2015

Finally seeing VANDALE after I missed them as support of Iron Maiden way back in 1983......
DE ROCKDUVELS where the support band of tonight but couldnt convince me for one second. Later on I heard that it was more a tribute band to MOOI WARK, a band that I dont like either....and I prefer mostly to hear the songs by the original band. Pity, missed opportunity

VANDALE nevertheless came, saw & conquered!!! What a band, what a sound and what an energy!!! All classisc were played; 'Terug In De Tijd', 'Vrienden Uit De Kroeg', 'Geitenwollensokkenrockers', 'Als Je Hart', 'Paddestoel', 'Pet in Bed', 'T Zit Met Tegen', 'Rot Op', 'Komplete Kick', 'Betale', 'Niemand', 'Vecht' (brand new song - first time live), 'Weet Ik Veel' & 'Stale Verhale'.
Satisfied I went home; glad I didnt miss the show this time...32 years later as planned!!!!! The band is still alive & kickin'!!!! Hope to see them again soon......thanks!!

Tonight it was my first time to see DISTILLATOR from The Netherlands. I heard a lot of positive feedback from their earlier gigs so I was curious if I would agree with the opinions of other metalheads. It first counted me that there was a lack of audience in the Cacaofabriek; a beautiful new place. Probably due to the fact that the Very Eavy festival was in the same weekend but most likely it was due to the lack of promotion the venue did. Finally Distillator played for about 50 people and promoted their debut album tonight. Personally I was not really impressed because it all sounded a bit messy and especially the guitarparts were sometimes out of tune. But the enthusiasm of the band made me feel good and playing a Slayer cover is always a good choice ;-)

My friends of RAVEN started around 21:10 and opened with 'Hard Ride'. The band played, as always, full speed and a lot of classic songs where played like; 'Live at the Inferno', 'All for One', 'Rock untill you Drop', 'I dont need your Money', 'Speed of the Reflex', 'Mind over Metal', Faster than the Speed of Light', 'On and On' & 'Break the Chain (bonus song with a part of UFO's 'Rock Bottom' in it). Also a few new songs from their latest album "Extermination" were played; 'Destroy all Monsters' &'It's not what you Got'. After about 75 minutes the show was over and I went home with a more that satisfied feeling; a feeling that only a few bands like Raven (for example) can deliver! Classic!!!

For the second year in a row Schorem Haarsnijders & Barbiers, Rotterdam based tattooed barbers, launched a hell of a rock 'n' roll party. Place to be was The Van Nelle Factory where bands like Reverend Horton Heat, Bazzookas, John Coffey, Bob Wayne and Batmoblie were on the bill. MMM will only inform you about the bands we visited the Scumbash festival for: The Exploited and Monster Magnet.
After The Band had to cancel due to Watties heart attack, just one week before last year's edition THE EXPLOITED unleashed an old school punk party at the 2015 edition. Despite the fact the punk verteran has reached the age of 58, his band played an energetic and entertaining set. The band lived up to the expectations playing classics like “Beat the basterds', “Sex & Violence” and “Punks not dead”. Punk's not dead, neither is The Exploited!

The main reason I was coming the Scumbash festival was the appearance of MONSTER MAGNET, one of my long time favourite bands. Where most bands were could only perform for one hour, Dave Wyndorf and his fellow musicians were given one hour and a half. The crowd was warmed up and waiting for all the classics the band has written over the past decades. Unfortunately nothing of that came true. The concert was boring! While sitting on a plastic chair (!!), facing his amp Wyndorf was tripping on long, boring versions of relatively unknown songs. The only person who seemed to like it was the bandleader himself. Most people took the opportunity to visit the bar, toilet or foodstands. A well missed opportunity.

2014

A night full of classic metal @ De Pul!

I arrived on time because the main reason for me was to see DARKOLOGY; the only band that I did never see before and I love their debut album “Altered Reflections” (2009). Especially their singer Kelly Sundown Carpenter (also sung in Outworld, Beyond Twilight, Firewind, etc) is an awesome vocalist. Due, for me, unknown reasons Kelly was not on the road this time with the band and was replaced by Eugent Bushpepa. A name I never heard of before but which I will never forget after this incredible evening! A perfect substitute for Kelly Carpenter. The band started at 19:30 and had a terrible guitarsound during the first song. A second guitarplayer would have been very welcome also on tour. The band had only 20 minutes of playing time which is ofcourse a shame! The band only played 3 songs from their debut album and as last song they played Black Sabbath's “Mob Rules”. Personally I preferred a song of their own but I don't know the reason why they choose a cover. Most people where not even watching this awesome band but for me they were, beside the sound and playing time, superb! I didn't expect that much after the news that Kelly Carpenter was not touring with them but Eugent did a more than excellent job! Please come back soon guys but not as an opener again! Otherwise contact me personally!

At 20:10 the Swedish metallers of ENFORCER entered stage to play a 30/35 minutes set with a mix of their stuff. Ive seen the band several times but they never could impress me; well tonight they did finally! Nice show of these youngsters with songs like; 'Live for the Night', 'Take me out of this Nightmare', 'Countess Bathory (Venom cover)', 'Run for your Life' & 'Midnight Vice'. Next time I will be back guys! Good show!

21:00 it was time for one of the headliners; PRONG! They had an excellent sound from second one till the end and for a lot of people they were the best band of the evening! Ive seen the band also several times in the past and they are a good live band but its not really my taste of metal. But the venue was already packed and the audience went crazy with songs like; 'Beg to Differ', 'Unconditional', 'Lost and Found', 'For dear Life', 'Rude Awakenings' and so on… Great show again from these New Yorkers!

Headliner OVERKILL is still one of the best thrash livebands ever and tonight they again raised the roof of the packed De Pul! Its always a happening to see this energetic live band with a leading position for frontman Bobby “Blitz” Ellsworth. The played an awesome mix of all their stuff with songs like; 'Amorist', 'Overkill', 'Wrecking Crew', 'Electric Rattlesnake', 'Rotten to the Core', 'Bring me the Night', 'Hello from the Gutter', 'Elimination', 'Fuck You' & so on…….

All in all an excellent night with great music, a bunch of friends and a few beers! Hope to see them all back soon!! And I have to admit that De Pul is an excellent location for this kind of parties!!!

Another October, another Y&T concert at de Pul in Uden, The Netherlands. The support act was not known to me, they are an English band called VOODOO VEGAS. And they bloody rock! This is party rock early Guns 'n' Roses style. But also with a lot of proper hard rocking influences as well. This has swing, this has groove, this is rocking, this is rolling. They play a few songs from their album The Rise Of Jimmy Silver, but also two new songs. And it all sounds good. I must admit that I like them best when put the throttle down, as then they really come into their own. That's when they're most impressive. As for watching the band, men and women alike will enjoy what's on stage. For the women (mostly); vocalist Lawrence Case, guitarist Nick Brown and bassist Ash Moulton are pleasant to look at. For the men (mostly); guitarist Meryl Hamilton is a sight for sore eyes. And a very good guitar player as well. As for drummer Jonno, he's hidden behind his drumkit, so I'll not pass judgement on him.
It was then time for Y&T. They have never disappointed before, and they're not going to tonight. As usual they come out and play to their hearts content. What is becoming more obvious every year is that Dave Meniketti needs a little longer to get his voice quite right. But when he's loose, there's no stopping him, whatever you try. Thankfully he has a very loyal band of brothers around him, making it all fit live the proverbial glove. Another sticking point is the setlist. It's never exactly the same, so a few surprises to pop up from time to time, unfortunately including some songs that make my heat cringe. For the most it's business as usual, and they play most of the all-time favourites, Dirty Girl being one of the greatest examples ever. After some 140 minutes of pure pleasurable hard rock Y&T style everybody has a big smile on their face and either heads home to the bar feeling absolutely happy. Well, I guess it's a case of see you next year, guys.

On 12 July, I prepared myself for a nice evening in The Pul in Uden. I have visited a lot of concerts in The Pul and I like it. It is a cosy place and they book a lot of good (heavy) bands.
The head liner for this evening was British Lion and the support act was The Raven Age. THE RAVEN AGE describes themselves as “a melodic metal band from London”. In 2009, guitarists Dan Wright and George Harris (son of the bass player of British Lion) began their band which had to combine “contemporary heavy music with powerful melodic vocals to create an epic and unique sound.” After completing the line-up with some likeminded musicians, the band created their first album, an EP entitled The Raven Age. Their music can be described best by a mixture of Linkin Park and In Flames. The stage presentation was in the beginning a little bit uncomfortable but became better as the show continued. It has to be said that the band played the songs quite well. I personally preferred the heavier parts of their songs, but the overall reaction of the audience was more than positive. After approximately 35 minutes, the band ended with the last song of their EP, Angel in Disgrace.
At 21:30 the headliner of the evening, BRITISH LION, started their gig. I expected more people; there were only approximately 150 fans present. The band leader and bassist of the band, Steve Harris, needs no long introduction. He is one of the founding fathers and bass player of Iron Maiden. British Lion is his solo / side project. Besides Steve Harris on bass, the band consists of Richard Taylor on vocals and guitar, David Hawkins on guitar and keys, Grahame Leslie on guitar, and Simon Dawson on drums. The gig started with the opener of the album (This is my God) and the crowd was immediately enthusiastic. The music contains some elements of Iron Maiden (galloping bass play of Steve Harris, double guitar solos), but do not expect an exact copy. The songs sound a little bit more mainstream and catchy, but that makes them not directly commercial. The songs which suited me most were The Chosen Ones and Judas. Especially The Chosen Ones has a nice refrain. That brings me also to a small point of criticism, the voice of Taylor missis sometimes a little bit of power during the refrains. But his stage presentation is more than acceptable. Unfortunately the concert ended after 80 minutes, after an encore. That was a pity. I had some small doubts when I listened the album before the gig, but these are gone now. The band played the songs very well and I was quite disappointed when the gig ended at 22:50. I really had a nice evening and in my opinion, the people who were not present missed a nice evening!

A few weeks before Dutch veteran rockers of GOLDEN EARRING were playing on May 1st 2014 in the Jupiler Hall of 013, Tilburg, Holland, I was listening to the albums "Seven Tears" (1971) and "Moontan" (1973) a lot. Especially these two studio albums belong to my favorite GOLDEN EARRING albums of the 70's. I knew they were going to play in 013 on the 1st of May, so thought by myself "let's buy a ticket before it's sold out again", because the last time I saw GOLDEN EARRING in 013 was in 2009. And if I'm right, tonight it was sold out again (or nearly sold out). Anyway, first we got THE3rdMAN as the support-act. THE3rdMAN is a trio from The Netherlands and Belgium and exists of Jo De Roeck (vocals, guitar), Carlos Lake (bass, vocals) and Richie Bleijenberg (drums, vocals). The band played about 45 minutes, and I must say it sounded nice. I don't know the titles of the songs the band played, but there were a few which I really liked, and some were sounding less to me. Just nice to have seen the band once.
When GOLDEN EARRING got on stage, they kicked off with "Just Like Vince Taylor", followed by "In My House", which I didn't recognize, and two songs which I didn't know ("Identical" and "Little Time Bomb"). "In My House" is from the "Winter-Harvest" (1967) album, an album which I don't have, but I have that song on the compilation double album "The Devil Made Us Do It 35 Years" (2000), and "Identical" & "Little Time Bomb" are from the album "Tits 'n Ass" (2012), which I also don't have. When GOLDEN EARRING finished with the classic "Another 45 Miles", they again played a song from the "Tits 'n Ass" album, which was "Still Got The Keys To My First Cadillac", and after that one all the classic hits followed. "The Devil Made Me Do It", "Twilight Zone", "When The Lady Smiles", "Going To The Run", the superb "She Flies On Strange Wings", "Long Blond Animal" and of course "Radar Love". But also "Future" and "Johnny Make Believe", which are not classic hits, were in the set. Well, anyone who's familiar with GOLDEN EARRING, knows of course that Bary Hay as well as George Kooymans are doing the lead vocals. And both gentlemen are still singing great. The entire show I was standing in the second row from the barrier in front of bass player Rinus Gerritsen, who belongs to one of my favorite bass players. Gerritsen did a great bass solo before the band started to play their all-time classic "Radar Love", which as usual also included a drum solo of Cesar Zuiderwijk. After "Radar Love" the EARRING left the stage for a few minutes, and came back to do a few encores, which were "What Do I Know About Love" from the "Tits 'n Ass" album, the classic "Back Home" and "Holy Holy Life". As with all the other times I've seen GOLDEN EARRING live, I again enjoyed it very much. But, although I know they can't play all their classics, I really missed a few songs, such as "Vanilla Queen", "Buddy Joe", "Candy's Going Bad", "Movin' Down Life", "Weekend Love" and "Bombay" to name a few.

This was the 8th edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to some reviews...........

NOISEY (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

ROCK AND METAL IN MY BLOOD (Only in English) (Italy)

The Frantic Four are touring Europe (Germany, The Netherlands, Belgium, France, The UK & Ireland) for the very last time. They did the islands last year as well, and demand for a rematch was so great that they couldn't resist the temptation. In contrast to last year they did bring a support act, the old Dutch rockers of Vandale.
As VANDALE kick off, it is quite obvious that about 95% of the audience doesn't know them and/or isn't interested in them. Luckily I belong to the other 5%, but I must admit I wasn't impressed. Not only did they bring two (lovely looking but very unnecessary) female backing singers. On top of that they don't play too tight and singer Bet van Klaveren can't keep up all with all the lyrics. Having said that I still enjoy songs like Geitenwollensokkenrockers, Rot Op, Paddestoel, 'T Zit Me Tegen and Stale Verhale. For me this massive hall was too big and empowering for the likes of Vandale. They need to play the more intimate venues and stay with their core business: rocking without extra frills.
Last year I went to see the Frantic Four reunion in London's Hammersmith. That was brilliant, so when the chance arose to see them again in my own country I jumped at the occasion. First off I'll state the few things that disappointed me. The setlist was just about the same as last year, only Caroline had been exchanged in favour of Don't Waste My Time. (They had promised more older songs.) The other thing was that the sound in this large concrete former cattle-trading venue isn't half as impressive as what I experienced in London. Well, now I've got that out of the way I can say that I thoroughly enjoyed the evening, as STATUS QUO were in good form. Although, because of having played football on the parking lot Francis Rossi had hurt his knee and Alan Lancaster his foot, so they weren't as agile as they normally are. It seems the latter won the game, though. This is what happens when OAP's try their hand at stuff that should be left for the young. Something that doesn't apply to the band on stage, as Status Quo can still kick the arses of o lot of the younger bands when it comes to showmanship and radiating the joy of music to the crowd. But the joy of seeing these four together makes it even better, as this is what and how Status Quo should be. Except for the humorous talks in between songs. Maybe the band were afraid we wouldn't get them, because they didn't interact as much as they usually do. It doesn't make this evening's experience any less memorable. And for those who expected hits; tough! Rain, Caroline and Down Down were the only ones being played. The most recent songs were off the Blue For You album, which dates from 1976. So as an audience member you did need to know your stuff. And most did. And enjoyed every second of it. Thank you Frantic Four. You will never be forgotten.

Tonight I am ready for an evening of Dutch rock and anticipation, as it is all about the resurfacing of the Dutch guitar master Adrian Vandenberg. The Moonkings album is killer, so expectations for their third (sold out) show ever are high. At least for me they are, especially as this, their first ever European Tour, is played in mainly small and intimate venues.

Support act THE ROAD HOME from Enschede is the former band of the Moonkings drummer, and boasts two brothers of the Moonkings bassist on guitars and vocals. So at least the connection to the main attraction is quite obvious. Musically it resembles Green Day, The Gaslight Anthem and such and what they play has some interesting points, but in my opinion the band hasn't made the most of them tonight. The opening song and the two last songs of the set showed that they know how to play, but also packed quite some punch. Something the rest of the set unfortunately lacked. Also the vocals weren't very strong live, just too thin for me.
When VANDENBERG'S MOONKINGS make their entrance, you can feel the anticipation in the room. And boy, does the band deliver. From the very first note to the last, this is beyond what any of us expected. Yes, it is obvious that the band is still getting used to each other, but the quality of the players and the music is without doubt. The singer Jan Hoving must have been living under a rock somewhere, as I can't explain that such a great voice hasn't been heard earlier in a small country like The Netherlands. The drummer Mart Nijen Es is a younger version of Animal (The Muppets), very aware of playing well and making a show of his performance. Even his drum solo, which are usually quite tedious, was quite good. Bassist Sem Christoffel is the most solid foundation a band could wish and then there is Adrian Vandenberg. He hasn't lost it. On the contrary, he has found it again and is playing to his hearts content. Add the fact that everyone is having heaps of fun, and it all makes this to one very happy experience. They do play almost all songs off their brilliant debut album, and without exception they sound better live than they do on vinyl. The really come to life on stage. Of course we also get some blasts from the past like a (great) rendition of Vandenberg's biggest hit Burning Heart. Bloody effing hell, this sounds good. Surprisingly they also do Pushing Me off the very much underrated Manic Eden album, as well as Judgement Day from his Whitesnake (Slip Of The Tongue) era. Covers are thrown in as well, with Superstition (Stevie Wonder), I Put A Spell On You (CCR) and Alright Now (Free). On top of that there is the inevitable Here I Go Again. At the end I feel elated, as I have seen an international super act. This was electric. On top of that a little later the band does come out into the venue to talk to people and have their pictures taken and autograph stuff. What a great bunch. Vandenberg's Moonkings rules!
This tour will be the last time you'll be able to see these guys in such intimate settings, of that I'm sure. If you are Dutch and want to catch them live (again), you can see them at Fortarock 2014 and Bospop 2014! Don't miss out!

