ProgPower Europe - Sjiwa Baarlo, 6-8 October 2023

 

Progpower for us always starts at campsite De Berckt on Friday afternoon. This year the Pre-party had with Novena a very promising name. Unfortunately only a trio and playing an acoustic set. So I did not go out of my way to find a sleeping spot for the Thursday and attend. Arriving slowly, bockbier and preparing your trailers for the weekend. Us this year meant 13.5 as Ton made his PPE debut only joining the Saturday (we all know what that means for 2024) and Peter sadly had to cancel after a fall and two broken ribs this very week. Due to several reasons (work, holidays or not impressed by the line-up) we missed four more faces, but Peter and Marga brought with Amii and Sven plus Leah the next generation next to Gwenda who did join already some 17 years ago for the first time bringing Peter making a debut. So the mood was set and good, but how about the program? Well this year PPE was different as they did not book any headliners of fame. Before people read this negative, some explanations. This year no bands of the Progmetal Champions League were booked. This only in name and fame. For me that did not matter much, as often I love the bands playing around the dinner break the most. OK when some of my favorite bands headline like Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz, Redemption, Threshold or Shadow Gallery I am very very pleased. Still sometimes you have bands who made their name in Progmetal (no need to list names here), but lost me along the way and I might well prefer a more unknown band making their debut in style. Another positive point was that this year no band was booked, which made me raise an eyebrow in advance for being far too soft for the festival. Still I did not know many bands in advance so surprises both positive and negative could happen.

Finally there is the competition in gig land. Not only in general metal shows, but even in progmetal itself there are other alternatives. Some bands who first broke through on PPE, played last year during the same weekend two shows in Holland and are now filed under Traitors of their original fans. Yes, shame on you Vola and Soen. Than de Boerderij seems to be turning it into a sport to book prog (metalish) bands during PPE weekend. This year Arena and the Aristocrats played on Friday and Sunday. Both also having one other Dutch show over the weekend. The Manofmuchmetal (missed for a chat) put me on the trail of Martin Miller earlier this year. He played Tilburg this weekend, but luckily a covers only set, so no big loss. My home venue Musicon in The Hague would normally see me both on Saturday and Sunday this year. Saturday Loud & Heavy Fest with Neverus and Martyr (with PPE veteran Vinnie on bass). On Sunday they had Brazilian Semblant with Romanian White Walls (ex PPE) as one of the supports. Still all without a chance, but one festival over the same weekend did hurt me (and some others) more than a bit. If in 1990 anyone would have told me that a festival within driving distance would take place with from my record collection Flotsam and Jetsam, Q5, Metal Church, Brian Downey, Dirkschneider and young strong metal bands like Ambush, Phantom Spell, Tailgunner, Evil Invaders., I would definitely be there. To make matters really hurt they even had Watchtower on the bill, a band I have been asking for on the PPE feedback form since 2000. In the end ProgPower stands above all others for the whole experience. Further those who are not just looking for the big names (and aren’t we all?) would agree that 2023 on forehand offered a very diverse and strong line-up with something for almost anyone.

 Anyway, back in Baarlo is a shere joy and after a fine meal prepared by Mary (thanks) it was off to Sjiwa, where I would bump into countless more Progpower friends. Unfortunately not all could make it this year and some were dearly missed. Biggest loss might have been Pois Chic. On their farewell tour of foodtrucks, Baarlo did not fit in the schedule during last weeks. So no very tasty food from Andy and Debbie and even worse, no always pleasant catching up with both. So after parking our bicycles at the new designated spot in front of Centraal the festival could start.

Earthside

Before commenting anything on opening band Earthside let me first get the pink elephant out of the room. Lead vocals coming from a box are one of the eight deadly sins. I read about this sin in a deadly oneliner review of their show last week at Euroblast, so I was more than a bit sceptical in advance. When the band started playing it turned out that the music was really good. It always is strange to hear a voice while not seeing same. Still I pretty much liked the music. I also rememered that I saw them before some years ago in Duijcker. What I realized during the show was that maybe they are better on CD than live without the vocal confusion. My final verdict was positive though, but one person needs to be named still. The keyboard keytar player was running around wildly most of the time. When he announced that his dad was in the hall who was 66, he made it sound if that age is really ancient and life is nearly over. Well we have two 60+ granddads in our group too and several people including me pushing 60, so an unnecessary insult during an OK show. At the same time they made a national Dutch newspaper with their family trip together to Baarlo.

