Festerfest - Musicon The Hague, 20 April 2025

Baroeg on Tour. While the old Baroeg went down and a new bigger one is under construction Baroeg goes on tour. Organizing shows in several other venues this was the first one in Musicon. As a result I did see many faces I recognized from my visits to Baroeg, so a loyal bunch they are. The one man hat could not miss out was Rene Veerkamp. He was there at the start of Baroeg becoming a metal venue and now for years putting metal bands in Musicon. Good to see that Musicon filled up well with some 200 people in.

Festerfest is itself a travelling Fest anyway with passages in Dordrecht, Delft and Baroeg before, The Hague was the fourth city to host Festerfest. Frank is the man behind Festerfest and his target is programming very wide, enabling people to encounter other forms of heavy music, they would not attend for solo shows. During a recent Musicon visit I told Frank I might have to go out of my comfort zone for some bands, but I always give bands a chance. To even my own surprise I did not see one band today that would make me leave the main venue. During the day the second space was opened for DJ's of the various kinds to do their thing. Initially it was interesting to see metalheads in black T-shirts standing and wondering what are we supposed to do here, but later on I saw people actually dance to 70's disco. Musicon even with a Baroeg invasion always means that many people you know shall be there, so even if Marko was often busy as official Baroeg photographer today I spend the day in good company always.

Within my comfort zone:

I did love the very young Gorgnomes playing metal covers. They actually did so pretty well and by their young age and happiness to be on stage they got a loud reaction from the crowd. Wondering where they are in ten years, as the basis is already fine. Obstruktor are a thrash metal band from Haarlem and I believe I saw them playing before. They were a very good thrash band to me and defintely one of the highlights of the day.   Talking about highlights of the day I guess Dystopia were the best surprise to me. Their black metal is not just black, lots of technical playing throughout their long tracks and former Progpower attendee Thomas adding even trumpet and trombone at times. Dark as the stage might have been, to me a proper highlight of the day. The Wounded closed down the festival and their doomy melancholic rock went down fine. Slowly and beautifull their songs passed us by, where I did only not understand the apologies for a poor voice, as he sounded pretty fine. Pity some (Rotterdam?) visitors needed to get last trams and trains home, so it ended emptier than it started for the Wounded.

Outside my comfort zone

The above mentioned bands were the reason I came to Musicon, but there was more with some very good surprises too. Dr. Freds Galactic Commotion plays psychedelic spacejazz as the flyer said. I saw only their end, but it was not too jazz for me, with some bluesy guitar in. Bent Out Of Shape plays Oi/punk but I was reminded of these Irish American rock bands. Very accessible and brought to us driven but not taking themselves too serious. Did I almost dance there? Braces play deathcore, which is something I would not fast play at home. Seeing them on stage jumping around and the constant pit in front of them doing the same, made me realize that what does not work on CD for me, can be amusing to watch live. Final unknown to me were he Mispricks. This because I don't know any Misfits music apart from Last Caress because Metallica covered it. The cocky presentation of the vocalists did fit this music very well and I was surprised how much I liked this set. A more interesting Ramones version with their straight forward short songs.

So over the day I only saw nice shows and we can thank Baroeg, Musicon and mainly Frank for this diverse day of music. Next year the tenth edition should be back in Baroeg. If I am around by then fair chance I will be present again.

De Vloek van Twenthe - Innocent Hengelo, 19 April 2025

Twente is a region in the east of The Netherlands. Mostly known for Grolsch beer, a Technical University, Dutch politicoan Pieter Omtzigt who quit his dayjob the day before and surprisingly was not walking aroud after stating he needed to relax more. Than there are two eredivisie football clubs FC Twente and Heracles, plus a comedian Herman Finkers. At Easter there is a tradition of burning fires and I saw one huge pile along the way. And than there is de Vloek van Twenthe (Twenthe's curse). Now when I read that name I immediately had to think of Folkert Velten, which might need some explanation. Around 35 years ago Heracles had a very strong striker, Folkert Velten. Unfortunately the poor boy believed in god and did not want to play on Sundays. This limited his career dramatically and when FC Den Haag came to town the chant heard most from the The Hague side was Folkert Velten, godverdomme (Folkert Velten Goddamn). In those days hilarious, nowadays probably frowned upon.