In September of 2013 ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN released her fifth album "Drive", which is again a great album. Anneke already had done a first leg of her "Drive Tour", and on February 1st, 2014 she started the second leg of the tour at the venue Paard Van Troje in The Hague, Holland. During the club shows in Holland of this second leg, she had four Dutch bands who were the support-act. Those bands are KIN KOBRA, PACESHIFTERS, CARTOGRAPHER and PIL & BUE. Well, this show in the small venue of 013 in Tilburg is Anneke's fifth show, and it was completely sold out. Tonight it was KIN KOBRA who were the support-act. The band, which comes from Gorinchem, Holland, started around 20:30 and they played about 7 songs. The band plays Rock with, in my opinion, also some new wave influences, and did got a very good response from the audience. Well, I liked the songs they played. So, KIN KOBRA is absolutely a good band, and has a lot of potential.
Well, around 21:30 ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN and her band got on stage, and they started with "You Will Never Change" of the "Drive" album. Well, the set list which Anneke did tonight was just marvelous. Of course she played the most songs of her "Drive" album (the aforementioned "You Will Never Change", the title track "Drive", "She", "My Mother Said", "Mental Jungle" and "The Best Is Yet To Come" as the last encore of the evening). Everyone knows (or should know) that Anneke van Giersbergen has sung in THE GATHERING (from 1994 until 2007). Well and of course she treated the audience with a few songs from the period she was the singer of THE GATHERING. The first THE GATHERING song she played tonight was "Saturnine", from the "If Then Else" (2000) album. Four songs later, the second one was "Even The Spirits Are Afraid", which is on the "Souvenirs" (2003) album. The last song of the regular set was the well known "Strange Machines" from the "Mandylion" (1995) album, the first THE GATHERING album with Anneke on vocals. Between the songs, when Anneke was talking to the audience, she had also a lot of humor in her talking as well. Anyway, other songs that Anneke played of her own material were from her previous album "Everything Is Changing" (2012). From that fantastic album Anneke played the songs "My Boy", "1000 Miles Away From You", "You Want To Be Free" and "Stay". After Anneke and her excellent band left the stage, when they had finished the classic "Strange Machines", they quickly came back to do some encores. When Anneke was back on the stage again, she asked the audience which other THE GATHERING song they wanted to hear. The audience could choose between "Broken Glass" (from the "Souvenirs" album) or "Leaves" (from the "Mandylion" album). And everybody wanted to hear "Leaves", so the first encore Anneke did was "Leaves". The next two encores were again from her "Drive" album, namely "We Live On" and the aforementioned "The Best Is Yet To Come", with whom she ended this excellent concert with. The sound was just awesome, a great light show, and of course Anneke sung as beautiful as ever. What a GREAT singer she is. As well as Mario as myself did enjoy this show very very much.

Some review links to this MMM show;

LORDS OF METAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

3 voor 12 (VPRO) (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

At the moment opening band HUNTRESS hits the stage, the venue is already crowded. It's the third time in a year the band around frontlady Jill Janus visits 013. Last summer they gave an impressive show in stage 1. Today the band's opening up for one of the most succesfull metalbands of the last decade. Huntress delivers a very tight and enthousiastic set and has made a lot of progression. Janus gets the crowd gowing from the start of the set, which includes songs from last years Starbound Beast end their 2012 debut album Spell Eater. After 30 minutes and six songs Huntress leaves the stage. We will defenitely hear more from this band and I'm looking forward to heir performance at the Graspop Festival.
Setlist : ''Senicide'', ''Destroy Your Life'', ''Spell Eater'', ''I Want To Fuck You To Death'', ''Zenith'', ''Eight Of Swords''.

I was not familiar with the material of DECAPITATED; second band on the bill. Of course I've heard about their tragic car accident in 2007, but I've never took the chance to listen to the Polish technical death metallers. To be honest: the material didn't get to me, perhaps because of it's complexity. The band gave an intense performance and one look around the venue learned that a lot of visitors did know and appreciate the band. I will shure check their albums out after witnessing their 40 minutes of riff and melody mayhem.
Setlist: ''404'', ''Day 69'', ''A View From A Hole'', ''Carnival Is Forever'', ''Lying and Weak'', ''Spheres of Madness'', ''Pest''.

By the time LAMB OF GOD starts their show, the 013 venue is packed. The groove metal band from Richmond came, saw and conquered from the first note of opening track Desolation until the last one of encore Black Label. Guitar player Mark Norton couldn't make it to Tilburg due to family issues. His place is being filled by Between The Buried And Me guitarist Paul Waggoner. It's good to see the band's having fun after all the troubles they've got with lead singer Randy Blythe's manslaughter case in the Czech Republic. Perhaps that case made the band more aware of their fans, given the fact that they stop the show to make sure an injured fan is doing all right!
Setlist: ''Desolation'', ''Ghost Walking'', ''Walk with Me in Hell'', ''Hourglass'', ''Set to Fail'', ''Now You've Got Something To Die For'', ''The Undertow'', ''Omerta'', ''Ruin'', ''In Your Words'', ''Vigil'', ''Laid To Rest'', ''Redneck'', ''Black Label''.

2013

This was the seventh edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to some reviews...........

LORDS OF METAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

TRUE METAL FAN (Only in English) (The Netherlands)

More will follow later....

Another October, another Y&T concert at de Pul in Uden, The Netherlands. And because they usually play 2 ½ hours or more, I wasn't expecting a support act. But the surprises never cease, do they? BEYOND THE LABYRINTH classes themselves as a Classic / Melodic Rock band with a twitch. So not a twist, but they forgot to add the Progressive part to the description. Or might that be the twitch they were on about. Whatever you might call it, the quality of the band was outstanding. Their mix is fine, their power nicely balanced and their songs quite good. The rest of the audience agreed with me and gave the guys a well earned applause after their show.
It was then time for Y&T. They have never disappointed before, and weren't about to tonight. What was unexpected was the calmness of the set start. It took until their fifth song of the night , Black Tiger, before they loosened the reigns and went at it in full force. From then on there was no holding back and Dave Meniketti and his brilliant set of colleagues set the stage alight. We even had a bit of a celebration, as it was John Nymann's 500th show with Y&T. The setlist has a lot of certain songs, but the band always try to vary the order they're in, even adding some unexpected ones. And like every year there are some songs that the band could have skipped, but that's nitpicking when looking at the whole picture. Even the enthusiasm with which the band plays during the entire show is commendable, as they do it every night. Y&T has done it again. They came, they saw and they blew the audience away. And the fact they are getting more recognition is to be seen by the growing number of shows they play in teh Netherlands every year. Let's just hope that they keep this up for many years to come.

Right on time I arrived at the Rock Temple in Kerkrade. Just after a few minutes since I came in the support band VOODOO HIGHWAY from Italy (which replaced the lately cancelled Vision Divine) started with their show of pure Rock 'n Roll! Not really refreshing stuff but nice music to warm up for the mighty Reverence! Mostly bands that play The Rock Temple have standard a good sound and today it was great again!
Only during the first songs of REVERENCE their was some acoustic feedback….. In the meantime about 30/35 visitors joined me to see one of the best shows of this year; REVERENCE!!!
REVERENCE is a band that was formed around guitarist Bryan Holland (ex-Tokyo Blade), Doc Wacholz (ex-Savatage) and the awesome singer Todd Michael Hall (also Jack Starr's Burning Starr). Ive seen singer Todd Michael Hall in April during the Keep it True festival and he was my personal winner of this years KIT! Awesome voice! On the sleeve of the album he is still having extreme long hair but nowadays his hair are even shorter than mine ;-) Live drummer Doc Wacholz is replaced by a former Tokyo Blade drummer which name I forgot…. Their album :When Drakness Calls” is an awesome album which I spinning around in my cd-player regularly!! \ Around 9:30 PM Reverence starts with the title track of their album “When Darkness Calls”, followed by “The Price you Pay”, “Gatekeeper”, “Monster”, “Devil in Disguise” (not the Elvis edition), “Evil Never Sleeps” (Burning Starr), “Revolution Rising”, “Phantom Road” and a few other songs. After “Phantom Road” Bryan Holland played a short guitarsolo and the bands continues with Tokyo Blade's “Night of the Blade”. Next songs on the bill are “Bleed for Me”, “Power of the Night” (Savatage) and “Too Late”, followed by a guitarsolo of Pete Rossi. Due the fact that the band only has 1 album so far, they attracted us with some more covers “Another Thing Coming” (Judas Priest), “Wasted Years” (Iron Maiden). “Vengeance is Mine” is the last song of the album but also the last regular song of the set. After that the boys from Voodoo Highway joined them on stage to sing all together Dio's (Rainbow) “Long Libe Rock 'n Roll”. A great evening with awesome musicians, a good sound and a band that sparkles fun on stage!! Only little bummer was the fact that they didn't play the best song (Ballad) of the album “After the Leaves have Fallen”…..

This year KING DIAMOND was, after an absence of several years (because of his health), doing festival shows in Europe. But we, the Dutch metalheads, were the lucky ones that KING DIAMOND did an exclusive one and only club show in Holland. And that club show took place in my hometown in the Jupiler venue of 013, Tilburg, Holland. This was the fourth time that I saw KING DIAMOND in Tilburg. The first time was on December 20th, 1987 in venue Noorderligt, Tilburg, with Dutch band ELEGY as the support act. The second and third time were two days in a row, namely February 16th and 17th, 1990, with CANDLEMASS as support act, and both shows were also in the aforementioned Noorderligt. Anyway, this evening there was also a meet and greet with KING DIAMOND, only I don't know if many fans have made use of that meet and greet. Well, tonight there was no support act, only KING DIAMOND. KING DIAMOND opened the show in 013 with "The Candle" of the "Fatal Portrait" (1986) album, and that was the only song he played of "Fatal Portrait". The stage of 013 was turned into a kind of haunted house. And during the first five or six songs, there was standing a fence on the edge of the stage. On this Tuesday evening, the Jupiler venue of 013 was very well crowed, I guess it must have been nearly sold out. Personally, my all time favorite KING DIAMOND albums are the aforementioned "Fatal Portrait" and the "Abigail" (1987) album. Actually, after the third album "Them" (1988), I stopped buying every new release of KING DIAMOND. And to be honest, if I have to choose between KING DIAMOND and MERCYFUL FATE, then I still prefer the self titled EP "Mercyful Fate" (also known as the "Nuns Have No Fun" EP) (1982), and the "Melissa" (1983) and "Don't Break The Oath" (1984) albums of MERCYFUL FATE. Anyway, back to this concert, with the second song of this evening, "Welcome Home", grandma appears on the stage in her wheelchair, and a few more show elements followed. In my opinion, during this concert there were a few songs in the set, which I didn't like that much (for example "Up From The Grave" and "Dreams"). Those songs absolutely can't compete with the material of the first few KING DIAMOND albums. When KING DIAMOND played the first MERCYFUL FATE song this evening, the classic "Come To The Sabbath", really…the whole crowd became totally crazy. And that craziness repeated itself again when he played the second MERCYFUL FATE classic "Evil" as the second encore. Those two MF songs (and the accompanying craziness of the audience) were absolutely the highlights of the show. I'd personally liked to hear some more MERCYFUL FATE songs this evening, instead of the guitar solo of Andy LaRocque and Mike Wead and the drum solo of Matt Thompson. And I'm sure I was not the only one, who wanted to hear some more MERCYFUL FATE classics. All with all, the show was excellent, and also King Diamond himself (who's age is 57) was very good by voice. By drinking some beers with friends and watching a fantastic show of the King, I really had an enjoyable evening. Eventually, KING DIAMOND didn't play a set of 3 hours, as was announced by 013 on their website, but played just a set of 85 or 90 minutes. The set list of this evening existed of "The Candle", "Welcome Home", "At The Graves", "Up From The Grave", "Voodoo", "Sleepless Nights", followed by a guitar- and drum solo, "Dreams", MERCYFUL FATE's "Come To The Sabbath", "Shapes Of Black" and "Eye Of The Witch". The encores were "The Family Ghost", the second MERCYFUL FATE song "Evil" and the final song of the evening "Black Horsemen".

An evening full of NON-Metal but with a rockband that has more energy and guts than most of the standard rockbands that name themselves as Hard Rock bands……

8 PM; DUDETTES; a 75% female band and the band played catchy rock/pop music. Not real music for a metalhead like me but im open-minded enough to judge these kind of bands. Musically they reminded me a bit of Krezip but singer Zjoly has a more soul voice and even reminded me sometimes to Amy Winedrinker (or was it Winehouse)?? Nice opener.

Around 9:10 PM the one and only SKUNK ANANSIE comes on stage to prove they are back as never before! Ive seen the band a few times in the past; before they broke up. Since a few years the band has reunited and is touring again. During the first songs “The Skank Heads (Get Off Me)” and “I Will Break You” Skin's voice was not really that good (she was singing out of tune) but after that 2 songs it looked like her warming up has begun for an evening to never forget! During the 3rd song “I Believed in You” she was already crowdsurfing and it suited me to see she was still in good shape! Next songs where “God loves only You”, “I hope You get to meet Your Hero”, “Twisted (Everyday Hurts)”, “I've had Enough” and “My Ugly Boy”.
During the next song; the first Skunk Anansie hit ever “Weak” Skin asked the audience to put all the hands in the air and what she did was unbelievable: she really walked over the hands of the insane crowd! I go to concerts for over 30 years now but never saw something like this!!!!
Skunk Anansie continues with “Hedonism (Just because you feel good)”, “My Love will Fall”, “This is not a Game”, “I can Dream” (again crowdsurfing!!), “Spit You Out”, “Sad Sad Sad”, “Because of You”, “Yes its Fuckin Political” and “Charlie Big Potato”. After this the show was finished and the crowd was screaming for more…and they DID get more!!
Bonus songs where: “Tear the Place Up”, “Secretly” and again crowdsurfing AND singing “Little Baby Swastikka”… It was the fourth time for me to see Skunk Anansie live and it wont be the last time! I also saw singer Skin and guitarplayer Ace during the 25th Anniversary show of Motorhead in London (2000) doing some guest appearances. This proves that Lemmy is also as open minded as me, hahahahaha.
Great show by a great band! Till next time!

This afternoon I went with my 7 year old son Jorn to the CD presentation of Powerized; a young band from the Breda area formerly known as YOUR SOUL PLEASE and during that period (half June 2012) they ended as second best band of the international Emergenza band contest! A young energetic band with influences from bands like Edguy, Iron Maiden, Avantasia.

During our travel to the venue we had the bad luck that it started to rain intens and so we had to take shelter in the rain. When we finally arrived the opener GHOST DIVISION was already busy to warm up the other visistors. GHOST DIVISION is a SABATON tribute band hat I had seen a few more times already. Sadly I'm not a SABATON fan at all and these guys couldn't convince me for one second. Nevertheless we had time left to get some drinks and take a look at the merchandise stand.
Around 4 PM my friends of LORD VOLTURE started their show with the title song of their second album “Never Cry Wolf”. Lord Volture is a pure metal band for fans of Jag Panzer and Judas Priest. Ive seen the band several times and they also played a few of my own MMM shows and these guys never let me down (as musicians AND musically). They played a decent show with several songs form both their albums and also a new tune named “Where the Enemy sleep” from their forthcoming album. Last song of the set was “Hearts of Steel”. As said; I adore Lord Volture” very much and we both (My son and I) enjoyed it very much!
Around 5:30 PM it was time for POWERIZED to hit the stage; introducing their MCD “My Creed”. As said I discovered the band at the time they still where called YOUR SOUL PLEASE”. I got in contact with these youngsters and after watching some clips from the Emergenza contest I knew I had to book them for my 6th edition of my own festival; Mario's Metal Meeting on 21 September 2012. Just a few weeks before the festival they changed their name into POWERIZED; a band inspired by bands like Edguy, Avantasia, Helloween. So MMMeeting 6 was, as far as I know, their first gig ever under the new name. I saw the band already a few times (mostly with my son Jorn, also a huge Powerized fan) and everytime singer Nick Holleman sings he gives me goosebumps! I go to concerts for more than 30 years now but never ever a dutch singer gaveme goosebumps; Nick is the best metalsinger The Netherlands ever had; mark my words!!
The band started with the first song of the EP, also called “My Creed” an awesome song with excellent vocals. It suited me that during a year most of the original members where already replaced and that the band was sounding fitter and better than ever before! It looks like bandleader Nick Holleman knows exactly which direction he wants to go! Powerized also played songs like “Beware the Shadows” (also on the EP) and a few other songs that I don't know by name because they are never released yet. During one of the last songs I went to the bar to get some drinks and when I came back my 7 year old son was on stage and “singing” with Nick Holleman! A very nice gesture of the band!! The show ended with a Helloween cover which was as far as I know the later stuff from Helloween “Mr. Ego (Take Me Down)” . Incredible afternoon with good music, an awesome Nick Holleman and a very lucky and happy Son (especially when I asked him to do the afterparty at the local Burger King ;-)
Keep an eye on this band and especially their singer; one day he will be famous!!!

Right on time I arrived at the once mighty Dynamo club for an evening of Thrashmetal!
7:30 PM; I just ordered my first drink when the German thrashers of DUST BOLT entered stage. Their music is Bay Area influenced thrashmetal and it really sounded okay! Also a very acceptable sound for Dynamo standards. The bass sound was a bit to hard in the mix but nevertheless these German thrashers gave a very enjoyable show! Pity it was only a 30 minutes set. Want to see these guys more in the future.
At 8:20 PM GENERATION KILL was the next band and the band gained a lot of support because of their singer Rob Dukes who is also the frontman of Exodus. Also in the band is Rob Maschetti (ex Pro-Pain, MOD). The band also had a good sound and was driven by energy. Personally I'm not a big fan of Rob Dukes due for 2 reasons; I don't like all his drugs promotion talk and political shit-talk AND I don't like his metalcore voice. Since he joined Exodus I also lost my interest in that band. Generation Kill will suit a lot of modern metal lovers but for me it's a band that I will never ever buy any stuff from. But that's, like always, personally. The 100 people that showed up mostly loved it. After 40 minutes the band stopped and everybody was waiting for the one and only headliner this evening:
HEATHEN started just around 9:30 PM and the band around singer David Godfrey was also suited with a good sound and a bunch crazy fans! This tour also Jon Dette (Slayer, Testament, Evil Dead, Anthrax) was kicking the drums and doing an unbelievable job! Musically this band is a good as any of the oldschool Bay Area bands from the 80's and their debut album “Breaking the Silence” (1987) is for most oldschool maniacs a classic one! Personally im not that impressed by David Godfrey's voice but musically the band convinced me total!! Last song of the set was “Death by Hanging” which was the absolute highlight of the show with awesome drumwork of Jon Dette! Good show, nice evening but personally Dust Bolt was the biggest surprise for me!