Wheel

Headliner on the Friday were Wheel from Finland. Their pink elephant is called Tool, but I do like the debut CD I have by them. Live it turned out to be another nice band who I appreciate, but did not shock my world. After a while not knowing all, the songs started to sounded a bit samy to me. But the performance was good and the audience seemed to like them.  People knowing their full discography told me that towards the end the best and old came as the songs got heavier. A nice first evening closed by a quick stop in the basement and at the campsite another tradition Knackies with a final beer.

 

Hackberry

Saturday always has the problem of the too fast and to much drinking on opening Friday. So arriving semi hung over to find a band playing instrumentals only. Than they are Dutch as well, so I might see them again anytime soon. What I did see sounded pretty nice actually, but sitting in the basement was a nice alternative kicking of slowly and regaining powers.

Chaosbay

Next band were Chaosbay from Berlin. I knew nothing about them and they showed what is so nice about this festival, they surprised very positively. Their style is more of the djenty metalcore with breaks in it, but lots of energy coming of the stage and back to them again from a very appreciative audience. Chaosbay showed that every line-up deserves one or two bands from this genre, just to entertain and energize us all. At the same time Chaosbay are not the first German band whose vocalist shows some Bono behaviour telling us how to make it a better world. Preaching to the converted in Baarlo really where you can start a nice conversation with basically anyone you meet. So as a rule of thumb. Mentioning your ideals once is appreciated and ok. Doing so three times in a row is not needed. Still teh most heard phrase over teh weekend hereafter "to my surprise I really liked this metalcore band".

Hei’An

A band with a complicated name, coming from Slovenia. Another one I entered blank and I had problems pinpointing them. The Caped and hooded Jon Oliva lookalike brought the heavy voice inbetween his struggles with his outfit. The clean vocals came from the blue haired guitarist, who was not always hitting it rightl. Musically I was as confused. Bits and pieces were really great and the blend of styles worked. This to get me off track again soon, with some non-cohesive work. In the end their set did not grab me and I went to eat something as the evening promised to be the highlight of the weekend for me.

Dordeduh

Dordeduh are from Roumania and I knew I would like their set as I saw them before. I suppose not all of you speak Roumanian, so some help first. Dordeduh means Through The Door, if you are from The Hague that is. Last time I saw them they were on tour by van. So what? You might think, well what a lot as they brought all kinds of different instruments at the time. I remember some huge horns, and a sort of guillotine which they hammered on. So now several sounds came from tape. That did not matter at all to me as this was one hell of a show. This band showed they have lots of mileage on stage (ex Negura Bunget) and that came back in confident performance and playing. To add tot he fun they also brough a painter, who live painted a painting, shown on the big screen behind them. A first asolute high of the festival to me.

An Abstract Illusion

Talking about highs, if I was looking forward to one show this weekend it must have been An Abstract Illusion. Anyone who loves their prog blended with extreme metal agrees that last year’s Woe is a masterpiece. So the question was how much would they blow me away. Well to start with, they started late. Sound issues and some confusion on stage. When they did start the sound issues had not disappeared. Bass and backing vocals very loud, while guitars and main vocals were low in the blend. If you than add a zooming monitor at times, this became no feast tot eh ears. So where I expected a guaranteed high, we did not get same, due to poor sound. At times you could see and hear that the band should be able to bring us wonderfull things on stage, but it was not what I hoped for and outside many lovers of the band stood as disillusioned.

Wilderun

So it was up to Wilderun to close the evening in style again. Earlier this year they toured with Soilwork and Kataklysm and I saw them in Lisbon. For that tour they went to their heavier material given the package they were touring with. Tonight they played a long set and their full discography was visited. As I don’t own their first two albums I did not know all. What I did hear was lots of calm and folky intermezzos. Luckily the class of teh band shown through during the full set. So I liked what I saw, but they kept their best for the last 40 minutes or so. Also did the vocalist try to set a new record in number of times you can tune your guitar. When they did finish around 23:30 I was somewhat disappointed they did not play their best song Far From Where Dreams Unfurl. Luckily Wayne showed an arm and a leg as a sign they would return.The encore corrected that miss. In the end a great show by them again, even if form my taste they could have gone for more of the heavier work over folky bits.

