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.