It was nicely crowded when Swedish all-female Metal band CRUCIFIED BARBARA played in the Little Devil, Tilburg, Holland. This was the only show these ladies did in HOLLAND. When Paul of the Little Devil told me he had booked CRUCIFIED BARARA, I already knew I had to be there. I have the second album "'Til Death Do Us Party" (2009), which I reviewed for MMM (see March update of 2009), and the third album "The Midnight Chase" (2012) of CRUCIFIED BARBARA, and never saw them perform live so far. So, I really wanted to see them. As I said, it was nicely crowded, but actually I had expected that it would be nearly sold out. Anyway, around 22.30 Mia Coldheart (vocals, guitar; real name Mia Karlsson), Klara Force (guitar, backing vocals; real name Klara Rönnqvist Fors), Ida Evileye (bass, backing vocals; real name Ida Stenbacka) and Nicki Wicked (drums; real name Jannicke Lindström) entered the stage of Little Devil and started with "The Crucifier", the opening track of the "The Midnight Chase" album, of which they played the most songs this evening ("Shut Your Mouth", "If I Hide", "Rock Me Like The Devil", "Rules And Bones", "Into The Fire" and as the first encore "Count Me In" and the last encore "Everything We Need"). From the second album, they only played "Jennyfer" and "Sex Action" (which was the second encore), and from the first album they played "Play Me Hard", "Motorfucker", "Losing The Game", "Rock 'N' Roll Bachelor" and the title track "In Distortion We Trust". The sound was good, and there was a very good atmosphere in the Little Devil. These Swedish beauties did got a great response of the audience. The band also had one cover in their set list, which was the classic MOTÖRHEAD song "Killed By Death", of which the lead vocals of the first part was done by Klara and the second part by Mia. Too bad, the band didn't have their first album with them (they only sold "The Midnight Chase" on CD and vinyl, and several t-shirts), so a few days after this show I ordered "In Distortion We Trust" at my local record store. Anyway, this was a very nice and enjoyable evening, that is definitely worth repeating for booking CRUCIFIED BARBARA again in Little Devil.

With his "Apocalyptic Love World Tour", ex-GUNS 'N ROSES guitarist SLASH did one show in Holland, which was at the venue 013 in my hometown Tilburg on February 26th 2013. This concert was completely sold out for weeks. I arrived at 19:15 at the 013, and when I entered the venue, it was already pretty crowded. The whole evening I stood in the fourth or fifth row on the left side of the stage. Around 20:00 the opening act this evening, Dutch rock band THE JACKS from Eindhoven/Tilburg, played a set of about 30 minutes, which existed of songs from their two E.P.'s (now available as "Epic Trois") and a very well performed cover version of LED ZEPPELIN's "Whole Lotta Love". This was the fourth time I saw THE JACKS live, and it was nice to see that the band did get a very good response of the audience.
It was 20:55 when SLASH entered the stage of 013 together with singer Myles Kennedy of ALTER BRIDGE, (who also played guitar during some songs) and THE CONSPIRATORS, which are rhythm guitarist Frank Sidoris, bass player, singer Todd Kerns and drummer Brent Fitz. The first song the band played was "Halo" of SLASH's second album "Apocalyptic Love" (2012). Other songs during the set of the "Apocalyptic Love" album were "Standing In The Sun", "Bad Rain", "No More Heroes", "Anastasia" and "You're A Lie". The third song this evening was the first GUNS N' ROSES song of the show, namely "Nightrain". And I have to admit, what a fantastic singer MYLES KENNEDY is. Well, the next song after "Nightrain" was "Ghost" of SLASH's first solo album "Slash" (2010), which is sung on the album by Ian Astbury of THE CULT. Other songs from the "Slash" album were "Back From Cali", "Doctor Alibi" and "Starlight". A real surprise to me was, that bass player Todd Kerns was also doing some lead vocals, and he seemed to be a fantastic singer as well. He sung "Doctor Alibi" (on the album sung by Lemmy of MOTÖRHEAD) and the GUNS N' ROSES songs "You're Crazy" and "Welcome To The Jungle". Well, the atmosphere in 013 was fantastic, also the sound was excellent and the band had a beautiful light show. SLASH also played songs of SLASH'S SNAKEPIT ("Mean Bone", "Serial Killer" and "Jizz Da Pit") and VELVET REVOLVER ("Fall To Pieces" and "Slither"), but personally I am not that familiar with material of these bands. But to me, the highlights of this show were of course the GUNS N' ROSES songs "Nightrain", "Mr. Brownstone", "You're Crazy", a brilliant 14 minutes lasting version of "Rocket Queen", "Sweet Child O' Mine", "Welcome To The Jungle" and "Paradise City". After the band left the stage, they came back for only two encores, which were the just mentioned songs "Welcome To The Jungle" sung by Todd and "Paradise City". Altogether I had a very enjoyable evening, and I even got a guitar pick of Frank Sidoris and of Todd Kerns which they threw into the audience. To bad, I didn't caught a guitar pick of Slash himself. Anyway, I do collect guitar picks of bands for years, so I can add these two to my collection.

This show was organised by Mario's Metal Mania so it would not be fair to review our own gigs; for that reason I only add links to the reviews done by other web- and magazines:

LORDS OF METAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

3 voor 2 VPRO (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

There was also a review added to the Dutch leading magazine Aardschok (by Mike van Rijswijk)

2012

When I entered the Effenaar it suited me that it was already very crowded this evening; the show which should originally take place at the Dynamo club was relocated to the much bigger Effenaar due to the fact that ticket sale went very well for this show.
At 8 PM XERATH started their set and musically it all sounded very nice and technical. Still the band couldn't convince me because of their metalcore elements; a style of metal I don't like that much. After half an hour the show was done and that okay with me and also with a big part of the more oldschool orientated audience…

After a break of 30 minutes the TESTAMENT show started with the Fortuna intro, an intro that is used by a lot of metalbands during the years….
The band started with 'Rise Up' from their latest album “Dark Roots of Earth”. From this album they also played 'Native Blood', 'True American Hate ' and the title song 'Dark Roots of Earth'. Big negative aspect to the whole show was the out of proportion sound quality; the sound was so fucking loud and messy that it was a puzzle to recognize the songs. This wouldn't change for the whole set; the soundman obtained no hearing, as we speak.
Other songs that I COULD recognize where 'The New Order', 'Into the Pit', 'Practice what you Preach', ' Over the Wall', 'More Than Meets The Eye', 'Alone in the Dark' and 'Disciples of the Watch'.
After nearly 1,5 hours the band stopped and I went home with a bad feeling and treble troubles in my ears which continues for several days….and that says enough after more than 30 years of concert experience…. This could have been such a great show with a very good setlist but it was ruined by a deaf soundtechnician…….better let him sign his Testament……..Truly a missed opportunity!

This evening I was very early at the concert hall because my daily job is also in Eindhoven and it was easy to stay around till the Klokgebouw venue opened their doors. My first acquaintance with this large hall and I was really impressed about this former Philips factory which was rebuild to a concert hall. Easy to travel and park and nearby a train station.

Around 7 PM the UK metallers of DIARIES OF A HERO kicked off with their Pantera-a-like metal. Not bad at all and I even didn't have the annoying tendency to leave the hall. This kind of metal is i.m.o. not really the good type of metal to warm up the Anthrax and Motorhead shows but hey: Ive seen Motorhead with lots of worse bands during all these years! They played their modern metal with good musicianship and enthusiasm and most of the 300 people that also joined me in the enormous hall liked it. After half an hour it was done. Nice band but to modern for me personally.

7:45 PM ANTHRAX entered the stage and what I saw was a nearly new line up! I mean; Scott Ian was the only original member this tour while even Charlie Benante was replaced by Jon Dette (Testament, Slayer, Killing Machine & Evildead). Luckily Jon is a very good drummer and I didn't miss Charlie Benante for one second. Live the band is completed with (ex-) singer Joey Belladonna who is in my opinion way better than his boring predecessor John Bush. The band kicked off very fanatic with “Caught in a Mosh” which already turned out into a moshpit! It suited me that Anthrax had a very good sound and that Joey's voice was also very clean/powerfull. Next song “Fight 'Em Til You Can't” from their latest release “Worship Music” was sung also by all the die-hard fans in the crowd. During this song Jon Dette caught my attention again with his superb drumming. The next song, “Antisocial” is a Trust cover but also one of the evergreens of Anthrax. Again good for a big moshpit!!! “In the End” is a tribute song to Ronnie James Dio and "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott. After this tribute it was time for a few of my favorite songs “Deathrider” (Neil Turbin era) and “Madhouse”. After again a few newer songs the band continues with “I am the Law” and “Indians” which caused one of the biggest moshpits I ever saw!! Very good and energetic show!! Looking out for them again after this great gig!!

At 9:15 PM it was finally time to see MOTORHEAD again! This was my 42 th(!!!) time seeing Motorhead live but last time I saw them was already 4 years ago! So the more curious I was after this long break. Motorhead is playing more and more festivals during the last years and I don't like to go to these crowded festivals like Graspop and Wacken anymore. I prefer the club shows and so I was glad the band entered Eindhoven this year. The set opened with the only new song they played this night “I know how to Die” but it was hard to recognize due to the messy sound. After this it looks like the band didn't have time or mood to rehearse more new songs which is a pity! So again a lot of classic songs follow up: “Damage Case” (in which Phil Campbell even tries to play a serious solo), “Stay Clean”, “Metropolis”, “Over the Top”, “Dr. Rock”. During these songs the sound quality was getting much better. The last few times I saw Motorhead I was bothered by the uninterested and terrible guitar playing of Phil Campbell. Well tonight he even did a solo; armed with a green-lighted guitar, and I most admit that he was doing a very good job this time!!
The set continues full speed with “The Chase is better than the Cath”, |”Rock It” (from their great and most underrated album ever “Another Perfect Day”), “You better Run” and “The One to sing the Blues” (with an incredible drum solo of drum god Mickey Dee)!!! Lemmy's voice isn't getting better during the set but that's not a shame if you know that the master himself is getting 67 in December this year!!! “Going to Brasil” continues and during the next song, “Killed by Death” Phil Campbell starts with a terrible out of tune guitarpart…..
The regular set stops with their all time classic “Ace of Spades” and it looks like a big part of the audience only knows this song??? After a small break the band returns on stage with a Thin Lizzy cover “Are you ready to Rock” which sounds, except for the moderate guitar parts, okay. Last song is, as usual during the last 10/15 years; “Overkill”. After 75 minutes the show is done and I left home satisfied …….

Very nice evening with a nice opener, a very good Anthrax show and a more than average Motorhead show!! Goal is to see Motorhead at least 50 times but looking at Lemmy's condition and shape (he is very scrawny) im afraid in not gonna see them another 8 times ….
Thanks to all the other 3000 visitors to join this party and also to Mojo for arranging this all!!

On a Sunday evening I went to 'De Lakei' in Helmond to finally see one of the few bands that where still on my “want to see live-list”; SANTERS. The Canadians of SANTERS deliver sleek, fast and loud hard hitting hard rock. This trio packs a heavy musical punch with members Rick Santers (lead vocals, guitars, keys) along with brother Mark Santers (drums and vocals) and Rick Lazaroff (bass). 
The day before this show the band performed at the Firefest Festival in England and the booker (thanks Wim) off 'De Lakei' offered the idea to get them over to The Netherlands also for 1 show! Good initiative if you ask me!!

At 21:30 the band kicks off (there was no support act this evening) with 'Winter Freeze'. Followed by 'Time after Time'. It counted me that the band had a great sound and that's remarkable after I heard that they only had a 15 minute sound check and a borrowed backline! The set continues, for not even 50 visitors, with 'Black Magic' 'Mystical Eye” and 'Still I am”. During the next song 'The Rapper' the band shows their technical skills with a lot of prog parts! Really great musicianship these guys showed here on stage! 'Backstreets' is next on the bill followed by ballad 'Dreaming”, 'Dog without a Home', 'Shot down in Flames' (with drumsolo), 'You turn me On', 'Allright Now' (Free cover), 'Mistreatin Heart' and 'Cant shake You'.
After a small break the audience managed to get the band back on stage where they played 2 bonus songs: 'Mississipi Queen' and 'Road to Morocco'. Pity the band didn't hear me screaming for “Baby Blue”, in my opinion their best song ever…… But I'm not complaining; the band played a very good set of nearly 90 minutes with a very good sound, excellent musicianship and with a venue/room filled with ONLY die-hard Santers fan!
A big thanks to 'De Lakei' for arranging this! Really appreciated!!!! Hope to see the band again some day (please don't wait another 30 years)…

On 28-9-2012, I had the opportunity to see one of the best symphonic black metal bands of this moment live: Carach Angren. This band played at Popstage Lakei, a real nice rock stage in Helmond with a capacity of 700 people.
At 9 PM, the Limburgian trash metal / hardcore band THE UNKNOWN opens the show as support act for Carach Angren. The Unknown is the band of former Born From Pain singer Ché Snelting. They consist of the following members: Ché Snelting (vocals), Marcel Hendrix (guitar), Cliff Demandt (guitar), Ruud Haan (bass) and John King (drums). After an instrumental opening, the band starts with “Burn your World” followed by “Stranded”. These heavy songs are really appreciated by the relative small audience. But professional as they are, that does not matter the band. The sound during the show is quite well but it is sometimes difficult to hear the guitar solos. The Unknown plays their songs with a lot of enthusiasm and half an hour later, the band ends their gig after playing “Risen from Ash” and “Hell will Follow”. After the show, I was informed that this was Ché Snelting`s last show with The Unknown. He has decided to leave the band. His successor will be Boris (ex Leng Tch`e) and he will be the vocalist on the new EP which will be released later this year. I am looking forward to it!

Carach Angren is one of the new leading black metal bands of this moment. This Dutch band, consisting of Ardek (Keys & Arrangements), Seregor (Vocals & Guitars) and Namtar (Drums) released in 2008 their official debut album “Lammendam”. The (international) press was immediately enthusiastic. After the release of “Death Came Through A Phantom Ship” in 2010 (about the legend of the flying Dutchman), the band moved to a new record label: Seasons of Mist. A huge compliment of course. Recently, the band released their latest album: “Where The Corpses Sink Forever”. With this new album, the band makes a new step in the development of their style: symphonic black metal with dominant keyboard parts, screaming voices and bombastic orchestrations which is used as basis to share the band`s passion for old legends. (like for example story of the Flying Dutchman)
At exact 10 PM, CARACH ANGREN enters the stage for their gig. Insiders know that this band has a lot of talent, but I was a little bit concerned if the band was able to reproduce their complex songs live with only three musicians. But quite soon, I am convinced that it is possible. The gig starts, of course, with a sinister intro and after this intro the band plays ”Lingering In an Imprint Haunting” from the new album “Where the Corpses Sink Forever”. The sound is, after some small adjustments, more than acceptable! The enthusiastic performance of the complete band has also his influence on the crowd. The intense black metal with a lot of tempo breaks is really appreciated! The band plays of course some songs from their new album (like Bitte Tötet Mich) but they do not forget their older albums and demo`s too. From their official debut “Lammendam”, they play “Haunting Echoes From the Seventeenth Century”. The band shows their vulnerability when they play their orchestral songs like “Spectral Infantry Battalions”. These orchestral songs (with hardly any drums or guitar parts) are quite strange among all the blast beats, screams and heavy guitar parts, but they fit perfectly in the band`s classical, storytelling approach. In the second part of the gig, the band plays mainly the songs of the last three albums like “Bloodstains on the Captain's Log”, “The Carriage Wheel Murder” and “General Nightmare”. After the band plays their encore, the gig ends at 11:15 pm. It can be concluded that the band has confirmed again that they can meet with bands which are active in the highest regions of the Black Metal premier league.

Today was a special day; Oldschool metallers MARTYR arranged a complete show/festival to celebrate their 30 years in Heavy Metal. It all started on time and I drove by train so I had the opportunity to party with them (a party without alcohol is not a real party, hahahaha). That it was a great party for me became clear last night when I was looking for the annotations I made during the day...I lost them with my drunken head.....
I arrived on time but got lost in the center of Utrecht and so I missed a few songs of opener POWERPIMPS; a dutch sleaze rock band with some raw rock 'n roll elements. Not really my cup of tea (or bottle of beer in this case) but the people that also already arrived, around 50/75, enjoyed it a lot! Looking at their popularity we will hear more from this band in the near future!
GLORIA VICTIS was the second band of the day and the band is formed by some old roadies of Martyr according the information I got. The band plays true heavy metal in the eighties style but when you know that some of the members also adore the Dutch Heavy Metal Maniacs fanclub; its all logic ;-). Martyr is also a band that supports this fanclub for years now so it was a logical decision to add Gloria Victis also to the line-up of this day. Singer Bozzy is a very nice guy; maybe not the best singer but a very good frontman. Musically it was also not all perfect but this is a young talented band and im looking out to hear their CD which is released lately!
Next band on the bill was MALDITA and to be honest; this kind of metal cant convince me for one second. This is typical Brasilian metal in a way Sepultura played it in their worst period; lots of "Ratamahatta-a-like" metal. Time for me to take a break and take a walk in search for some food in the center of Utrecht.
I was back on time to be witness of IZEGRIM's performance. I like the bands death/thrashmetal for years now and its also always a nice band to see on stage (not only because of their goodlooking frontwoman Marloes). Marloes is not only blessed with a nice body and awesome long hair but she is also very sympathetic to the audience. The band played a very good show and it was good to see that the number of audience grew during the evening.
Personaly I was also looking out for the next band: AFTER ALL from Belgium. I know the band for years now and they also already played at one of my Mario's Metal Meetings in the past. Since the band welcomed singer Sammy Peleman to their ranks; the band has a fast growing popularity. The band also signed to RoadRunner lately and released one of the best albums of 2012 "Dawn of the Enforcer". Sammy is a big addition to the band and is such an amazing singer. Live he easily hits all the high notes and he is sounding un-Belgium if you ask me! Their new album is still spinning in my CD player for months now! Great show with a lot of songs from their new album: "Demolition Course", "Becoming the Martyr" (whats in a name!), "Ruins of Bones"', "Land of Sin", "My own Sacrifice", "Insufferable", "Digital War", "To Breach and Grieve", "End of your Words", "Betrayed by the Gods" (My favorite After All song), "Forgotten", "Parasite Within" & "Timeless Machine". Awesome show guys!!
Headliner and organiser MARTYR was formed in 1982 and debuted with the very interesting "For The Future" in 1985, mixing technical riffing with a pre-thrash base. Certainly an atypical sound for a Dutch band (or for that matter any metal band at that time), the album won a decent amount of critical and fan approval. Their second album, "Darkness At Times End", was released a year later, but the lack of promotion, coupled with the band's inability to find a large audience for their unconvential style, spelled the end of the band, the group breaking up in 1987. The guys got together for a reunion show in October of 2001, and buoyed by its success, did some more reunion shows in 2005 and is presently active, with a long-awaited new album released late 2011 (Circle of 8). This all according the BNR metal pages ;-)
Well tonight the band organised this special event and it went out as a hell of a party. The whole day/night was presented by Angel Druif (formerly of Vara's Vuurwerk; a wellknown dutch metal radio program). The band also had programmed a few guestmusicians but the only one I saw/heard was Liesbeth Cordia (Eve’s Fall); or had to do again with the fact that it was a woman?? Singer/Entertainer Ropke van Haren is one of the best frontmen Holland had ever delivered but today he had serious throat problems. Pity that this has to happen during this special night. Nevertheless the band builded a great party at the Tivoli with about/around 300 visitors/fans. The other bandmembers are always willing to play and great musicians. They are all very sympathetic and I did several shows with these guys in the past and they are one of the finest bands to work with. Up to at least another 10 years my friends!! Still pity I lost my annotations because I remember also that a few of the bands that played today also did a coverversion of a Martyr song!!