And then it was down to the basement for the afterparty. On Saturday this means karaoke. This year I thought about giving the younger part of the audience a history lesson by singing Holocaust’s classic song Heavy Metal Mania for which I don't need to read along with the lyrics.. Unfortunately not in the database of the system, so a fast improvisation needed for a new song. I do think I nailed it again. I believe it always good fun to see people sing, but was under the impression that not everyone is as enthusiastic as the first year anymore. So maybe  next year, we should have the return of the Classic Heavy Metal disco. No matter what the program, at least one afterparty makes part of the weekend experience.

Omnerod

The bands on Sunday always face the disadvantage of fatigue starting to appear. So I was very pleased to see that Omnerod came up, introduced their set shortly and fired away. A great mix, where death metal was mixed with more atmospheric prog. It was the first band, where after the show I headed for the merch stand and get their CD. This as I want to know how they sound on CD. Live the hour flew by for me and I loved their show. Of course the one thing that was hard to understand was the social distancing on stage as if Covid was still very much  reality in Baarlo. Why was the grunting guitarist hidden so far to the back? Invisible by a mix of darkness and smoke. Maybe stagefright? But that was Legs Diamond last weekend. A very fine start of the day for me they were.

Obsidian Tide

Obsidian Tide are from Israel, so I think that in advance everyone wondered what was going on in their heads given the situation at home. They did give us after some technical issues a fine set where the clean vocals could use some more power for me. So while I pretty much liked their music, I did not stay the full hour. This was also a band where maybe getting to know their music a bit in advance would have helped.

Ihlo

Ihlo were representing the UK on stage this year. They are not listed at Metal Archives which means they play either metalcore/djent or are considered a bit too light. Listening tot hem I gues it was the second reason. Again I appreciated the band and their playing, but some more power would help to make me run to the merch stand. They looked lively and sympathetic enough on stage, where people from the UK have the mother tongue advantage making their inbetween song banters more at ease. Again a half show was good enough for me, but if playing in the area I would go see them again.

Maraton

After the diner break, where I did not eat Maraton from Norway came up. By not checking them out in advance I did not know we had such a light band on the program after all. Their music sounded to me very eighties and Tears for Fears came to mind. It actually sounded pretty fine, but we left for a small meal, as more traditional progmetal was on the way. So not seeing enough to give a fair ordeal they were the light band on the menu, but fairly popular even so I understood.

Darkwater

Darkwater are no strangers to PPE veterans as they also played the 2010 edition. That was on a day opened by Haken and closed by Shadow Gallery, so one of the more legendary days in PPE history. I saw them a few years back returning on stage at Brainstorm. At the time I bought their CD after the show and soon after they had started I realized why. Darkwater was this weekend the band that would have best fitted the first Progpower line-up in 1999. In those days no extreme /djent /prog or postrock explorations. Just proper progmetal bands playing the style that made the genre popular in the nineties. During their set I was reminded of Enchant at times, or a band like Tiles. I loved every minute of their set and they convinced again, even if not the most active live band in history. For me this is the style that started it all. A great voice over a solid rhythm section with good guitars and keyboards played on stage not from tape. Call me old fashioned, but for me every Progpower needs bands like this. I saw they were pretty popular among the crowd, where I also noted that most people I saw first in Baarlo in 2000 stayed in the hall and loved the band. Is an age division happening in preferences? Probably the highlight of the weekend for me and no need to discuss the progresiveness of bands like this. Just great music.

Teramaze

And than it was up to Teramaze to close the weekend. They were here before only four years ago, but released since then 4 (four!) new full lenghts. I did remember that in 2019 I found them OK, but not the high I hoped for looking at their style of progmetal. Basically they play not all that different from Darkwater, may be a notch heavier at times. Keyboards also from tape again, but this also as not all songs do have them. Again I saw a division happening as during the set many people left the building. This happens every Sunday night closing set, by te way. I did love their set and was positively surprised. Maybe expectations were lower than in 2019 or they played better but for me it was a great closer of one fine festival again.

So than we had coins left. So the basement was calling. Some nice final drinks until two barbie girls chased us out. So I guess now it is time to say a huge thanks to organization and all volunteers. What a party did they put together for us again. Since we were with a big group in changing line-ups ourselves I did not get to speak to as many people as I would have liked, but I did meet some new people who next year shall receive the friendly nod of the head or talk as well. So 2023 did not bring the great names of the past maybe, for me the diversity in program made it a good one again. So see you all next year in Baarlo.