But de Vloek van Twenthe is an underground festival I had never heard of before until Eternal Storm announced a Dutch show. Last month I met with Alex in Patronaat at a Tech Death evening and knowing he also loved last year's A Giant Bound to Fall I mentioned this show. Both of us thought alike. Let's first see a timetable and possibilities of travelling to Hengelo. After that was sorted nothing was holding us back really. When during a recent episode of radio show/podcast De Loodzware Jongens the festival organization was called who told that 75% of tickets already sold I bought mine fast and prepare for Hengelo it was. Now I have to include a spoiler alert, as I am not going to review the full festival. I did come to see Eternal Storm and while spending 4.5 hours on trains today to see 45 minutes of Eternal Storm (1:6 that is) I hoped on some bonusses along the way, knowing my decent train home would leave already at 21:54. The first bonus was arriving at Innocent. A proper metal venue, with a low black ceiling and bar plus toilets filled with stickers. The best surprise came from behind the bar. 10 Euros would give you six coins and both Alex and I used to expensive venues in the west would expect a beer to be two coins. Not at Innocent, an ice cold Grolsch for 1 coin was sonething I did not get since somewhere last century. Maybe posh venues like Tivoli and Paard can watch and learn here. Further the atmosphere throughout the day was as relaxed as expected with these underground festivals. Most people seemed to know each other, but playing an away game I was pleased that Alex joined me ths day. Otherwise I should have started talking to total strangers which is a hurdle I can take too (especially with those beer prices). As if all was not good enough yet, we also got the sun out all day. This meant that people could go outside for talks and drinks, which is always a plus.

The other bands that played were mostly unknown to me and if I am honest some outside my range of interest. Coming from a progmetal and traditional Heavy Metal roots I have no problems with Death Metal, I accept some black, but often skip hardcore bands. While saying that the bit I did see by Lies! showed that they did create a party and most people loved them. I first saw Sayas a local Death Metal trio. While spotting additional strings on bass and guitars hopes went up for some tech death. They were not fully tech, but they did sound fine, a good opener to me. Hereafter Alkhemia from France came on. I saw them last year in Musicon when Ralf put them on at a White Room party. Their music is Black Metal, but it is the presentation that makes it nice to watch. Especially James with his long as in floor touching long, dreadlocks, does give us a show. Not for me to get on CD maybe, but live a pleasure to watch. Hereafter we went for a bite in the centre, meaning we missed most of Lies!. When we returned indoor Daniel was behind the merch desk for Eternal Storm. Alex knew him from his Be Prog festivals and we first sorted our merch, now holding a physical copy of Come the Tide and the Sleepers Tee did come in XXL luckily. Prepared we were and bring on the reason for our trip down to Hengelo.

Eternal Storm play progressive death metal with lots of breaks in heaviness. They came by four: drums, bass and two guitarists who sang. I did see Danny a few times before with Persefone and knew that we did not need to worry on live vocals. Turned out that Jamie blended very well, with mostly the harsh and grunted vocals, but also nice clear harmonies. The problem today was that 45 minutes is not a lot, especially when your sensational opening song of the latest album already lasts nearly 15 minutes. Due to the breaks within the song I guess that most who didn't know the band thought they played four songs already when An Abyss of Unreason was finished. Did not matter as they marched on wit A Dim Illusion with it's nice bass and drum intro. It soon became clear to both Alex and me that every minute on the train was paying off nicely with a band this good. Eternal Storm turned into a new absolute favourite of mine and we can only hope that they don't take anotrher six years to come back to The Netherlands. The set ended with some songs of the Come The Tide album, which I am now playing on the background. Strange I missed this one in 2019, but that must be due to overkill of good releases nowadays. After the show we thanked the band for their truly great set and finished the last coins before the train was calling. Such a nice day it was and a big thanks goes out to all the people behind de Vloek van Twenthe. In case they put next year a band on as good as Eternal Storm I definitely shall be back. As if one day with a wide range of heaviness outside my comfort zone was not enough, it is now preparing for a day of Festerfest in Musicon where Baroeg shall be on tour.

