Savatage coming for a headline show to the Netherlands. Obvious I would not miss that, as last year's return after a long hiatus I missed being in Brazil and Europe on the wrong dates. Setting the ball park first. Savatage are among my favourite bands and one of the three I saw most playing live in the nineties (next to Psychotic Waltz and Riverdogs). The last time I saw them was at Bospop 2001 so already 25 years ago. Like most people I thought for years, that I would never see them again live on stage, but than last year they came back to life and now seem to keep on touring for years to come again. And yes, Jon Oliva is sorely missed, but his health does not allow touring really. Stories about this version being a tribute band because of his absence can be binned as the current line-up is very similar to the latter period of the band, before disappearing.
So off to Tilburg we went and we meant Hans, Mary and Magchiel joining me by car. Car on a Saturday? yes as trains were unreliable again and meant a bus part I preferred driving down south. We agreed to leave early and have a bite and a drink in the centre of Tilburg. Arriving around 17:30 we were not the only ones with that plan as many black T-shirts covered Tilburg's terraces. Seeing familiar faces en route we ended up a bit further back, enabling us to eat something. So would it be busy I thought? The answer was yes, when we entered 013. Very busy and that brings me to the only low of the evening, I don't like a busy 013. The hall is too big for my taste and you get stuck when it is (almost?) sold out. Now knowing there were at least some 50 FB or real life friends walking around I did not see most of them. I once again got confirmed that I prefer small venues, or possibly up to 800-1000 capacity like Nobel, Patronaat or Boerderij. 013 is a bit too massive for my taste, but Savatage draws larger crowds (not so much in the nineties as I saw them in places like Scum those days) so it is either massive or nothing. Luckily the Savatage crowd is a social one, meaning people of my generation who let others pass by if they wish.
At 20:30 the lights went off and an intro started bring us up to the rampestamper bit of Morphine Child. Following this by Dead Winter Dead and Jesus Saves and the mood was set. The sound was good, the band in form (Chris Caffery and Al Pitrel both shining on guitars tonight) Zak's voice holding well and the stage looking busy. I don't really know why they brought two keyboardists along, nor their names as introductions were not needed apparently. Well they both sang along with the complicated bits of Chance, so maybe there is a reason. The setlist was a trip through their discography indeed and surprises came mostly from the distant past, being to me Warriors (sung by Chris) and Unusual.
Playing a long set, meant two hours and as I just saw 23(!) songs. Now that is a proper show. Maybe for some abums I might have picked other songs, but I loved the set being a long trip from start to finish indeed. For me Hourglass could be left out and I would also like to see Fight For the Rock being represented by a song like Hyde. Well no matter the possible changes in the setlist, when a band ends with possibly the best song of all their four best albums it can't get much better really. These songs were Believe opened by Jon on Video and people crying in the crowd, Gutter Ballet, Edge of Thorns and Hall of the Mountain King. We are talking Heavy Metal Champions League here, so everyone left pleased. I was glad I got to see Savatage once again and the music did beat the venue for me. Savatage ruled from the mid eighties till the late nineties. Glad to see they still do.
No comments:
Post a Comment