Caligula's Horse, The Hirsch Effekt & Four Stroke Baron - Boerderij Zoetermeer, 24 May 2024

In a year when de Boerderij puts on more and more cover and tribute bands it seemed right to return when they program three bands playing different kinds of progmetal of their own. Caligula's Horse came all the way from Australia for a European tour and Four Stroke Baron I saw before too. So when my neighbour Rob asked a few weeks ago if I would attend too, I realized the only answer could be yes. Rain forced me to skip a bicycle ride and take a direct randstadrail to de Boerderij hopeful of a good evening. Given the line-up I knew many ProgPower regulars would be walking around too. I must admit that given their three shows in The Netherlands I was kind of worried about turn-out this evening. Well I worried for nothing as after a calm beginning in the end de Boerderij almost filled up completely.

First band on were Four Stroke Baron. I saw them at Complexity Fest before and liked their mix of heavy music and eighties new wave on vocals. What I remembered was a bassist with long hair and an even longer beard, well he had a haircut orr jumped ship. The vocalist to me seemed much older too, than from what I remembered. The music itself did not change all that much really. The vocals now sounded like The Cure and the basis was heavy bass and drums. Drummer was to me the highight of the set, as he was tight and with drums positioned sideways you had a good look at his feets working fast. Overall tonight the set missed variation for me. So while after seeing them last time I did pick up their album I now was not tempted to do so really. Nice enough opener still.

The Hirsch Effekt are from Germany and by what I saw going around on FB they did impress some friends before. I never saw them, nor heard any music by them so stepping in in the blind it was. Well they were an energetic trio to start with. While guitarist and bassist both ran around and sang, the drummer turned out to be another beast. Initially I liked their songs, but it sounded a bit samy to me. That changed over time and they became the surprise of the evening to me. Their songs are sung in German, so they thought we had no clue what they were singing about. This was true, but not because of the language I guess. I got their latest album and shall check it out with care today. After  a slow start I did understand the hype after all.

And then we waited for Caligula's Horse. They headlined Progpower 2018, which was when I saw them before. At the time I had only one CD by them and entering, they overwhelmed that evening.  Fast forward six years and I still have only one CD by them and wondering if they could convince live again. The answer was yes they could. Caligula's Horse are to me a great live band, while on CD I find them a bit lightweight especially on the vocal front. Live vocals do not turn harsh, but Jim Grey is a great frontman and brings the songs to live. Star of the evening was without a doubt Sam Vallen on guitar. Whether it was melodic soloing, or  boosting up the songs riffing away he was among the very best on six strings (or was it seven to be prog?). So basically the experience was pretty similar to me as in 2018. Caligula's Horse are a great live band. One final comment was on their set build up. They kept on talking about time travelling and took us all the way back to 2015 (?). That is not time-travelling in my musical world. in 2015 I was old and bold and in 2024 I still am. But this minor point should not stop anyone going to see them in Amsterdam or Masstricht this weekend.