Grindpad, Taskforce Toxicator & Narcolepsy - Musicon The Hague, 12 April 2025

An evening of metal in Musicon with this time not again a Death Metal filled program, but Thrash in various forms. I did not know either of te bands, so open minded off to Musicon it was. Good to see that Musicon filled up well for this package, so more thrash seems welcome in the future.

Openers of the evening were Narcolepsy a young thrash metal trio from The Hague. I did not see them play live before as I was not fit for Sneeuwpop. Young they might be, but dressed in tight black, bullet belts and large white sneakers they brought us back to the eighties. To my pleasure the playing was good as well, with especially some very nice soloing along the songs. I did not know any music by them, but at first hearing it went down fine. My favourite was the one but last track, where a fast opening took us to a calm mid peace in order to thrash on again. Good to see that The Hague has a new proper thrash band of whom we shall see much more no doubt.

Next band Taskforce Toxicator made the evening an innternational one, as they hail from Münster Germany. Formed in 2017 they released their first full lenght in 2023 with Laser Samurai. If Narcolepsy brought us back to the late eighties, Taskforce Toxicator made sure we stayed in that period. This band had the thrash and played an enjoyable set. Normally a five piece, they now came with four men only. So the vocalist picked up a guitar too, until the encore when Slayer was honoured. Smartest move was when playing the title track of their album throwing some inflatable light sables in the crowd. That brought more people forward and an interesting colourful pit. A sympathetic band who did win over some new fans I guess.

Grindpad would close the evening. This band from Utrecht already exists since 2006, but I never crossed their (grind)path. Some members I saw with Bloodphemy or Warborn Waste before, but as Grindpad a debut for me. Another band that appears as five man band on Metal Archives while only four made it to The Hague. Can we blame Trump's visa rules for this? Anyway when Grindpad got underway it soon was clear what they came to do, create a party on and off the stage. The reaction of the audience was accordingly and we got a very pleasant set where nothing was taken too serious, apart from the very well playing that is.Where we had inflatable lightswords before, we know had two large sharks flying over our heads, threatening our beers constantly. They managed to get Musicon moving and were appreciated by all. They said until the nex time, which for me shall be at Metal Experience Fest in Nobel in October. One fine evening in Musicon with three nice bands to watch we got. 

Michael Schenker - de Boerderij Zoetermeer, 9 April 2025

Strangers in the Night is for me the best live album from the golden era of double live albums. All songs are a hit and the band in peak form. Last year Michael Schenker released the CD My Years with UFO. This was basically a shorter Strangers in the Night with lots of guests on vocals and guitars joining in. I thought do I need another version of these songs? the answer was yes. One main thing to notice is that very few vocalists come close to the soul of Phil Mogg, with Axl Rose losing by the biggest margin. So when Michael announced this tour last year I was quick picking up a ticket and just in time before it was sold out. A band he has been touring with before and on vocals Erik Grönwall. De Boerderij was filled with many people I knew, but I was still in recovery mode from a weekend in Spain and glad I could stay on my feet and drinking nothing throughout.

Before the party started we were treated (or not) on two support bands. The first one Grey Attack  I saw before and as Magchiel wanted to eat something we saw them mostly on teh screen in the bar. Still very basic rock songs. The second band Rook Road I did not know until checking out two clips yesterday morning. That sounded much better in Deep Purple style, but they suffered from sound issues. When a drummer sings parts and you hear nothing he came close to the Hammond organ, which I only heard during the ballad. A better band, but not shocking. Also I think that the memo forget to inform the bands that de Boerderij always has a very quiet audiencce who reacts only on what they know.