This show was organised by Mario's Metal Mania so it would not be fair to review our own gigs; for that reason I only add links to the reviews done by other webzines:

ROCK PORTAAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

This show was organised by Mario's Metal Mania so it would not be fair to review our own gigs; for that reason I only add links to the reviews done by other webzines:

ROCK PORTAAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

3 voor 2 VPRO (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

This day was (and always will be) a special one to me \m/
A few weeks before this show I was invited to join a meet & greet with one of my alltime favorite singers Jorn Lande (Masterplan, Jorn, Beyond Twilight, Ark, etc...) in Tongeren, Belgium. My 6 years old son (and my best friend ;) is named after Jorn Lande and already really interested in Heavy Metal. After I asked him if he wanted to meet the "real" Jorn he answered my question with a "Yes" wholeheartedly. Later one he went mad when I told him that we also went to a concert that same evening in Vosselaar, Belgium. Armed with his ear protectors we travelled from Tongeren (meet & greet Jorn) to Biebob, Vosselaar for over 100 km again for some quality time with my boy.

When we arrived the first band DESPERATION already played and my Belgium friends from FIREFORCE also where nearly done with their set. Luckily I had the chance to hear my favorite FireForce song "Moonlight Lady" and the last bonus song "Born to be Metal". Sound was okay and FireForce is a live band pur sang. Pity that there was not much crowd at that moment and that wouldnt change much during the night. I think this had to do with the last-minute booking of this show due to the fact that they couldnt announce Crimson Glory earlier because the band was one of the highlights of the Alcatraz Metal fest a few days earlier. Nevertheless nice to see/hear my friends in FireForce again. Next time I will try to be their much earlier...
NIGHTMARE is an oldschool French power metal band which was formed in the early eighties. To be honest; I was not familiar with the bands music but they really did impress me this night. What suited me where the sound, the musicianship and the very good singer of the band. Melodic power metal was the order of the day here, but with a few twists of their own to keep from sounding tired. Singer Amore (who used to be their drummer for years) has a gritty yet powerful voice that suits the style well, forceful yet not overbearing. Even if I didnt knew the material I still was attracted for the whole set. And that says enough. Some songtitles I remember: "Wicked White Demon" & "Cormovision. Good show guys.

Headliner CRIMSON GLORY was the main reason for me to travel to Vosselaar because I wasnt able to see the band live since their Keep it True gig a few years ago. And during that gig I was blewn away. New frontman Todd La Torre has an incredible voice and is also a very sympathetic guy. He even took some time during the show to kneel behind my son Jorn (who was tired and sitting on the stage) and gave me a hint to take some pictures of them. Very much appreciated! Ive seen Crimson Glory with all of their singers and all of them are great; Midnight, Wade Black and Todd La Torre; great to see that the band manages to find such great singers every time. Hope Todd will stay with the band for long but personally im afraid he will leave the band now that he is also officialy the new singer of Queensryche these days! The band played a good show but pity for me, and luckily for my son who was tired) the band stopped after 45 minutes. At 23:00 we drove home after sharing some superb quality time together! Some songs of the setlist: "Valhalla", "Dragon Lady"', "Azrael", "Queen of the Masquarade", "Lady of Winter", "Painted Skies", "Dragons" & "Red Sharks".

This show was organised by Mario's Metal Mania so it would not be fair to review our own gigs; for that reason I only add links to the reviews done by other webzines:

3 voor 2 VPRO (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

This show was organised by Mario's Metal Mania so it would not be fair to review our own gigs; for that reason I only add links to the reviews done by other webzines:

3 voor 2 VPRO (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

When we arrived, TORNADO already started. Due to the fact that we where to late, traffic jam, but also because most concerts nowadays at Dynamo start earlier as announced. So we where witness of 1,5 song which was not bad when you know they only played 4 or 5 in total. It was also one of these boring nights that the National Soccer team had to play against Portugal (I hate soccer) which made Dynamo decide to start/stop this "evening" early. I already knew Tornado for a while but never had the chance to see them alive; simply because they didnt plays that much at all and also because most of the members are also in other, more important, bands. Nevertheless Tornado plays original thrashmetal with a very strange sounding AND looking frontman.....I'm going to concerts for over 30 years now but never saw a frontman in a white latex Superman suit??? Did you? They band played a nice show (as far as I can judge after 1,5 song) but I prefer their album much more.
Next band on the bill was ENTRAPMENT from the North of The Netherlands. This band played 13 in a dozen deathmetal; well performed; good sound and decent musicians but nothing more than that. On stage the band had less charisma than their predecessors Tornado. Time for a visit to the bar....

Headliner of the evening OBITUARY started at 18:50 and had a reasonable sound. The orginal members John and Donald Tardy never let me down live but this time it was different. Why? Well the band had an average sound due to the fact that they kicked out their second (solo) guitarplayer just before the tour. Pity because I missed the typical guitarparts that makes Obituary so special. Obituary was and always will be one of the leading deathmetal bands in my opinion but this show was the weakest I ever saw from this fundamental act in death metal. At 20:00 the band stopped with their evergreen "Slowly we Rot" and most visitors left to watch the soccer game.....and they where not happy also after that game ;-), whahaha.

First band of the evening was VILLAINY. The band had to open for a small audience but did it very good! I was surprised by their musical style; it sounded like a mix of thrash- and doom metal and reminded me to bands like Mercyful Fate & Coroner. These guys from the South of The Netherlands knew how to play their instruments and for such a young band they did a very good job! Coming out soon to see you again guys! The band played for about 35 minutes which isnt that much but its normal for an opener.
After a short break, WARCKON from Belgium started their 30 minute set. This band confirmed also the upcoming thrash revival in Belgium; after Gae Bolga, Evil Shepherd & Prematory another upcoming talented thrashband from Belgium! During the third song they opened with a Slayer kinda intro and thats exact what the band was influenced by; the masters of thrash!! Nice gig and after the first 2 gigs we could have better left the place.....why??? Read on....
The band I was coming for was STRIKER from Canada; one of the best bands I discovered during the last few years!! Such an energy; great musicians and an awesome singer!!! Well; not today; The band had a terrible sound; their singer wasnt singing that good this night and the band also had to stop after just 35 (!!!!) minutes!!! Shame on those who arranged this!! Ive seen the band several times during the last few years and every time they blew me away but this time is was a desaster.... A part of the setlist: "Terrorizer", "Full Speed or No Speed", "Eyes in the Night", and a Saxon cover "Princess of the Night".......
Headliner of the evening where CAULDRON, also for Canada. I already reviewed a cd of these guys at the time they where called GOAT HORN. Personally im not a fan of their music; it all sounds to boring (Metallica rip-off) and they cant convince me for 1 second. Only the last song was nice because the Striker guys joined them on stage to jam a bit around.

After all a bit disappointing night with 2 good opener bands and 2 bands that couldnt convinve me.....pitty guys....thats all I can say about it...

2011

On 5 November, I prepared myself for a nice evening in The Pul in Uden. On this Saturday evening, Arena and their support Alan Reed visited the Pul. This concert was part of The Seventh Degree of Separation Tour of Arena. The Seventh Degree of Separation is Arena`s new album which is released on 28 November.
Support act of this evening is ALAN REED. Reed is the former singer of the symphonic rock band Pallas who has gone solo now because, as he said, “I want to do something else”. He was the voice of Pallas for 26 years, a couple of years ago I saw him with this band in Helmond. The line-up is very minimal: Reed accompanies himself on guitar and he is accompanied by keyboard player, guitarist and bassist Marc Spencer (Twelfth Night). This night, Reed plays some new material but also some Pallas songs like Queen of the Deep and Win or Lose. Especially this last song is played and sung with a lot of emotion. This semi-acoustic gig lasts 40 minutes and it was really entertaining! At this moment, Reed is busy with working on a new album which will be available early 2012: 'First in a Field of One'. I`m looking forward to it!

After a short break, ARENA enters the stage with their new singer, Paul Manzi, and John Jowitt, which returns in the line-up after 10 years. Manzi, who was active for The Oliver Wakeman Band replaces Rob Sowden. The band further consists of Mick Pointer (drums), Clive Nolan (keyboards) and John Mitchell on guitar. I`m glad to see John Mitchell again, in my opinion, he is one of the best guitar players at this moment. Fortunately, he is in a good shape tonight! The gig starts with the first song of the new album, The Great Escape. It is always risky to play a lot new songs from an album which has not been released yet. The release of The Seventh Degree of Separation is planned for 28 November. Arena`s seventh album is a concept album, which explores the last hour of life and the first hour beyond, quite a dark theme and this atmosphere is also present in most of the songs.
The first part of the set consists of songs from the new album which are alternated by songs from the album the visitor (A Crack in the Ice, The Hanging Tree), in my opinion still the best album of Arena. The new songs sound not bad at all, but I miss a little bit the epic touch and great instrumental parts which characterised the first albums of Arena. The music on The Seventh Degree of Separation is more “song minded”. During the second part of the gig, Arena plays also songs from other albums like Songs from the Lions Cage (The terrific Solomon and Valley of the Kings), Immortal (Ghost In The Firewall) and Pepper`s Ghost (The Eyes Of Lara Moon). During this songs, the audience gets more excited which has also its influence on the band which level increases during the gig. Manzi is also a good rock vocalist, however I sometimes miss the dramatic touch which for example Paul Wrightson (former vocalist) had. But after 2 encores and 20 songs further, a really nice music night ends. It was really worth to see Alan Reed and Arena and satisfied (and with the signed new album) I return home!

On Saturday October 29th, together with MILKMAN bass player John Emmen, I went to the venue De Pul in Uden, Holland, to see Y&T. And the reason why I didn't want to miss this show is because of that Y&T would play the entire "Earthshaker" (1981) album this evening. We arrived pretty early at De Pul, which wasn't open yet, so we went to have a drink somewhere else first. After two drinks we went back to De Pul, and when we entered the venue it was already nicely crowded. There was no support-act this evening, so it was 20:45 when the intro started and Y&T opened their 2 and a half hour set with "On With The Show" from their latest album "Facemelter" (2010). Second song the band played was already one of their classics, namely "Black Tiger". The first hour, songs like "Lipstick & Leather", "Mean Streak", "Midnight In Tokyo" and "Winds Of Change" past by. Although Dave Meniketti, who's voice is still sounding great, is the only remaining original member of Y&T, the band exists with John Nymann (guitar, vocals), Brad Lang (bass, vocals) and Mike Vanderhule (drums, vocals) of a perfect line-up. Like Meniketti said 'with this line-up the band can go on for years'. Of course Y&T played more songs of the "Facemelter" album during the first hour of the set, namely "Shine On", which is a tribute song to the band's original bass player Phil Kennemore (who died on January 7th 2011 of lung cancer), "If You Want Me", "Blind Patriot" and "Don't Bring Me Down". After "Don't Bring Me Down" it was time the band started to play the entire "Earthshaker" album. The atmosphere in De Pul, was fantastic, and with the first tunes of "Hungry For Rock" everybody went crazy. Dave Meniketti said to the audience 'the first time Y&T ever played overseas was in 1982, when we played at the Pink Pop Festival in Holland, and that's why Holland always will be special for the band'. Well, I don't know how many tickets were sold, but I guess it was almost sold out. Also tonight, just like during all other concerts that I have seen in De Pul, the sound was very good. Anyway, during the "Earthshaker" set, we got a nice drum solo of Vanderhule, which wasn't a boring solo. After the band had played "Shake It Loose", guitarist Nymann asked 'do you wanna hear a hippie sing?', and started to sing "Squeeze". It still is a pleasure to listen to Meniketti's awesome guitar solo's. It was pretty hot in De Pul, so Dave made the remark 'they should do something about the air conditioning here'. With the mighty "I Believe In You", Y&T ended the "Earthshaker" set, and after this classic song they played one last song of the "Facemelter" album, namely "I'm Coming Home". Then the band left the stage for just a couple of minutes and came back for three encores. Well, you will understand that this was an awesome and unforgettable show. Ooh yeah, Meniketti also said during the show 'next year we will come back and play the entire "Black Tiger" album, alright!'. Let's hope so, because that would be great as well. Anyway, for anyone who missed this excellent concert, the complete set lists existed of: "On With The Show", "Black Tiger", "Don't Be Afraid Of The Dark", "Lipstick & Leather", "Mean Streak", "Midnight In Tokyo", "Shine On", "If You Want Me", "Blind Patriot", "Winds Of Change", "Beautiful Dreamer", "Don't Bring Me Down", "Hungry For Rock", "Dirty Girl", "Shake It Loose", "Squeeze", "Rescue Me", "Young And Tough", "Hurricane", "Let Me Go", "Knock You Out", "I Believe In You", "I'm Coming Home" and the encores "Hell Or High Water", "Summertime Girls" and "Forever".

This was the fifth edition of Mario's Metal Meeting and because it was organised by Mario's Metal Mania it would not be fair to review my own festival :) For that reason I only add links to some reviews & YouTube clips:

LORDS OF METAL (Only in Dutch) (The Netherlands)

More will follow later....

Some cool YouTube clips that where shoot at MMM5:

Rain

Lord Volture
Lord Volture
Lord Volture

Angus
Angus
Angus
Angus
Angus
Angus
Angus
Angus

If anybody has more YouTube links; let me know!!!!

Finally after many years I had a good reason to return of the once legendary Willem II venue in 's Hertogenbosch. In the past I've seen SO MANY great gigs over there but later on the venue stopped with booking metal bands…Luckily the venue found their second life and is now and then booking some real metal again! Great! When I arrived at the venue it counted me that there was a rebuilding taking place and it looked good. Pity enough there was not much audience when the first band VANDERBUYST started. Maybe it had to do with the competition of other metal concerts nearby? But I didn't care; I came to see 3 great bands!;

VANDERBUYST started on time; 7:30 PM, and gave the audience what they where waiting for; real oldschool sounding hard rock! The band is immense popular these days and is touring around Europe for months now! They lately did a tour as support of Saxon and that says enough about their popularity! Normally the band always starts their set with UFO's “Rock Bottom” but today they didn't play that song at all. I suppose it has to do with the fact that the song is about 10 minutes and would take ¼ of their total playing time.
Some songs of their set: “December”, “Filthy Love”, “Tiger”, “Tracy Lords”, “Stealing your Thunder” and a new song from the upcoming album named “Into the Fire”; a more midtempo song.
Willem Verbuyst is the main man of the band and its always a pleasure to see this guy ”rolling” on stage! This band is gonna be big (if they already aren't!). If you still didn't see them alive; then you better hurry up! This is an incredible live band!!

WOLF from Sweden already played my own festival in 2008. This energetic band did according a lot of people their best show ever at Mario's Metal Meeting 2 in that particular year. Well that's always good to hear but I must admit that the band nearly always convinced me on stage. Today it all sounded less aggressive and the set was filled with to much midtempo songs. I think the band was also a bit disappointed in the meager turnout this evening. It was a nice show but as said one of their weakest I've seen so far. Part of the setlist: “Evil Star”, “Voodoo”, “Skull Crusher” & “Full Moon Possession”. Next time a 'speedier' setlist please!

Next band on the bill was headliner FIREWIND from Greece. The band is most well-known for their guitar player Gus G. who is nowadays also the leadguitarplayer for Ozzy Osbourne. The band already released several albums since the beginning of this century but I must admit that im not acquainted with their stuff. Luckily I have a broad taste and was curious after this band. Original singer Apollo Papathanasio wasn't able to do this tour and so the band hired Mats Leven (Abstrakt Algebra, At Vance, Yngwie Malmsteen. Krux) to do these shows. Man what a singer he is!!! It also fitted superb with the melodic metal of Firewind but I personally think Mats's voice fits to all kinds of metal! He is comparible with one of my idols; Jorn Lande. The band was suited with an awesome sound! Even if it was not really my favorite kind of metal; I enjoyed it pretty much! Great show! Some songs: “Destination Forever”, “Ready to Strike” & a new song “Heading for the Dawn”.

