Fish - Paradiso Amsterdam 18 September 2013

The Fish is back! The Fish himself said so and right he was. Promoting his first new album in 6 years (A Feast of Consequences) a European tour started and after three UK shows he arrived in good shape in Amsterdam. A new album meant many new songs. I am one of the few thousand special edition orderers who missed out on the target date due to a printing company letting Fish and Mark Wilkinson terribly down. This meant undergoing the new songs for the first time life and I can say I am now curiously waiting for the album. Especially the long song on WWI was impressive. As always Fish sings about matters that touch him. So we got WWI, Global warming, Syria, X-Factor celebrities, vinyl and wine, Fish on stage is one of the greatest personalities and it remains amazing how he manages to dominate an audience.

So there were many new songs, but also a lot of Marillion Classics. 30 years after launching the album I was more than a bit pleased when Fish after an all new opening sang one of the best opening lines ever: "So here I am once more, in the playground of the broken hearts". Script remains one of my all time favorite songs (which I noticed I can still shout along from start to finish) Further we got He knows, Assasing, Freaks, White Feather and the jumping shouting part of Fugazi. And to complete the two hour show we got a nice overview of his solo albums. Interesting to see how some of the songs that on album might not be my favorites, came really alive and were highlights of the evening ("What color is God", "Suits").

For an entertaining evening of great music Fish proved to be still the man. How was his voice? is not an unusual question. Well somewhat light at the beginning, warming up through the show and very good on the oldies. Anyone in doubt to see Fish on tour should stop doubting and support the man that deserves it based upon his great legacy for music lovers. The Fish is back indeed.

Pink Project - Peace Palace The Hague 14 September 2013

The Hague is the city of Peace and Justice and happens to be my hometown. The Peace Palace is commemorating it's 100th anniversary and the week started with a live show of Pink Project. Since next week it is world peace day, as well as Tiago's birthday and it is about time we confront him with some good music Tiago went along and we enjoyed a beautiful show which easily exceeded my expectations. Pink Project exist almost 20 years and the way they went through Dark Side of the Moon before the break and essentials of The Wall thereafter was impressive. Being Tiago's debut at a paid show it was nice to see that the show was also extremely well prepared, with many interestimng clips playing along on the two big screens next to the stage.
Playing was flawless, singing was good (Great Gig in the Sky, was a highlight on vocals) and nothing lacking a show matching this occassion. I won't repeat comments/frustrations why a cover band attracts 10-20 times more people than the great Galahad (or I just did), but with the lack of original Pink Floyd existing and Roger Waters playing The Wall last week for the third or fourth time in two years in Holland, this is the best to see this timeless music being played live.
Personal highlight: clapping and singing along with Tiago during "We don't need no education".

Galahad & The Aurora Project - Alphen aan de Rijn 13 September 2013

Under the monniker Serious Music event Galahad hit Holland again and serious it was. Upon late arrival we were already told that no pinning option was mentioned by the ticket exchange and we should have read the information. The venue turned out to be a cinema setup, which basically kills all attempts for good atmosphere. To top things drinks were not allowed inside the venue, which me being by car was less annoying than if I would have opted for public transport. Finally on the serious front we had opening band Sylvium releasing their CD. If you have six man on stage and only the drummer and bass player seem somewhat at ease being there it becomes nerve-wrecking to watch this. Probably if hearing their CD only I would rate them higher, now easily scoring very high on my personal list of most boring shows ever.

After an half-hour break (where everybody wanted to order a drink at the one bar) The Aurora Project came on and things could only get better, as they did. I saw them before at Progpower and once supporting an international band and considered them OK. This time however, I thought them very good. Obviously their last CD Selling the Aggression is their best album yet and playing it in full made me buy it after the show. It was nice to see how apart from the great songs, interesting anti-war themes and good performance overall also the show got some attention. We got on video several interesting images accompanying the music and the band seemed to enjoy themselves as well. I did not realize that this band would now be among the best bands Holland has to offer, great surprise.

Following the second half-hour break Galahad was on. It is already a joy to see their stage outfits before starting and the shouting back to the crowd from Mark and Roy showed Galahad are performers and they come to entertain us. Never a boring moment they run through their last albums showing us how well the blend of electronic music, heavy guitars plus prog epics com alive on stage. Lyrically they often go for optimism and good doing coming from yourself rather than any religion or god. The last shouted line from opener Salvation set the spirit on that sense: "Believe in your own bloody beating heart!" Last year they just released Battle Scars when they played live and put the focus on that album. Meanwhile they also released Beyond the Realms of Euphoria and the show centered around this one. Only oldy was Sleepers which we got in an epic performance. On bass we now have Mark Spence and seems slightly mental onstage, which adds so much to the whole experience. After one and a half hour we got one encore and one year down the road I can state that "Seize the Day" is the ultimate party-dance-prog-jumping-up-and-down-yet-very-uplifting song. Finally we got to our feet and people did jump, clap and grin along. What a blast as a finish and I do fully agree while shouting along "Seize the day, relish every moment. Make it something to remember".

So a word of thanks to the organization is in place, you could feel the love for the music that drives them to give us this evening. For me the venue is not very suited for rock shows (at a certain moment I wished being in de Baroeg,, which being a sleaze dark metal, beer and sweat place is so much the opposite), but anyone who gives us one of the most entertaining live bands should get a lot of credits.