After the break the Michael Schenker Group came on and started with Natural Thing. Michael Schenker still looking much better than twenty years ago, but his hat must be warm. Erik Grönwall is probably for this tour a good choice, but I would have preferred Robin McAuley who on recent tours always took care of the UFO songs. The setlist was build around the live album, but also had some surprises. (note the one on setlist.fm is wrong) Hot 'n' Ready and Reasons Love I don't remember seeing live before. I'm a Loser was a highlight with the opening line "Last train's eleven it's now quarter past". That was when I missed Phil Mogg most I guess. Somehow I was never drawn into this show. The playing and singing was all fine, but I felt there was something missing. Earlier this year I saw more bands from my eighties with not the original line-up. Renegade, Saxon, Grand Slam and Queensryche all blew me away and Michael Schenker Group did not. Ok his solo's are always a treat and it was not bad. A low came when during the mother of all guitar solos in Rock Bottom the guy before me decided to film the fulll version of the song, which meant looking to either his screen or bow around. Lots of phones in the air tonight too. I still have not figured out if being tired caused me loving this a little less, or was it not all that good. Magchiel a few rows more to the stage loved it, while Esther, Michel and Ton rather agreed with me. Still worthwhile to go and see on a summer festival or in a venue near you though, as Schenker, well he still is god for atheist me.

Imperial Triumphant - Saor - Tiktaalika - Steven Wilson

 

Some more varied CD tips for this spring.

Imperial Triumphant - Goldstar

Imperial Triumphant are playing this year's Complexuty Festival and I hope to be there. When I saw a clip of hotel Sphinx passing by and understood a new album was on the way I ordered same without much diving into the band. Now Imperial Triumphant play avantgarde metal of the black kind. To say listening to this album the first time was not an easy ride is a tremendous understatement. Now I am some 5 playings further down the line and I start getting half of the album. Nine songs of which Newyorkcity is just a short noise and Goldstar a cigarette commercial going back to the cover of the album, including warning sticker. I am not sure still what to think of this album as a total and you can't play it at teh background really. The live show shall tell me more I guess.

Saor - Amidst the Ruins

Picking up an album after a live show always holds that risk of shall it be as good when playing on much lower volumes at home? Well in the case of Saor's Amidst the Ruins I did not need to worry. While at the show the flute and bagpipes looked very present on album they are blended in so naturally that you won't hear them dominating at all. As than also the music tells us long stories with moody music as basis it all gets rather interesting. Maybe not as good as last year's Sgaile album, but definitely one I shall return to often. Maybe also not on sunny springdays like today, but when autumn comes we have a soundtrack. Great band I shall follow from now on.

Tiktaalika - Gods of Pangea

I follow Charlie Griffith since in 2004 Linear Sphere released Reality Dysfunction. Than of course he became one of the two guitars in Haken and their albums always are daring to go different ways. I don't know why I did not pick up his solo album Tiktaalika in 2022. Now he called the band Tiktaalika and released an album that surely shall end very high on my end of year list. If you know Haken and their quirkiness scares you, don't worry. Just look at the cover, which makes you expecting a thrash metal album. And that is what we mostly get, while guitar lovers also are in for a treat. This album holds eihgt songs of which one is instrumental. The vocalists are all doing a great job and I know them from their dayjobs at Textures/Crown Compass, Organized Chaos, Protest the Hero and BTBAM. I do not have a specific favourite track, but for thrash I guess the title track is a gem. For trhashy progmetal lovers Mesozoic Mantras is a must hear. This album is so good from start to finish, that we can only hope for a tour one day.

Steven Wilson - The Overview

Steven Wilson is back and the whole nerdy prog side of the internet already gave an opinion on that. So I can add very little new. Starting with the positive I do like this album. Actually I did not buy his previous two solo albums, but after listening to Objects Outlive Us online I immediately bought the Overview. Two songs make this album, even if both being split up in parts. I prefer the first song slightly as it reminds me of old Porcupine Tree. The spoken word by his wife present in second epic The Overview does not disturb me that much. Actually I should have Tiago read the lyrics and see what he makes of it as a mathematician/physicist. I am more drawn to the mondane of Objects Meanwhile. I shall not be around when Steven Wilson plays The Netherlands, but I understood he shall play this album in full, next to old Porcupine Tree songs and more recent solo work. That can become interesting I guess. This is probably his best album since Hand.Cannot.Erase, so if scared away over the past years, check this one out.