Hell Yeah on the plane to go play in Portugal with my band (FORETOLD) on the Blasphemic Assault Fest XX in the Side B, where a lot of metal bands played as Obituary, Entombed, Grave etc. The reason for me to write a review is that there were playing 4 Portuguese bands that totally rule.
The first band on the bill was NEFASTUM (Por). This band plays black metal in vain of the legendary Darkthrone and other old black metal legends. Normally when I listen to black metal I always get bored after a few songs. This band is one of the few black bands that made me listen to the entire concert because they play their music with a great groove and keep you move your head. Evil screams combined with a very groovy black sound. And very long riffs. Very well done!
Second band on the bill was DEEP ODIUM (Por). These guys give no room to leave the concert because their music is fucking energetic and keeps you listening. Very fast guitar riffs and drums that keep on pounding like a train that cannot be stopped. The vocals are pulled out of a gutter and sounds really great and brutal. This is a band that clearly knows how brutal death metal should sound. They even had a guest singer on stage that joined them for a song, the legendary “Blasphemator” from “Infernus” and “Alcoholocaust”. I do not remember what song it was but it sounded great. This is a band which I can recommend to all brutal death metal fans because you have the entire package, fast and brutal songs ,technical and most import these guys play and you can see that they really enjoy their self on stage.
The third band on the bill was FORETOLD (NL) and they were great!!!!! hahaha
The fourth band of the evening was FUNGUS (Por). I already knew this band because I reviewed their records but live it is even more brutal. For this show they didn`t have a bass player but that is something that you do not miss at all. This band plays brutal death metal in vain of Aborted with more brutal vocals on it (this guy also sings in Deep Odium). The guitar riffs are very technical and fast. And the drums (also the drums in Deep Odium) are also very fast. Everyone in my band was really surprised to see how fast and technical the riffs are and how easy and relaxed these guys play it. This was one of the best bands that played that evening. And what also was a surprise for us is that one of the guitar players (Bob) originally comes from my home town Tilburg in the Netherlands so that even talks easier hahaha.
The fifth band on the bill was SAPIENS END (NL) and they make brutal death metal that goes right through your bones. These guys bring you a great combination of old school and brutal death. These guys also went without bass player but I didn`t miss that at all. The guitar riffs are very old school and sometimes reminded me a bit of Asphyx. And then you got the drums that are very straight in your face and very steady with a great groove. The vocals of this band are awesome and very brutal. It sounds like when he grunts it comes from out of the sewer and then it goes through a grinder. If you like brutal death then check there myspace because they rule.
The headliner of the evening is the almighty “GROG”. This band has been around since 1991 and brought out an arsenal of demo`s and albums. This was clearly the band of the day. Do you know Dying Fetus? Well their music reminds me a bit of that. Do you know Napalm Death? Well the vocals reminds me of that. The guitar riffs are straight in your face and fast and very technical. Then you get the drums....man that was not normal. This guy plays so fucking fast that you get a wall of sound that is so fucking constant that the only thing you can do is listen and look. And then you get the best part for me ,the vocals. This guy has a very low and brutal death grunt that sounds great and evil. Normally I do not mention a bass player (sorry bass players) but the guy that plays the bass in Grog reminds me a bit of Origin (he plays that thing very technical and fast). This was the headliner of the festival and they were awesome!!!! This band has it all tight; fast music and a vocalist that sounds brutal and moves around the entire stage so the eye also has something to look at. I heard of this band through their albums and never seen them live, I hope they will play on more places on the world so you can see them for yourself because this is definitely worth checking!

Just one day before this concert took place I had bought my ticket for this only show CHEAP TRICK did in Holland. The first time I saw CHEAP TRICK was on July 9th, 2004, when they played at the BOSPOP festival in Weert, Holland. So, I decided to go see them for the second time, this time at the venue De Pul in Uden. I never have been a huge fan of CHEAP TRICK. I only have their live album "Cheap Trick At Budokan" (1978), and that's all. But hey, that is really a fantastic live album and a real classic. Anyway, however drummer Bun E. Carlos is still officially a member of the band, I knew he wouldn't be the drummer during this tour. The drummer on this tour was Daxx Nielsen, yes….he's the son of guitarist Rick Nielsen. Anyway, this show in De Pul, was the fourth show of the eight shows CHEAP TRICK did during this European tour. The support act this evening were THE DIRTY DENIMS. I saw THE DIRTY DENIMS two times earlier this year, and when the band were entering the stage, I noticed that female bass player Lionne van der Hagen wasn't with the band. She was replaced by a male bass player (I forgot his name), who did, by the way, a great job as well. But I understood that Lionne just couldn't perform this evening. Anyway, it's great for the band they have the opportunity to open for CHEAP TRICK. It was 20:40 when they started with an instrumental one, followed by “Rock & Roll Victim”. The only song which they didn't play of their 5 track EP “Going Out” was “Bad Girl”. Other songs the band played besides “Ride Tonight”, “Going Out” and “Baby Let's Go” of the EP were THE ROMANTICS cover “What I Like About You”, “The Rocks Gotta Roll”, “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” and “Wanna Be Famous”. Singer and guitarist Mirjam Sieben knows how to entertain the audience. The band got a very good response of the crowd, which they deserve of course. Like I said before in my live review of RHINO BUCKET (March 5th, 2011, The Rambler, Eindhoven), THE DIRY DENIMS is a fantastic band with a promising future.

It was 21:40 when the intro started and CHEAP TRICK entered the stage. The band opened with “Way Of The World” from the “Dream Police” (1979) album, followed by “Hot Love” from the band's debut album “Cheap Trick” (1977). I think there were between 350 and 400 people in De Pul, who came to see CHEAP TRICK, so it was nicely crowded. And it was notable that the age of the public was very varied. Okay, most of the audience was between the age of 40 and 50, but there were also some teenagers and between 20 and 40. Singer and rhythm guitarist Robin Zander was dressed in black and wore also a black police cap. The microphone stand of guitarist Rick Nielsen was full with different colors of guitar picks, which he threw into the audience during every song the band played. I was standing in front of Nielsen, so I caught 6 picks (a red, green, white, orange, light blue and purple one) during the show. That made me happy, because I collect guitar picks for many years. Anyway, CHEAP TRICK played most of the songs from their first 4 studio albums, two songs from the “One On One” (1982) album (“If You Want My Love” and “She's Tight”) and three songs of the last studio album “The Latest” (2009), namely “These Days”, “Sick Man Of Europe” and “Closer, The Ballad Of Burt And Linda”. It was mainly Nielsen who did the talking between the songs, and as usual he changed often of his guitars (Nielsen has a large collection) during the show. Bass player Tom Petersson was more standing at the backline. The sound was magnificent, the light show was beautiful and there was a fantastic atmosphere among the audience. It's a kind of tradition that the band always ends their regular set with the classic “Surrender”. During the line 'Rolling numbers, rock and rolling, got my Kiss records out', Nielsen threw a “copy” of KISS' “Dynasty” into the public. And talking about classics, other classic hits which the band always play are of course “I Want You To Want Me” and “Dream Police”. Anyway, when CHEAP TRICK returned on stage for the encores, they played “Taxman, Mr. Thief” as the first encore and Nielsen said to the audience 'we haven't done that one for a long time'. The last song the band played was “Goodnight”, so Rick, Robin, Tom and Daxx left the stage at 23:10. Well, I did have a great evening and it was just fantastic to see CHEAP TRICK in a smaller venue like De Pul, instead of on a large festival field or concert hall. Oh yeah, the complete set list of this CHEAP TRICK show existed of “Way Of The World”, “Hot Love”, “Ain't That A Shame”, “He's A Whore”, “If You Want My Love”, “I Want You To Want Me”, “These Days”, “She's Tight”, “High Roller”, “Auf Wiedersehen”, “Need Your Love”, “The House Is Rockin'”, “Sick Man Of Europe”, “Closer, The Ballad Of Burt And Linda” and “Surrender”. The encores were “Taxman, Mr. Thief”, “Voices”, “Dream Police” and “Goodnight”.

A night of Progmetal in De Pul, Uden. The venue wasnt that crowded, most likely due to the fact that Rush was playing in Rotterdam that same evening??

Opener BEYOND THE LABYRINTH started exactly on time and it was for me my first acquaintance with this dutch progmetal band. Musically it suited well with headliner Pagans Mind and the band had a good sound. But after 15 minutes I was getting bored. Why? Simply because their singer was singing very moderate; he was missing power in his voice and he had no stage performance at all! Pity because as said; musically it was okay! The band played 45 minutes and that was to long to hold my attention for the whole show…so my advice; replace the singer and you will be more respected by the real progmetal audience.

Headliner PAGAN'S MIND is always great live and so where they this time! Singer Nils K. Rue is one of the best singers on this planet in my opinion! Pagan's Mind delivers exactly what prog metal fans want, that being superior musicianship, a crystalline production, soaring vocals, and diverse songwriting. Every instrument is clearly heard and makes its presence felt, and every note is seemingly in the right place. Pagan's Mind is unquestionably among the best melodic progressive metal bands playing today. The band already released 6 albums and all of them are real prog jewels! Lately they released their “Heavenly Ecstasy” and of course they played a lot this release. Singer Nils was looking a bit woody today but later on he explained why; he had broken his hip six weeks ago and they had toyed with the idea of cancelling the tour but he decided to soldier on in the end. He has walking very gingerly around the stage for sure though his showmanship and crowd geeing from the waste up was still tip top. Pity enough the band had some soundproblems; especially with Nils's wireless microphone. Some of the songs the band played; 'Eyes of Fire', 'Enigmatic Mission', 'Walk away in Silence', ''God's Equation', 'United Alliance', Evolution Exceed', 'Alien Kamikaze', 'Through Osiris' Eyes' & 'Hallo Spaceboy (David Bowie cover)'. This was again an excellent show of the band but it was a pity that the crowd didn't show up in large numbers…Next time I will be there again…for sure!!

Just one day before I would travel to the Keep it True festival in Germany I had the need to see Crimson Glory an extra time. I heard so many positive things about the new line-up (read: singer) that I needed to see them twice that week. So let's start with the review of this once legendary band with his support acts Triosphere & Cirrha Niva.

Due to problems with the national railway I arrived to late at the Dynamo club to see the complete show of the first band CIRRHA NIVA. This also had to do with the fact that Dynamo decided to start earlier with the package as announced on the several media. Last year Cirrha Niva played my own Mario's Metal Meeting 4 and they did an excellent job that time! I really love their progmetal and musically it's much better than their earlier stuff with Liselotte Hegt on bass/female vocals. Singer LeGrand is an incredible good singer and also a superb frontman! It counted me that the band was blessed with a very good sound; something that is rather unique at the Dynamo club. The band also had a new bassplayer in Jan van Baal; a real bass monster from my own hometown Tilburg. Luckily I could witness a few songs and believe me; this band is gonna be big in the progmetal scene!

After a small break TRIOSPHERE entered the stage and this time I was on time to see the whole show. After their show a couple of weeks earlier, supporting Sonata Arctica & Labyrinth (see review below), I was so curious! Also due to the fact that I love their latest album “The Road Less Travelled”. The band played an incredible good set and it's a pleasure to see this young metal band (and no; not only because of the good-looking singer/bassplayer Ida Haukland). Their latest album was a real surprise to me (see Archive CD/DVD Reviews). Their music reminds me a lot to another Scandinavian band Sinergy but with more melody in their songs. Some songs the band did play during this 45 minute show where; 'Onwards Part II (Decadent One)', 'Human Condition', 'Trinity', 'Burnnn' (Deep Purple cover), 'Watcher', 'Worlds Apart' & 'Sunriser'. Very good show; hope to see them more soon!!

Finally it was time to see CRIMSON GLORY again; I've seen the band several times in the past with singer Midnight and also once with singer Wade Black during their “Astronomica” tour. All these shows where excellent so it would be difficult for new singer Todd La Torre to equal this high level of the past…..According all the You Tube clips on the internet I was even more curious! Well from the first till the last song it was one big highlight! Awesome!!! The band played mostly songs of the first two releases; 'Valhalla', 'Dragon Lady', 'Angels Of War', 'Azreal', 'Where Dragons Rule', 'Lonely', 'Red Sharks', 'Queen of the Masquerade', 'Masque of the Red Death', 'Burning Bridges' and as bonus songs 'Lost Reflections', 'In Dark Places' & 'Eternal World'. The band was in shape and it's unbelievable that their new singer used to be a drummer in some (even for me) unknown bands…… This is a real metal blessing; hope the band will continue to arrange new songs & record a new album! This was an evening filled with goose bumps…. Incredible good show!!

When I arrived at the Effenaar, TRIOSPHERE already was playing due to the fact that the venue started earlier as was announced. Luckily I still had the chance to see this female fronted metal band from Norway. And also the idea that I would see the band a month later as support of Crimson Glory (see review next month). The venue was filled very well when I entered the large concert hall. Singer/bassplayer Ida Haukland is good looking and (most important) a nice front woman who looked pretty amused by the large crowd. At times she sounds very raw, but she keeps it all very varied by using clean vocals as well. Because of the female vocals, Triosphere can be best compared with a band such as Sinergy. The band lately released their second album “The Road less Travelled” but the only two songs I heard this evening 'Trinity' and 'Sunriser' where both from their debut album “Onwards” (2007). Nevertheless it was nice to see them to get some idea about this band.
Next band on the bill was the band for which I especially drove to Eindhoven; LABYRINTH! One of my all-time fav. Italian powermetal bands and their singer Roberto Tiranti is one of the best powermetal singers ever! Also guitar player Olaf Thorsen is of course well known in the powermetal scene for his work with Vision Divine. Olaf Thorsen left the band several years ago and during that time the band released several more progmetal influenced albums which where not always accepted by the die hard Labyrinth fan base. Luckily for them Olaf returned and so did their musical direction. For that reason they named their first release after Olaf's return “Return to Heaven Denied Pt II”. The band played pretty well but had some small sound problems which would continue during the whole set. Pity also that the band only played for 35/40 minutes which was way to short for me!! It was nearly 10 years ago since I saw the band for the last time so I was hoping for more……. Still I enjoyed it a lot and it was great to hear several old tunes from this underrated band. Some songs of their setlist; 'In The Shade', 'A Chance', 'New horizons', 'Sailors of Time' and as bonus their anthem 'Moonlight'. Good show of some great musicians! Come back ASAP!
Today's headliner was SONATA ARCTICA from Finland. This band is very popular for many years now and it was clear that most of the visitors came to see these Vikings. The band was having a lot of fun on stage and especially their singer was in a very good mood. He was talking a lot of nonsense and enjoying the big crowd. Funny to see also the reactions when he asked the audience who where his Facebook friends and dozens of visitors raised their fist I the air…and than he told them that he didn't have a Facebook account at all. Whahahaha…
I've seen the band several times during the last years in my hometown Tilburg (013) but it suited me that the singer was singing much better than during these other gigs. Even though im not a big fan of their music; I always go back home satisfied after a SA show. Some songs I did remember; 'Juliet', 'Replica', 'Victoria's Secret', 'In Black And White' & 'Don't Say A Word' (bonus). Good show with a very nice stage backdrop/lights. Next time again!!

GUILD OF STAGS is the new band of former KREZIP members Joost van Haaren (bass), Jan-Peter Hoekstra (guitar) en Bram van den Berg (drums). After KREZIP call it quits, Van Haaren, Hoekstra and Van den Berg continued playing together. During a jam-session in 2010, somewhere in Holland, these guys met English singer Michael Devlin, with whom they played LED ZEPPELIN classic "Whole Lotta Love" on Devlin's request. A few more sessions in England followed and GUILD OF STAGS was born. I saw GUILD OF STAGS last year on the Zwarte Cross festival on July 18th, which was the band's first gig in Holland. And man, I really enjoyed that performance. Okay, the band had a few songs in their set which in my opinion were sounding a bit commercial, but most of their own songs they played were awesome and reminded me of the legendary LED ZEPPELIN. And one thing is for sure, the band, which exists of course of fantastic musicians, has in Devlin a real great singer. Anyway, because I knew what I could expect of GUILD OF STAGS, I decided to go to see the band again, this time in café Cul de Sac in Tilburg, Holland. I was on time at Cul de Sac, and it was 22:00 when the band got on stage and kicked off with "What Do Ya Know". It was very crowded in Cul de Sac, and the band got some very good responses. And also this second time that I saw GUILD OF STAGS, I really enjoyed their fantastic songs. This band just really breathes the LED ZEPPELIN feeling. Devlin, who also played acoustic guitar on several songs, has the voice and also a bit of the looks of Robert Plant. Other songs the band played were "Need Her Love", "Scarlet Liege", "Diet & Decay", "18", "Holding You Tight", the first single of the upcoming debut album "Hit 'N Miss", "Too Long", "School Days", "They Call It Love" and the QUEEN cover "Tie Your Mother Down". When Devlin announced their single "Hit 'N Miss", which can be downloaded, he said 'come on and get your cameras to film this song', and a few girls in the audience started to film the band with their cell phones. Anyway, the sound in Cul de Sac was just excellent. I think it was after the superb song "Too Long", when I yelled to Devlin "Living Loving Maid" (of "Led Zeppelin II"). And Michael answered to me 'yes I would like to have one'. The last song the band played this evening was "Millionaire", and left the stage at 23:00. So, they didn't do any encore. Well, the debut album of GUILD OF STAGS will be released in August this year, therefore I would advise to anyone who's into excellent 70's Hard Rock, to check that album out when it's in the stores.

In 2010, when RHINO BUCKET played at The Rambler in Eindhoven, Holland on January 8th, I missed them, because I had some other obligations. But months ago, when I saw that they would be playing at The Rambler again in 2011, I thought by myself 'yes, I won't miss that concert this time', because I liked their album "The Hardest Town" (2009) very much (see my review on the January 2010 update). So, on Saturday March 5th I went to Eindhoven by train, and arrived at 21:00 at The Rambler. When I entered The Rambler, there were already a few people and openings act THE DIRTY DENIMS were doing their sound check. So I ordered a beer and sat down on a bar stool, waiting for the moment the band would begin. Slowly it became more crowded in The Rambler, and I think it was around 22:00 when THE DIRTY DENIMS got on stage. And I must say, THE DIRTY DENIMS is a very nice and promising band. They have a very good 5 track EP, titled "Going Out", which was released in 2009. Anyway, the band, which exists of Mirjam Sieben (vocals, guitar), Jeroen Teunis (lead guitar), Lionne van der Hagen (bass) and Thomas Spauwen (drums), sounds like a mixture of AC/DC, THE DONNAS, early BLONDIE, DANKO JONES et cetera. Besides their own songs like "Rock & Roll Victim", "Bad Girl", "Baby Let's Go" and "Going Out" from their EP (they didn't play "Ride Tonight"), and "Backstage", "Don't Get In My Way", "The Rocks Gotta Roll", "Gonna Get It", "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" (which is not a PAT BENATAR cover) and "Wanna Be Famous", which are all sounding fantastic, they also played a nice cover version of "What I Like About You" of THE ROMANTICS. Like I said, THE DIRTY DENIMS are a very nice and promising band, which I would like to see more often. And I was not the only one who liked them, because the band got some very good response of the audience. Anyway, I am really looking forward to the band's first full length debut album. I'm sure that would be a fantastic debut album anyway.
Well, headliner and AC/DC sound-alike RHINO BUCKET entered the low stage at The Rambler at around 23:00 and started with "Who's Got Mine" from their brand new album with the same title. What notices me was that they had a new drummer, because I had expected Simon Wright (ex-AC/DC) behind the drums, because Wright played on "The Hardest Town" (and on the 1994 album "Pain" as well). Anyway the new drummer is called Anthony Biuso, and did a very good job as well. Biuso played in punk bands TSOL and THE DICKIES before. Anyway, singer and guitarist Georg Dolivo told the audience that this was the last show of their nine week European tour, but that the band would come back in June. Although there were about between 50 or 60 people at The Rambler, I must say that most of the audience was very tame. Okay, they just watched the band from a small distance, and they gave a good response. But I think that most of the people were there just because there were playing some bands, and that they didn't know RHINO BUCKET at all. Anyway, RHINO BUCKET played two more songs from their new album during their show, which were "Joke's On You" and "Message In My Bottle". From "The Hardest Town" (2009) they only played the fantastic title track and "Street To Street". Songs they played from the "Get Used To It" (1992) album were "Beat To Death Like A Dog", "Hey There" and "She's A Screamer". From the "Pain" (1994) album they only played "I Was Told", and from the "And Then It Got Ugly" (2006) album the songs "Welcome To Hell", "Smile", "She Rides" and "Hammer And Nail". And from their self titled debut album from 1990, they played "One Night Stand" and "Ride The Rhino" with whom they ended their show. The band, who has in Brian Forsythe (also from KIX) a great guitarist who sounds just like Angus Young, didn't play three songs which were written on their set list, which were "Word", "Ride With Yourself" and "Bar Time". Anyway, I had a very enjoyable evening.

