19 period.

With two great concerts done by Yesshows and Mangrove the people of Serious Music Alphen can look back at a great start of a new season. A new season with many concerts to look out for. Thanks guys!

Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen)


Live video
recordings

Henri, Eden & Roel Strik

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Close To The Edge (18:11)
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Heart Of The Sunrise (11:12)
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Siberian Khatru (10:37)



Setlist Yesshows:

Siberian Khatru
Heart Of The Sunrise
Perpetual Change
And You And I
Close To The Edge
Roundabout
Starship Trooper



Pictures Yesshows by Arthur Haggenburg

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

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Yesshows:

(left to right)
Enzo Gallo:
electric guitar and lap steel guitar
Ebert Zwart:
keyboards and backing vocals
Katinka van der Harst:
lead and backing vocals
Roland van der Horst:
bass and backing vocals
Lex Bekkernens:
drums
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Live video
recordings

Henri, Eden & Roel Strik

Clips will be published later


Setlist Mangrove:

Daydreamer’s Nightmare
Back Again
Bridge To Fiction
Reflections
Zone 1
Zone 3
Voyager
Beyond Reality




Pictures Mangrove by Arthur Haggenburg

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

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Mangrove:

(left to right)
Ebert Zwart:
Keyboards and backing vocals
Roland van der Horst:
lead vocals and electric guitars
Pieter Drost:
bass guitar and bass pedals
Lex Bekkernens:
drums
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