On a Saturday evening I went to De Bosuil venue to see Fates Warning & Sun Caged perform again. It has been a while since I saw both bands for the last times. I never was a huge Fates Warning fan but due to the fact that Sun Caged was support act I traveled to Weert..

When I arrived at the venue SUN CAGED just started with their set. I've been a great fan of the band for years and especially their debut album is still running in my cd player regularly! After that album and a lot of gigs singer Andre Vuurboom left the band and was replaced by Paul Adrian Villarreal. To be honest; his voice isn't that great as from his predecessor Andre. And that's also the reason I didn't see the band that much during the last years. Well today it was the same; musically Sun Caged is a great band but with a better singer the band would be more well-known after all this years. But okay; that's my opinion. Pity was also the fact that the sound wasn't that good this night at De Bosuil, especially Marcel Coenen's guitar was too weak in the mix which gave the whole performance a kind of an AOR sound instead of the progmetal sound I was expecting. Nevertheless it was a nice show, nothing more, nothing less.

After a break FATES WARNING came on stage and what counted me most where the long hair of singer Ray Alder, especially because a few years ago during his Redemption gig at the Headway Festival he was nearly bold! But this has of course nothing to do with his vocal capabilities. The band starts with 'One” but from the first second the band has the same sound problems as Sun Caged. And this would continue the whole evening. As said; I never was a big Fates Warning fan; especially not after original singer John Arch left the band years ago. I've seen today's singer Ray Alder several times with Fates Warning and Redemption and he could never convince me. Also today he was singing hoarse and a bit out of tune on tracks like 'Point of View', 'Still Remains', 'Monument' and 'The Eleventh Hour'. In combination with the moderate sound during the 90 minute gig it wasn't the evening I was expecting. Musically 2 great bands with great musicians but both with very moderate singers……and a weak sound….

When I entered the Stage 01 venue (formerly known as the Batcave) of 013 at 16:25, openings band STATE: CHAOS was already playing for about 25 minutes. So, I only have seen the last four songs of the band. Well, I am not that familiar with the material of the band. So far I had seen the band just once before, and that was on March 30, 2007 when STATE: CHAOS opened for OUTBURST in the Little Devil in Tilburg. Anyway, the band did also one encore, which was a totally new song. And because the fact that that song didn't have a title so far, and that they were opening for STRIKER, they called that song "Striker Rules". Anyway, nice band, who played very tight and got a nice response of the audience.
But I came especially to see Canadian band STRIKER. And that's because Mario made me curious about STRIKER. He had asked me in an email if I also came to see STRIKER, and said to me that STRIKER are a real good band (Mario had seen them on the "Metal Assault Festival" in Wurzburg, Germany the weekend before). Anyway, these young guys started at 17:15, and opened with "Full Speed Or No Speed" from their first full length album "Eyes In The Night" (2010). And really, from the moment they played that song, I was immediately impressed by this very talented band. STRIKER exists of fantastic musicians, and most of all they do have in Dan Cleary a great singer with an awesome voice. Although it wasn't that crowded (I think there were about between 40 and 50 people), Cleary welcomed and thanked the audience to be at their show on a Sunday afternoon. The band treated us for one hour with excellent Speed-, Thrash- and Power Metal like in the eighties. You really can hear that these guys are influenced by bands like JUDAS PRIEST, RACER X, SAVATAGE and VICIOUS RUMORS, to name a few. Ian Sandercock and Chris Segger are both excellent guitar players, and treated us on great (twin) guitar solo's. The band played songs like the aforementioned "Full Speed Or No Speed", "Road Warrior" (the first song the band ever wrote, Cleary said), "Eyes In The Night", "Lord Of The Sword" et cetera. Half way the show Cleary asked the audience, 'does anyone know DIO?', and the band started to play RAINBOW's "Kill The King". Other covers which STRIKER had on their set list were "Aces High" (IRON MAIDEN) and "Power Of The Night" (SAVATAGE). The sound in Stage 01 was very good, and there was also a good atmosphere amongst the audience. After the show I bought the EP "Road Warrior" and the album "Eyes In The Night" (both are a real recommendation), and went home on my bicycle. Although I had some back problems that day, I'm glad I went to see this fantastic band. Well, if you missed STRIKER this time, make sure you go see them on their next European Tour, especially if you like high quality Metal. STRIKER will also be playing at this years HEADBANGERS OPEN AIR on July 29th 2011. Hopefully they will do a club tour as well in that period, and if so, I hope they will be playing in 013 again as well. Maybe next time in the small hall?? Only it would be very nice for the band if the next time the audience would exist of more than 40 or 50 people.

2010

What can you expect when you go to see a band play live that split up nearly three decades ago? Well, I had no expectations other than to enjoy myself!

On 17-12-2010, MICK POINTER visited the Pul in Uden again to play Marillion`s fabulous album Script for a Jester's Tear. Mick Pointer was the original drummer and one of the founding members of the symphonic rock band Marillion in 1979. EMI later signed the line-up of Marillion that wrote the platinum selling debut album Script for a Jester's Tear. Released in 1983, the album featured the top 40 hits He Knows You Know and Garden Party and is regarded by many as a modern classic of the symphonic rock genre. Pointer played on 18 April 1983 for the last time in the original line-up.
This performance was Pointer's fourth visit to the Pul, he successfully played here earlier in April 2008, early 2009 and December 2009. Because of a lot of snow, I checked the website of the Pul before I left home. As could be read on the website of de Pul, the band had arrived but there could be a possibility that they had to perform without Brian Cummings (who plays the role of Fish), but he was underway and maybe he would arrive on time. Finally, it became a remarkable night which I will never forget!

The support act of this evening was one of Mick Pointers own favourites: DEC BURKE. Dec Burke is a talented singer / songwriter who has released a new album with his own project. This album is called Destroy All Monsters. Dec Burke is also active in Frost and Darwin's Radio.
During their one hour taking set, they played a real nice couple of songs (8 in total) of a high progressive calibre. Before this gig, I was not familiar with Dec Burke's music, but it reminded me of the best days of Rush for example. The compositions of the songs are great! However it was a pity that it took some songs before the guitar sound was amplified very well. But I'm enthusiastic!

On 22:45 started the gig of MICK POINTER and his friends. Besides Mick Pointer (Drums), the following musicians entered the stage: Nick Barrett (Pendragon; Guitar), Mike Varty (Credo; Keys) and Ian Salmon (Arena; Bass). It became clear that Brian Cummings did not make it to the Pul, so some of the band members sang (parts of) some songs, but most of the songs were played instrumental. The band made copies of all the lyrics for the audience to sing the songs by themselves. Mick Pointers announced the band as: “Mick Pointer's Karaoke”.
The gig can be roughly divided into two parts. During the first part, the complete “Script for a Jester's Tear” album was played. In my opinion, this is one of the best made symphonic rock albums ever. The band is in a good shape and after the first song (Script for a Jester's Tear), it is obvious that the crowd reacts positively with regards to the absence of the singer. The crowd sings passionately the songs, but sometimes it is a little bit “chaotic”. The second part of the gig, the band plays songs from old b-sides from the early period of Marillion like Charting the Single (which is stopped timely due to the limited “Karaoke factor”), Grendel and Market Square Heroes. During the encore (Margaret, a nice interpretation of an old Scottish folk song), the public becomes very enthusiastic again. After this song, a remarkable concert ends. This was my first (almost) complete acoustic concert (although Apocalyptica is also acoustic), but the enthusiasm of the band during the gig makes everything good.

After the gig, I was able to speak some words with Mick Pointer. He explained that it was never an option to cancel the show, although it was uncertain if Cummings would arrive on time. Cummings tried everything to join the band, but a lot f flights to Schiphol were cancelled and when he arrived in Dover to catch a train to Calais, there was no place. He explained too that they were quite nervous to enter the stage without a singer, he had never done that before. When I asked him about the status of Arena, he revealed that the fans can expect a new album in 2011 with a new singer (Paul Manzi)!

What can you expect when you go to see a band play live that split up nearly three decades ago? Well, I had no expectations other than to enjoy myself!

DEEP MACHINE are known to the real NWOBHM-aficionados for playing heavy, well-crafted songs filled with interesting riffs. Bands from the same generation such as Iron Maiden, Saxon, Angelwitch and later Satan and Tokyo Blade shared their style and got signed, but Deep Machine never did. Of the five demo tapes, give or take, that they released, their most famous one from 1981 has been remastered and consists of Demon Preacher, Asylum, Witch Child and Deep Machine, which are all cornerstones in their live set. These recordings featured bass player Andy Wrighton, guitarist Johnny “Bravo” Wiggins (who both joined Tokyo Blade and rejoined them earlier this year), rhythm guitarist Bob Hooker, singer Roger Marsden (later of Angel Witch and the Ericson Fischer Band) and drummer Rick Bruce (later of Angel Witch as well). Nowadays Bob Hooker is the only surviving member, but he found himself capable artists to complete the line-up that is as follows: Bob Hooker (guitar), Nigel Martindale (guitar), Johnny Riley (bass guitar), Lenny Baxter (vocals), Charlie Towler (drums).

The band had sound checked, went on stage and without further ado, started rocking! Instead of headlining tonight, the band decided to open for their own support band! The reason being that this support act, Smokin' Barrels, would ring more bells nowadays which might even be true. Opening with the thundering Demon Preacher, the train was set rolling and the next handful of songs were equally heavy and well-delivered. From the pounding Iron Cross the band smoothly moved onto the slow and atmospheric intro of Black Priestess as they did thirty years ago. After this, on it went with three more rockers of the same caliber and the Judas Priest cover Running Wild closed the set. No encore followed. However impressive these songs are, especially given the fact they were written 30 years ago, the stage performance was modest. The gig was low key and there was no real interaction with the crowd. Then again, 25 people do not make a crowd, so the band was missing feedback other than the constant humming from the PA which was a shame. Altogether, the gig was great and it must be said that these are all wonderful musicians. Hope to hear more from them. For that, we should not have to wait that long as their upcoming lp record is due in spring. That is right, vinyl! I was not expecting a cd from this band, were you? Look out for it!
Soon after that, SMOKIN' BARRELS took the stage and they were obliviously enjoying themselves! They played an energetic set of good old no-fringe, but highly listenable AC/DC-style hard rock. By this time, the pints of beer were adding up which added to the live experience but complicates my recollections as well as writing a detailed review!

Deep Machine Setlist:
1. Demon Preacher
2. Witch Child
3. Killer
4. Asylum
5. The Wizard
6. Iron Cross
7. Black Priestess
8. Highway
9. Warhead
10. Deep Machine
11. Running Wild

At the end of October it's time again for the next Metal Female Voices Festival in Wieze, Belgium. A festival for female fronted metal bands, with a friendly atmosphere and fans visiting from all over the world. The festival has grown from a one day happening to a three day festival over the years, where in the early years mostly gothic metal bands were programmed is now a bill with some gothic, mainstream and even extreme metal are presented.

Due to the fact we had chosen to see Y&T on Friday night, we missed the first day. On Friday the bill consisted out of THE VEIL, MANIC MOVEMENT and HELLS BELLES.

When we arrived on Saturday SKEPTICAL MINDS just started to play, so we had already missed 4 bands, PYTHIA, GODYVA, BARE INFINTY and 69 CHAMBERS. The venue opened already at 10:30 in the morning, while the first band started playing around 11:20, this is really early, so early we couldn't make it on time unfortunately. As there is only one stage, only one band is playing at the same time, so you never have to miss any bands like at some other festivals. The stage is huge with a big video screen on the side of the stage, there is also a festival market and a signing corner inside the Oktoberhallen. We watched a big part of the set SKEPTICAL MINDS played, and we're surprised by this energetic band, whom have a great front woman in Karolina! We left the front of the stage to see what else was going on, other than the front of the stage, the signing corner was also very crowded (and that would go on for the whole weekend, I think some people didn't even see the stage as they went from one row into another) this seemed to be a popular part of the festival. Also DORO was appearing there, without even performing at the festival. While looking around we missed the next show by VISIONS OF ATLANTIS, who gave a good show as I coud hear from the crowd. Next up would be DYLATH LEEN from France, whom I didn't wanna miss, this great band did what they came for, play some good female fronted death/thrash metal in a modern way, with singer Kathy doing her clean and sreaming vocal parts perfectly! TRISTANIA was the next in line, as they we're on tour together with REVAMP (who also played MFVF) and ASRAI (who we're told they already played MFVF too much, so they didn't play unfortunately, while they only played there once!). TRISTANIA introduced their new female singer on this tour, and played a good set of old and new. KRYPTERIA followed, and didn't disappoint at all, as I didn't knew them before, but certainly not your typical gothic metal band and again a great vocalist on board. Our own REVAMP was the last band to play before headliner ARCH ENEMY ruled the stage, and did what we are used to from Floor and band, the crowd went wild. But the band I came for played last and even Angela wondered for a moment why she was asked to play the metal female voices festival, as she said her voice didn't sound so female at all. But they ruled the stage for an hour and a half playing all their buttkickers as 'We Will Rise' , 'Ravenous' or 'My Apocalypse', after which day one was ended.

On Sunday we arrived a little earlier and only missed one band namely DEJAFUSE, but as we heard later they didn't play and were replaced by another band if I am correct. RAM ZET was the first band we did see, and was a strange and interesting band, and actually original too (see also Archive CD/DVD Reviews). OMEGA LITHIUM was another band we missed on stage, but the reactions of the attenders where good. Then the program was changed, and SARAH JEZEBEL DEVA came up next, in her babydoll. As I never heard them before, but knew of her reputation with Cradle of Filth, I was expecting something totally different, but their metal sounded actually refreshing and they certainly had a lot of fans in the crowd today. After this I did my discovery of the festival, later then planned was now the time for THE AGONIST from Canada to perform on stage. I was blown away by this extreme band with their beautiful and brutal singer, best of this MFVF in my opinion (I know not everybody will agree with me). I had to do a bit of recovering after this, and missed DIABOLUS IN MUSICA, but was back in time to see HOLY HELL, something totally different again but great metal in the Maiden style, well performed with a truly amazing singer (yet again, that's why they call it MFVF!). LEAVES EYES was the last band to play for headliner of the sunday EPICA. LEAVES EYES gave their best as always, and performed a wonderful show yet again, this sympathetic band deserves to be headliner in my opinion! While EPICA can't do anything wrong in Belgium, as they are kind off the house band of MFVF, and ruled again for the I don't now how maniest time. MFVF is a great festival with a very friendly and social atmosphere where you see more friends by every year you visit from all over the world. It's a unique concept that works, so lets hope they keep this going for many years to come!

After arriving at one of the nicer venue's of our country, Patronaat in Haarlem, for the first time for me, I was impressed by this place, it's comparable with the old Noorderligt in Tilburg. A great place for live gigs, which this night would prove for sure!
Just after eight on the clock THE NAME started off, with their female fronted metal, first time for me to see the band live. As I've heard a lot about them I was very curious how they would do live on stage, and it wasn't disappointing at all. They played a varied set of about 40 minutes, and halfway singer Hadassa made an announcement about Phil Kennemore of Y&T, who is in the hospital back in the USA diagnosed with cancer. To help him pay his hospital bills, a collection was being done in the venue to raise money. Singer Hadassa reminded me a bit of Simone Simons of Epica in her performance on stage, somebody told me there was a name for this kind of bands, namely ventilator bands. True it is, as all these female singers wave their hair on a giant fan in front of the stage, think of Epica, After Forever to name a few.
About a half hour after The Name left the stage, the lights went out and the intro of Y&T started, the band came on stage and started off with 'The Show must go on' of the new 'Facemelter' album. It was obvious most people came to see Y&T and they got value for their money, a great show of about 2 hours and 15 min from a band that was having fun on stage and gave it a 110%. Dave Meniketti was absolutely in top shape, and played his guitar like there was no tomorrow. Dave's voice sounded great too, and they played all their old hits, like 'Mean Streak', 'Midnight in Tokyo', 'Black Tiger' and also songs from their new 2010 album 'Facemelter', which sounded as good as the old ones. They played with a stand in bass player as Phil was hospitalized back home, but he shure knew how to handle his bassguitar. Every member got some time to do a solo, and after two hours they left the stage. The crowd kept calling them back, so after a few moments they were back to play '25 hours a day', 'Open Fire' and 'Rescue Me' to finalize their show. This was by far one of the best show I've seen them play, the band was in top condition, and I think everybody got where they came for, and went home satisfied. I know I can't get enough of them when they play shows like this, so, when are they coming back?

When I entered the venue at 20.15h sharp. ADIMIRON was playing their last song. More and more venues are starting earlier as stated. Quickly asked my friends if I missed something but the thrash metal presented was decent but nothing special. Vocals had a lot in common with Phil Anselmo (Pantera) and the overall sound is also very influenced by the guys from Texas.
Next up: SWORN AMONGST. A thrash metalband from Britain that has just released their third full-length: “Severance” Big problem with this second wave of Thrash is that there isn't one new band that is sounding original. But with an energetic performance and enjoyable songs such as the fast sounding “Darkness” there was enough to like about this band.
The main reason about 300 people made it to De Pul was of course ANNIHILATOR. With that 300 people it was pleasant and not too crowdie. The atmosphere was immediately great when the band started the first song “Ambush”. It's good to see that Jeff has finally found a stable companion. Dave Padden definitely has grown as both vocalist and guitar player and although his voice is good but not great I think he is the right person on the right place for now and the future to come. Jeff was in his element as always showing little lights on his guitar and making jokes all evening long. I still find it a shame that the man doesn't reach bigger crowds with his fantastic guitar playing. Some things will unfortunately never change, I think. From almost every album a song was played so that actually nobody was disappointed. I know that not every Annihilator album is as good as the first two –and most of the people only want to hear songs from that albums - but the band never failed to release quality and an album as 'Kill of the King' was presented with four songs. It looks like that album finally gets the attention it deserves not only from the band but also from the crowd. Highlight of the evening was the acoustic medley with the songs “Phoenix Rising and “Sounds Good to Me” by Jeff and Dave sitting on a bar stool. After the 18th and mandatory closing song “Alison Hell” the band left the stage, the weekend ended and everyone went home with a good feeling.

BLIND GUARDIAN used to be one of my favorite bands and even now, when I have outgrown the entire power metal genre, I still enjoy their live shows. Since it has been years since I saw the band on an indoor live show I was quite enthusiastic to see them again. Unfortunately Swedish speed metallers Enforcer had to cancel their tour as support because it would have been a nice warm up.
Instead we got Swedish heavy metal band STEELWING to warm up the crowd and they did a pretty good job. With catchy heavy metal tunes that reminded me greatly of Iron Maiden and a lot of enthusiasm they got the crowd going and had them heated up nicely for Blind Guardian to finish them off.
I had high expectations and the German band did not let me down. The band was in great shape and Hansi's voice was great as ever. The band played a nice setlist filled with classics and a few songs of the new album which also sounded good. The crowd was also very much into the show which led to several memorable moments such as singing the chorus of 'Valhalla' for minutes long after the song has ended, an entire hall of jumping people during 'Lord of the Rings' and of course 'The Bard's Song' with 2 guitars on stage and a thousand voices in the hall itself. For the fans this was yet another night to remember and I hope to see the band at next summer's festivals.

What a combination of bands!! Because of the wide metal interest of the MMM team I was glad that Corinne could review Nashville Pussy because I couldnt make it on time to see both shows completely. I was not familiar with the NP stuff but VoiVod has always been one of my alltime favorite bands!!

CORINNE:
First band this night was NASHVILLE PUSSY. These enthusiastic Texas based band really heated up the crowd. In some cases literally when guitarist Ruyter Suys welcomed a guy very personally. The guy couldn`t stop smiling afterwards. The band played a varied set with songs from all their albums like 'Speed Machine' and 'Ain`t your business' from "From hell to Texas". 'High as Hell' from the "Higher as Hell" album. "Hate and Whisky" from the "Get Some" album. "You`re going down" from the 'Let them eat Pussy' cd to name a few. Ofcourse they also played the covers 'Nutbush City Limits" (Ike & Tine Turner) and "Rock `n`roll Outlaw (Rose Tattoo). They had a very good sound and although Nashville Pussy and Voivod are a weird combination it totally worked out because I can`t imagine why anybody doesn`t like this steamy rock `n` roll band. The songs aren`t really original and are pretty straight forward but it`s a great party band. Especially guitarist Ruyter steals the show and was named Angie Young by some guys around me. Well, that name suites her. Not everybody was charmed by the looks of Karen Cuda and Ruyter Suys but who cares !! Fact is I enjoyed it very much and the crowd was warmed up by now. Good show !!!

MARIO:
Finally after to many years I was going to see one of my all time fav. bands VOI VOD;
The last time I saw the band was in their Eric Forrest line up which I liked also very much! A few years ago the band decided to reunite in their original line up. First new studio line up was one with Jason Newsted (ex-Flotsam & Jetsam.. oh yeah and off course non-metallers Metallica). Live Jason was mostly replaced by original bassplayer Blacky. This time it was again, Snake (Denis Belanger), Away (Michel Langevin) & Blacky (Jean-Yves Thériault) completed by guitarist Dan Mongrain (ex- Martyr (Canada)) who replaced the legendary Piggy (Denis D’Amour) who died of cancer in 2000 (R.I.P.)!
Curious as a child I was of the band after all these years in a nearly original line-up!!! Well luckily I did see the band several times in the past with that original line-up so I knew what I could expect. Snake was back after many years and maybe he wasn't so energetic anymore on stage (don't blame him, its just a matter of age, hahaha) but what an incredible frontman it still is! His typical movements on stage; the way he translates the songs with his performance was again great; Away that creates more out of 3 toms than most other drummers can get out of a “complete” drum kit and off course Blacky with his typical style! Also “newcomer” Dan was getting near close to Piggy's sound!! Man what a night!!! The band played a nice mix of most of their albums with songs like; 'VoiVod', 'The Unknown Knows', 'The Prow', 'Ripping Headaches', 'Tribal Convictions', 'Brain Scan', 'Ravenous Medicine' (in which both bassguitar en leadguitar broke down), 'Experiment', 'Nuclear War', 'Astronomy Domine' (Pink Floyd cover) & as bonus 'Nothingface'. They also played 1 new song ,'Global Warning', of the “Infine” album but after 65 minutes it was done L. That was the only negative comment I want to give to this more than incredible show!! Glad VoiVod is back!!!! We want more!!!!

Headbangers Open Air; the place to be!!! Especially when you're just like me into oldschool metal!! This is the Metal Heaven for every underground metalfan and the place to be when you are looking out for oldschool/cult bands you never saw before OR bands that play like they where formed in the eigthies.....
This was the 7th time in a row for me to visit the largest en most atmospheric festival in the world! Or as the organisers say; the biggest garden party in the world! Every year im looking out for this fest because of the geniality of the organisers, crew, visitors and all the bands that are walking the area for 3 days!! Its unbelievable that organisers Thomas & Jurgen can create this atmosphere for some many years now without becoming commercial. Okay, last year there where a lot of complains about the growing number of visitors & the lack of variety of food. For 2 years HOA is one week before the huge Wacken Open Air and last year a lot of Wacken "scum" ruined a part of the hospitality & atmosphere. Luckily the organisers are both also fanatic metal fans and they took action after all these complains! Well, this year was again great with less visitors, good food & drinks and I had a hell of a time!! But lets go to the review of the festival:

THURSDAY:
Due to traffic jam around Hamburg we missed Spanish metallers STEEL HORSE. We were hoping to see at least the second band KILLING MACHINE with ex-Slayer drummer John Dette. We arrived on time for that show but....the band didnt show up so that was a bummer :(
When we left our taxi GRAND MAGUS was already playing. I liked their latest album "Hammer of the North" but I need to say that live the band couldnt convince me that much; after half an hour my interest was gone. Good musicians but their doomy music is just not my cup of tea.
Next band was SHOK PARIS which I remember especially from their "Go for the Throat" album. I liked the band already in the 80's but never bought any of their stuff. So I was curious after this show. Well the band performed very well and played solid US-metal. Nice band to see after all these years!
Headliner DESTRUCTION was off course a great choice of the organisers and fitted perfect at this varied first day! Its always a caress for my ears & eyes to see this great band on stage! Schmier is always singing good and he is a great performer also. Some songs of the setlist: 'The Butcher Strikes Back', 'Nailed to the Cross', 'Life without Sense', 'Invicible Force', 'Thrash 'Til Death', 'Nailed To the Cross', 'Tormentor', 'Unconscious Ruins', 'Bestial Invasion' & 'Mad Butcher'. Great show of this German Thrash Gods!! Curse the Gods!!!!

FRIDAY:
JAMESON RAID was the opener of day 2 but they couldnt impress me at all. I never was such a huge NWOBHM fan and especially not of these kind of bands; the band was playing very moderate and the singer was singing out of tune in nearly every song. I know that a lot of (especially German) fans adore this band but to me its a no go....sorry guys!
STORMZONE from Ireland replaced Aska who cancelled just a few days for the festival. I was not familiar with this band which signed lately to the German SPV label. The band played very well and are suited with a good sympathetic frontman who can easily replace Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden (if you ask me). The songs were also all very cathy and performed very well. Good band!!
NWOBHM tributeband ROXXCALIBUR is a very good cover/tribute band and they are specialized in NWOBHM covers. A few years ago the band was mostly playing the typical NWOBHM evergreens but this time they choose a more cult setlist with several bands I didnt ever hear off at all! They played several songs from bands like; Cloven Hoof, Grim Reaper, JJ's Powerhouse (of which some members came on stage), Bleak House, just to name a few. Roxxcalibur has some great musicians and thats probably also the reason that this band is also available as touringband for several reunionshows like they already did with Savage Grace, ThunderRider and next year at KIT with Griffin.
TYGERS OF PAN TANG delivered several great albums in the past like "Wild Cat", "Spellbound" & "Crazy Nights" which are still regularly inspecting my CD player from the inside! Live the band could never convince me because of the boring voice of Jess Cox. Last April I saw the band again at the KIT festival and for the first time they blew me away!! New singer Jacopo Meille (ex-Mantra) is a great singer and lifts the band to a very high level! At HOA they again blew me away with their energy AND their great setlist: 'Raised on Rock', 'Hellbound', 'Live For The Day', 'Dark Rider', 'Slave to Freedom', 'Never Satisfied', 'Rock And Roll Man', 'Take it', 'Don't Stop By', 'Hot Blooded', 'Wild Cat', 'Euthanasia' & 'Gangland'. Superb show!! This way TOPT can go on for years!!
AMULANCE was next and they were to me the most important band; simply because I love their 2 albums full of superb US metal with high pitched vocals!! Pity the band couldnt meet my expectations! The band didnt have the best sound and their singer wasnt singing as good as I was hoping for. I also didnt like the time-spoiling with a long intro-tape AND an unnecessary drumsolo. ON Sunday when they played the aftershow at The Ballroom in Hamburg; they were playing a lot better but still couldnt convince me fully! Missed opportunity!
Because of a dinnerbreak I missed the happy metallers of STORMWARRIOR but today I heard that they will play next year again WITH Kai Hansen (of Helloween)!
MEKONG DELTA came, saw & conquered!! Hell what a great band this still is!! The band is not playing that much live so I was glad I could see them again live after nearly 19 years!!! These guys really know how to play their instruments and this is for sure one of Germany's most progressive techno thrashbands. For me one of the highlights of this years HOA!! Incredible show!
ANGELDUST reunited after a few years of silence! Ive seen the band several times in the past and they could always impress me. This time it was again nice but nothing more, nothing less. It counted me that singer Dirk Assmuth not only lost his hair but also a part of his voice...he was singing out of tune several times and that was a pity because I know he could sing very good years ago! A bit of a dummer.....but still great to sing-a-long with the classic songs like; 'Border of Reality', 'Nightmare', 'Freedom Awaits', & 'Bleed'. Other complain is that I missed songs of their first releases like "Gambler', 'To Dust You Will Decay' & 'Fighters Return'.
DEMON is again a typical NWOBHM band that could never take my interest. Ive seen the band many times but they could never hold my attention. This time I tried it again and I have to admit that I liked Demon this time much more! The band turned out to be a solid co-headliner! Setlist: 'Night of the Demon', 'Into the nightmare', 'Commercial dynamite', 'Sign of a madman', 'Blackheath', 'Liar', 'Remembrance day', 'Standing on the Edge', 'Life on the wire', 'Don't break the circle' & 'One helluva night'. Good show!!
CULPRIT was headliner of day 2 and man they where superb! I saw the band years ago at the Wacken Open Air but this time it was even much better! Such an energy from this old guys and especially the bassplayer, Scott Earl, who was acting like a real rockstar and raping his bassguitar. Funny if you know that Culprit only released 1 album in 1983 but still they are headlining a festival like HOA; thats what they call; supporting the underground!!. Culprit played a great show with off course mostly songs from their one & only "Guilty as Charged" album: 'Guilty as Charged', 'Ice In The Back', 'Ambush', 'Fight Back' & 'Players' (which refrain was most sung by the audience). Their singer was the only little complain I have; he was not singing bad but good neither! After Scott smashed his bassguitar in pieces the band played a bonus song; Black Sabbath's "Heaven & Hell". Great show and a decent headliner!!

SATURDAY:
Day 3 started with the Australian TRENCH HELL; a thrashmetal band which we missed that day (but we saw them one day later at the aftershow).
Next band was the German metalband NOT FRAGILE; a moderate band with a few nice songs; nothing more; nothing less!
BATTLEAXE is also one of these NWOBHM bands that never got fame. The band released 2 full length albums in the 80's but never got discovered by a bigger audience. Maybe this had to do with the fact that the band plays AC/DC influenced metal which to many people does not sound original....Strange offcourse while these days bands like Airbourne are enormous popular!! And they also imitate AC/DC a lot. Battleaxe played a decent show.
DER KAISER is already deleted from my memories; a boring French band with boring music. Luckily for the band; the German audience is a good audience for this kind of metal. Next time H-Bomb please!!
BLOODFEAST was one of the surprises of HOA this year! I had a listen to their album years ago but it couldnt impress me at all. Live the band was energetic as hell and they delivered one of the better shows of the third HOA day! Great thrashmetal the way only US-bands can deliver it!!
OMEN was never one of my fav. bands till they added singer George Call (what's in a name!!). This singer lifts the band to a very high level with his unique voice! Since last years Swordbrothers festival Omen has a new fan ; Mario is the name! Good show!!!
ANVIL CHORUS was the crowds favorite; expecially by the undergound legions in Germany. The band had the bad luck to be the only band that was playing during a rainshower and most of the audience was gone or taking shelter. I was not really familair with their music but their music could convince me easily because of the originality AND the great musicianship of the band! Good show, pity most of the audience where afraid of getting wet.......
RAVEN headlined my own first Mario's Metal Meeting in 2007 and till now they are still the best headliner I ever had!! This (old) guys must be using drugs (XTC) or Red Bull because its incredible to see how these oldies still take the stage with their act! Their energy is inexhaustible!!
As always the band was going full speed ahead with songs like: 'Take Control', 'Live At The Inferno', 'All For One', 'Tie Your Mother Down', 'Rock Until You Drop', 'Lambs To The Slaughter', 'Speed Of The Reflex', & 'Mind over Metal'. This band is so experienced; when Mark had some guitar problems; his brother John was not even looking behind but directly started with filling the musical gap. Again a great show! Only little complain is the fact that the band is improvising to much between the songs which cost them a lot of playing time and us, as fans, a few other songs....
SOLITUDE AETURNUS is one of the few Doom metal bands that I like! Singer Robert Lowe had an incredible good voice and I prefer what he is doing in Solitude above his singing in Candlemass (or was it Cancellmas ??). The band performed very well and showed to be the right co-headliner of the last day! Good choice HOA!!
VIRGIN STEELE was never my kind of band and last time I saw the band at the KIT festival it was also awefull to see on stage how singer David Defeis was playing his keyboard AND singing at one and the same position on stage. Luckily this time he didnt harp on the same string...and was only using his microphone and the stage! In this set up he was more coming into its own and I must admit that I liked Virgin Steel very much this time! Good show!! Ony big dummer was the way the crew acted during the first songs when David's microphone didnt work...it was reminding me of Comedy Capers and Laurel & Hardy. That was very unprofessional but was not to blame the band at all! David took his job serious and just went on singing.....this way he showed his professionality!!

Again I had a great HOA and im already looking out for the 2011 edition (last weekend of July). Thanks to Thomas for putting me on the guestlist! See you all next year again guys!! HOA rulezzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!!!!

A few weeks ago a friend asked me to join her on another festival in Germany. After looking at the schedule and the price I didn't had to be convinced. Thursday afternoon we arrived at the beautiful site of Loreley in Germany. This small festival is hosted at the UNESCO World Heritage Site and is sure to give a magnificent view. Because the stage is made up of an old amphitheatre you can see the bands from nearly anywhere on the site.
On Thursday we were just in time to see EXCREMENTORY GRINDFUCKERS kick off the festival. The band, which isn't that much more than a parody of all other types of music, immediately got the crowd moving. While they aren't that good musically they played a nice set full of jokes. Great way to start a festival.
During AXXIS we went back to the campsite to enjoy a barbecue with our neighbours. We arrived back at the festival in time for the last songs of J.B.O.. This band seems to be immensely popular in Germany and while I don't understand a word they were saying I couldn't help but get in the mood myself. Headliner on Thursday was DORO. The Metalqueen delivered an amazing set with a bunch of Warlock songs and some newer work. She still has a great voice and a really good band to support her. During one song Blaze Bailey came on stage to prove he also still has it. Overall this was probably the best gig I saw during the 3 days although I might be biased because I have always loved her music.

Friday started with a couple of local bands we missed because we were enjoying the scenery. First band we saw that day was GAMMA BOMB. The Irish thrashers played a tight set and got a nice response from the crowd. After them we waited for BENEDICTION but due to technical difficulties with the drum they had to start 20 minutes later so they played a really short set. The songs I heard were really good but it was just too short. DARK TRANQUILITY also had troubles with the sound and since I never liked them we left halfway through the set. After them the folk metallers ENSIFERUM came on stage. Since both me and my friend are allergic to all the humpa music we thought it was a good time for dinner. After dinner we were back at front row for English grinders NAPALM DEATH. This band is always good live, when they have good sound and they had. Besides the fact that it just wasn't loud enough to hear the music properly we also didn't understand a word of Barney's speeches so they were quite boring silent moments. But besides that the band played a killer set and I can't wait to see them in a hall again. Next was the band the entire crowd was waiting for: SODOM. Tom Angelripper immediately got the crowd on his hand and he didn't let loose until after the show. The band played a good set filled with classics and practically every german song they ever wrote and the crowd loved every minute of it. To me it was also one of the best times I've seen the band. On the second stage there were also some bands playing and being a huge Iron Maiden fan I decided to go check out BLAZE BAILY. Blaze remains an amazing vocalist and a bad ass frontman but I just don't like his own songs. I did have a lot of fun during the Maiden songs though. After Blaze I was back just in time to see the opening of headliner APOCALYPTICA. The band played a festival set with lots of Metallica covers but also played the new single in premiere. I enjoyed the band a lot but didn't really like the songs with vocals. Too bad for the bad sound in the beginning but still a very good show.

When DESASTER, the first band we wanted to see on Saturday, started the crowd was already warmed up by some local heroes and ready to give it all to the black-thrashers. I'm a big fan of Desaster's music and really enjoyed their set. After them it was time for HOLY MOSES but I never really liked Sabrina's vocals. The music wasn't all that good either so this was a show to easily forget. Next up was THYRFING and my friend was very excited about them. I generally dislike viking and pagan metal so this wasn't my cup of tea, although I must admit that in their genre they are one of the best bands I've seen. Nice atmospheric set but the guitar sound and vocals just don't do it for me. After them another Swedish band came on stage and I was looking forward to them all weekend. ENTOMBED came and destroyed! What an amazing live band they are. Petrov seemed quite sober, for his doing, and the music itself was really tight played. The band played songs from nearly every album so I was a very happy man with a nearly broken neck afterwards. After Entombed we decided to see SEPULTURA from a distance and eat something. I'm very glad we decided to eat on the festival site cause I was in for a surprise. I was a long time ago that I saw the Brazilian band and I never liked them after Max Cavalera left. But on this festival it seems that Andreas Kisser realized that nobody was really interested in their new work. What followed was a set of flawlessly played songs coming from all the old albums and an insane crowd that didn't seem to miss either of the Cavalera brothers. With even a few songs from Schizophrenia, tightly played riffs and solos and decent vocals this was the best Sepultura show I've ever seen after the lineup changes. After the thrashing bomb that was Sepultura I was completely in the mood for SACRED REICH. It would be my first time to see them live and I was very much looking forward to it. The band started out slow and quite boring actually but in the middle of the show it turned out to be a great concert anyway with lots of hits and a Black Sabbath cover. Headliner for this day was ARCH ENEMY. This band is a hype that I completely missed. I knew it was melodic death metal with Michael Amott and a woman on vocals and that's about it. I figured to just go watch and see what this band was made up of. Musically this was excellent, great melodic riffs, solos from both guitar players and an amazing drummer. Too bad the vocals completely lacked any quality. I hope it was because of the sound and because of Angela's performance. There were almost no grunts and the high pitched screams really worked on my nerves. If the vocals would have been good, this would have been a show I would have loved from a band I had to check out afterwards. No it just left me with a big 'what if?' that might make me listen to their myspace for studio versions of the vocals but it will probably end there. A missed chance perhaps? I do know that a lot of the crowd liked the show so they won't really miss me as a fan.
Overall this festival turned out to be a nice holliday with good weather, a nice location and lots of great bands. I will be checking out the bill for next year!

Loudness on a Monday evening; what would it bring was my concern. Last time I saw the band was 11 years ago in Waalwijk (Tavenu) and that time they really sucked! One of the most terrible gigs I have ever seen (and if you know how many thousands of bands that I already saw, than you will understand how terrible it was). So normally I would never go to such a band again but when I heard that the band was playing in the (nearly complete) original line-up I became curious again and decided to travel to Eindhoven.
As support act Dynamo added MONSTERTONE to the line up but why?? I really don't know because their kind of stoner rock didn't fit to Loudness's music at all! For me, and most of the visitors, this was very boring and a lot of people left the hall after a few songs. Musically they where good but they didn't fit in the line-up at all! Bad choice…
LOUDNESS is most famous for their earliers albums: 'The Birthday Eve', 'Devil Soldier', 'The Law Of Devil's Land', 'Disillusion' & 'Thunder in the East”. For the first time in years it counted me that Dynamo (Loudness in this case) had a great sound and that's spectacular for Dynamo concepts J. The band started with an intro and played mostly songs of the above mentioned albums. From the “Thunder in the East” album they played: 'Crazy Nights', 'Heavy Chains', 'Never Change Your Mind' and 'Like Hell'. Other songs they did play where: 'Esper', 'The Law Of Devil's Land', 'In The Mirror', 'Shadows Of War', 'Loudness', 'S.D.I.', 'Crazy Doctor', 'Never Change Your Mind', & 'Black Star Oblivion'. From their latest album “King of Pain” (2010) they played: 'Requiem' & 'The King Of Pain'.
They band played an excellent show but I must admit that there is only one person that's credit to this all; masterclass guitarplayer Akira Takasaki. Singer Minoru Niihara is not that bad but has never been an excellent singer; Bassplayer Masayoshi Yamashita is doing his job well and drummer Masayuki Suzuki is a good replacement for original drummer Munetaka Higuchi (who died in November 2008 due to liver cancer). Nevertheless I had a hell of a night with a lot of old classic Loudness songs and a bunch of long-time-no-see people! Great performance guys! Come back asap!!!

After having a lot of fun at last year's edition and with this year's edition having an amazing line-up I decided to drive to Tilburg again for Neurotic Deathfest. On Friday my day started with an immense queue in front of the ticket office so I already had an idea about the big crowd of the weekend. I managed to catch the last few songs of ABORTED in their new line-up. They seem to have become more brutal again and less metalcore but the band will never be my cup of tea. Next up were German thrashers DEW SCENTED who played a decent set as always. It became immediately clear that I wouldn't see many bands in the smaller halls of the 013 because of the crowd.
I went to the big hall for the first band of the day I was actually looking forward to: BENEDICTION. This would be the first time I'd ever see them live and I was quite anxious but they delivered! A very tight set with an awesome vocalist who knows how to work the crowd. Also a nice set list consisting of a few new songs and a lot of classics. Afterwards I decided to check out Severe Torture but it was way to hot and crowdy in the small hall so I went for dinner instead.
Next band I saw was SIX FEET UNDER and while Chris Barnes his voice is nothing compared to what it used to be the band still knows how to get a crowd moving. All in all this wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be.
Because of the crowd I really didn't try to get into the batcave stage for BEHEADED but I managed to sit outside and still hear the sound of a good performance by the band.
Next up was another surprise for me: NAPALM DEATH with decent sound! I never managed to hear this band with good enough sound quality to actually enjoy them but now I must say that they blew me away; very tight performance by the British grinders.
At last it was time for the headliner of Friday, and I was looking forward to them all day. BOLT THROWER came, saw and conquered the 013 and blew everyone to pieces. This was without a doubt the best gig I've seen in months. Very tight, musically superb and amazing vocals. Also a very good set list although too short for my liking. After that I drove home a happy man anticipating another cool day.

On Saturday the second day of the festival began for me with ORIGIN. While highly impressing with their technical skill the band just doesn't do it for me and I got bored soon so I went to see if I could still get into the middle stage hall for INSIDIOUS DECREPANCY. This one man band formed by Viral Load front man Shawn Whitaker did quite well but since I really can't stand drum computers I left after a few songs.
Up next was DYING FETUS and since I'm still hurting from the moshpit as I'm writing this I can say that their show rocked! Very tight performance, great setlist and an amazing atmosphere in the crowd.
Next show in the main hall was a band I was looking forward to a lot since their show in Biebob a couple of years ago is still one of the best death metal shows I've ever been to. But unfortunately IMMOLATION left me disappointed. I heard a lot of good commentaries of the show so It's probably more because of me than because of the band. They did play a lot of songs of their new album and I'm not that fond of it so that might be the case.
After another trip into downtown Tilburg I managed to see the last half hour of LOCK UP and got completely blown away by a great performance. I never thought they still had it in them but it all just fit and I had a hell of time.
Up next was one of the bands I was looking forward to a lot but PESTILENCE turned out to be the disappointment of the weekend. I love the old albums but I'm not fond of the new one. Problem is that the set list contained of almost only new songs. I also don't think the band had that much fun either. The crowd's response wasn't all that either and more and more people started shouting for old songs and Martin Van Drunen.
I left halfway during the show to get a drink and didn't come back until it was time for the headliner of this year's festival: CARCASS. I didn't have any high hopes for this band. I've always been sceptical about reunions and sometimes I've been shown wrong but a lot of times I've been right to doubt the usefulness of yet another old band returning to the stage. Well Carcass sure shut me up! Musically this was as good as it gets. The amazing set list was played to perfection and had a lot of variation. Where I was standing the voice didn't sound like it had to be but the overall performance of the band made that up nicely. I can conclude that the band was a great ending for an awesome weekend. No doubt that I'll back again next year if the bill's keep evolving like this !

Australian rockers AIRBOURNE just have released their fantastic second album "No Guts. No Glory." (see album reviews April update) and are doing two shows in Holland during their European tour. And I'm glad they did two shows in Holland, so I could go to De Pul in Uden instead of going all the way to De Melkweg, Amsterdam (March, 25th). Because of traffic activities around Eindhoven (I think I missed a turn, because the whole city ring has changed, which is a real crime), I arrived too late at De Pul. The support act of this tour, TAKING DAWN, a band which just released their debut album "Time To Burn" on Roadrunner Records, was almost finished with their set. So I can't tell you much about them. I only have seen one and a half song. The last song which TAKING DOWN played was a cover version of FLEETWOOD MAC's "The Chain" (from the legendary and classic "Rumours" album). But according to colleague Kees Schijven, who was there too, I really haven't missed much. Anyway, it was 21:15 when headliner AIRBOURNE got on stage and they opened their set with "Raise The Flag" from the new album "No Guts. No Glory.". After "Raise The Flag" singer and lead guitarist Joel O'Keefe said 'thanks for coming down tonight' and the band started with "Hellfire" from "Runnin' Wild". Well, it wasn't allowed to take pictures, unless you had a photo pass. In fact, it's complete bullshit, because lots of people in the audience took pictures of the band with their cellphone. And with some cellphones you really can take some excellent pictures. Anyway, back again to the new album with "Chewin' The Fat". I think it was a full house tonight at De Pul. The audience was really fanatic, by singing along with several songs, banging their heads and raising their fists in the air. Some fans even stage dived and several times someone was crowd surfing. That's why Joel said 'you guys are great tonight, thanks' after they played "Get Busy Livin'". Although AIRBOURNE's second album "No Guts No Glory" has been released since a few weeks, the band played nine songs of their debut album "Runnin' Wild" and seven songs of the new one. Halfway the song "Girls In Black", Joel jumped into the audience, still playing guitar, made a small round through the public and climbed through a light pole on a sound box. Although the show was very simple, Joel really knows how to entertain the audience. In that case he's an excellent front man, but also an awesome lead guitarist. Anyway, AIRBOURNE, who are in fact the "new" AC/DC, are a great live band, which you really must have seen in your life. One thing is certain, these Australians are really getting big. And I'm sure, next time they will play in bigger venues. The complete set list which AIRBOURNE played was "Raise The Flag", "Hellfire", "Chewin' The Fat", "Diamond In The Rough", "Blonde, Bad And Beautiful", "Get Busy Livin'", "Girls In Black", "What's Eatin' You", "Born To Kill", "Cheap Wine & Cheaper Women", "Heartbreaker", "No Way But The Hard Way", "Back On The Bottle" and "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast". The two encores were "Runnin' Wild" and "Stand Up For Rock 'N' Roll". It was 22:45 when AIRBOURNE left the stage and I went home by an alternative route. Anyway, I enjoyed AIRBOURNE's show very much, so I had a very pleasant evening after all.

It`s a cold, cloudy Sunday afternoon.The wind blows through the trees and I feel the need to dress in fur and fill my cow horn with a alcoholic beverage to keep me warm. With other words, a perfect day to listen to some pagan bands.
First band this day is SVARTSOT from Denmark who filled the spot after Equilibrium cancelled. These guys who sing in their native language Danish had an half hour to convince the public. The sound wasn`t really good. Much to frail. When after a few songs a second guitarist joined the band the sound was much fuller. At least after he found out he had to plug in his guitar!! The band played very decent folkmetal with a good death grunt and they proved they were a good opener for this festival. 013 is fairly packed and the reactions to Svartsot were good but the public still had to be warmed up. A lot of bands to go by now.
Next band is VARG from Germany. This red and black painted Viking metallers are more black metal orientated with Iron Maiden like melodies and the occasional humpa passages. The lightshow is mainly red and purple light which is very suitable for their show and gives them a somewhat dark, evil appearance. They just released their new album "Blutaar" and ofcourse they played some songs of this album.They played songs like Windzeit, Skol (Nice singalong), Wolfszeit. I don`t think this music is very exciting but the public is reacting very well on Varg. They also had 30 minutes to convince the audience but I wasn`t impressed because they don`t write very interesting songs. A bit too simple. But the audience liked it.
Third band was the first highlight of this day. Russian pagan metal band ARKONA. What an energy from this frontwoman Masha. She screams, grunts and is also very good with clean vocals while she dances, runs on the stage. What a performance. The rest of the band is rather calm but this is the first band that`s has a professional vibe. Too bad about the bad sound. The soundman is terrible. It`s logical that grunts aren`t as loud as clean vocals but the sound guy doesn`t anticipate at all. So the clean vocals are suddenly very loud after a grunt part. You can`t hear the cymbals of the drums. Too bad because this was a good performance. They played for 45 minutes but the crowd wanted more.
Then came the strangest band of the day, DORNENREICH from Austria. It started with an acoustic song with guitarist Eviga and Inve on violin. It`s more ambient than metal at times but this trio is really impressing. What a drummer!!! It`s because of him that this music doesn`t bore for a minute. And his fluorescent earplugs give a funny effect although they are not supposed to. It`s not party music or even easy to listen too but they have well thought out songs. The vocals are more black metal but he uses his voice as an instrument. I mean Eviga doesn`t just sings some lyrics but stretches his voice to the limits. It`s just a guitar, a violin and drums but it`s a real band and I don`t miss a bass or a second guitar. But this is not music for the mainstream public but I liked it a lot.
And then it was time for the party band of the day, ALESTORM from Scotland. That this band is popular is pretty obvious because after the happy intro the crowd goes nuts and stays that way for 45 minutes. These Scottish pirates with Christopher Bowes on command sure know how to make a party. Although the sound guy fucks up again. The keyboards are much too loud and it takes him much too long to get the sound right. A bit the story of the day unfortunately. Personally I think the vocals are a bit annoying but they are perfect for the Alestorm sound. He really sounds like a pirate. Christopher is also a very good frontman and knows how to work the crowd without overdoing it. A really sympathetic guy. Their drummer left the band a few days before the show and their replacement has a difficult job but does it perfectly. Alestorm played songs like Wenches and Mead, Captain Morgan`s revenge, the very happy Keelhauled, title track of the latest album Black Sails at Midnight, that famous ol`spiced. Alestorm had the best reactions from the crowd this day.
On with the program with ELUVEITIE from Switzerland. They were missing one guitarist due to military duty. But there were still seven people on stage. Enough to look at. They played very decent folk/death metal but due to the (again) bad sound a lot of nuances from the flutes and other instruments were lost and that was really too bad. Due to that it sounded a bit lame. Especially the drum parts were boring. Only the last few songs had a good sound and all off a sudden you could hear how it was supposed to sound and it became much more interesting. Asshole soundguy ruined the whole show. Ofcourse this is a good band and I especially liked Anna and Meri who were the only ones who moved on stage and did a very good job on violin and hurdy gurdy. And singing ofcourse. I especially liked the sound of the hurdy gurdy which goes very well with metal. Also Christian is a good frontman with a decent grunt but the flute he played you could hardly hear for the first half of the show. And the lightshow was very good. That is an important part of the show and is often underestimated. I would like the see the band again with a good sound.
Last band of the night was FINNTROLL from Finland. And finally the sound was good from the beginning. The crowd went crazy again and it was obvious this band is very popular. The music is a mix of black metal/folkmetal with humppa parts and they do that very well. Although the crowd loved it I had some reservations with their show. It was all a bit routine and there wasn`t a lot of fun on stage. Especially the drummer didn`t move at all and was looking quite bored. It was all a bit tame and that was a bit of an anti climax after especially Alestorm and Eluveitie. But the guys can play and the crowd had a great time so who am I to judge…After an hour it was time to put an end to this successful festival. It was a long day but I`m glad I went. SKOL!!!!

Finally after 14 years I returned to De Pul in Uden to see one of the best thrashbands of the US history; Overkill.
Right on time we arrived at the venue to see opener CRIPPER from Germany. The female fronted deathmetal suited me well but didn't fit in this oldschool package if you ask me. The venue wasnt that crowded when the band started at 7:30 P.M. For a few songs I went to the front of the pit to see the band and I must admit that front woman Britta was good looking which is of course a plus for a healthy man like me, ha-ha. The band names their music thrash but to me it sounded more deathmetal. Maybe because the band also names bands like The Haunted & Boltthrower as their influences. Nice band, nothing more, nothing less..
Next on the bill where UK thrashers SAVAGE MESSIAH. The band is highly influenced by bands like Testament; oldschool based thrash with good musicianship. A nice band but musically far from original so after half an hour I was getting bored and went (again) to the bar.
SUICIDAL ANGELS from Greece was one of the bands I was again looking out for because I like their oldschool thrash (in a German way) very much. This was the 3rd time for me to see this band and again they convinced me fully. The band plays thrash in a way bands like Kreator & Sodom did 20 years ago. Check these guys out if you're into this kind of thrash and believe me; you'll get smashed by their energy! Again a very good show guys!
In the meantime the venue was very crowded because most of the audience showed up for headliners OVERKILL. I lost my interest in the band for years because on stage their setlist couldn't convince me that much anymore. Last time when they opened for Motorhead in Kerkrade the band was already playing a few more old songs but I wasn't expecting to much this night. From the first note I knew I was wrong; the sound was awesome and Bobby Blitz was as energetic on stage as always! This was going to be a legendary show with mostly all-time classics; 'Rotten to the Core', 'Powersurge', 'Battle', 'Hello from the Gutter', 'Overkill', 'In Union we Stand', 'Feel the Fire', 'Bastard Nation', 'Elimination', 'Fuck You' & 'Sonic Reducer' just to name a few…… The crowd went nuts and I was so glad that the band finally made the switch to put more older songs in their setlist. Believe me, I was not the only one with these thoughts!!!! The band created an incredible pit in front of the stage and showed everybody that they can go on for many more years this way! Till now one of the best shows I've seen during the last few years (and that says enough…). Compliments guys! Come back ASAP!!! Thanks to De Pul also for putting me on the guest list to write this review! Its appreciated!