 

Reuben Archer's - Personal Sin

Well here's another surprise for you. Those who know me, or this blog when I still wrote in Dutch know that one of my all time favorite bands is Stampede. In the early eighties they released two classics with thier debut Live (!) album Official Bootleg Live at Reading and Mildenhall plus my all time top five favorite album Hurricane Town. They reformed some years ago and released the very decent A Sudden Impulse. Stampede was formed by Reuben Archer and his stepson Laurence Archer in the early eighties. Doing the simple maths we can conclude that Reuben now reached an age where most people think about retirement. Well not him and let us be very pleased with that decision. Apart from setting an inspiring example, this album just gives us great eighties Bluesy hardrock that unfortunately is not mached by many younger hard rock bands nowadays.

The list of guests is enormous and with names like Dave Menikketi, Luke Morley, Paul Quin, Neil Murray anyone loving eighties hardrock knows that lack of quality is not an issue.The songs themselves are also in a style I can not make many complaints about. We get Bluesy hardrock uptempo and more ballad like. We get lyrics about personal sufferings and Rock and Roll, but mostly we get Reuben Archer showing that he is still one of the best voices in melodic hard rock. Rob Wolverson needs to be mentioned as well, since he is the other driving man behind this album.

Anyone with the slightest interest in eighties hard rock, or who like me recognizes that Hurricane Town is one of the best albums ever released ( I know we are with a rather small crowd) absolutely needs to give this album an ear. Doubt it you shall not be happily singing along  with the Ace Cafe, Bulletproof, Personal Sin or the single Play my Rock 'n' Roll. Without aiming at disrespecting the proofen still top vocals of Reuben Archer I cannot let that lyric pass. "Mama Don't allow no Rock 'n' Roll Playin' here". Given Reuben's right to retire his mother should be pushing 90. Good to see that no matter our age, we still get upset by what our parents think and want.

While Reuben Archer thanks his friends by raising a glass of good Rioja, I shall raise many Bock Beers to him over the autumn, since surely this album will appear in my CD player a lot. What a good surprise indeed.

Haken, Soul Secret - de Boerderij 4 September 2013

Wednesday night, one month before returning for Progpower festival, a new CD being too recent with two days after official release to know, Moon Safari the day before for soft Prog fans, Mike Portnoy with  his new band The Winery Dogs two days later, both at the same Boerderij. To go short the odds were not too good, so I can only conclude to be more than a bit pleased that at least the front of the Boerderij was nicely packed and over 100 people nowadays on a Wednesday night is not very bad any longer. Stop nagging about small audiences the best news was that Haken were better than ever before and defintely convinced the ones who were there that they are one of the bright hopes for both Prog rock and metal audiences.

First we got warmed up by the to me unknown Italo-prog-metallers from Soul Secret. 4 songs in 45 minutes with some great instrumental parts and the special one on vocals. Not that his voice was in the prog-metal uberleague, but he looked more than a little bit like Jose Mourinho (sorry the picture is out of focus during an instrumental break). Nice opener and maybe not shockingly renewing yet another good band from Italy (I missed Kingcrow live last Saterday, but also recall great Italian shows from Moongarden, Sadist and Memento Waltz).

Haken headlining was a new experience to me. After festival appearances at Progpower and Night of the Prog, they passed de Boerderij last year together with Headspace. This time we got treated on a full show of 1 hour 45 minutes and since both band and audience seemed to like it no doubt they shall return. As I bought their new album The Mountain at the show I only read some raving reviews on the album, but was not familiar with the new songs. Not to worry since Haken is based upon standing and staring in awe. Not many bands do switch so easily from style, while making it all sound extremely easy. For those who did not like them much before I can tell that also the new songs included anything from burlesque circus music to pretty heavy metal. For me the going all over the place is a bonus, since part of the show is admiring their control. Helped by yet another great sound at de Boerderij (great stage sound by Ron Dingen) the time flew by and one epic followed another. From the new songs most striking was Cockroach King, which had some reference to the Spock's Beard Thoughts songs as well as the more metallic parts. My favorites of the old songs were Shapeshifter and Drowning in the Flood, not coincidentally two songs which go all the way up to grunting. Mentioning the grunts I do know that in the past Ross Jennings on vocals has been mentioned as a possible limitation to the bands development. I never saw this during their live shows, but yesterday he was even better than I saw him before. His range from carrying a piano ballad to shouting and grunting is impressive all around.

But Haken is about the band and all are masters in their area, showing off in a sympathetic way that they are just a bit above average. I shall now put on a headphone get the booklet out and read along while playing The Mountain for the first time. No doubt many spins shall follow after which I know all the songs again when they hit Baarlo. If they more than impress a little again I might even look for Danfest tickets, but with the amount of shows coming up the next months that remains stargazing for the moment.

Cyclops Prog - The Peel, Kingston Upon Thames 24 August 2013

The Peel is a famous club often referred to in Prog magazine and receiving many of British best prog rock bands over the years. So on the day thast I read in the same Prog magazine that upto 100,000 people voted for their annual poll I was looking forward to a great atmosphere and a full house given the line-up of Simon Godfrey (Shineback is still great after many spins), Mr. So & So, Primitive Instinct and Haze. Much to my surprise there were only a few people queing up when the late opening Peel was still under soundcheck due to traffic problems for Haze. 100,000 voters against less than 50 paying visitors is not really a brilliant statistic, but guess what the atmosphere was great and relaxed anyway. Further the bar ran out of Bitter on draught, but great PolishTyskie filled up that gap nicely.

So off we went with Haze, a band existing 30 years but fully unknown to me. Fast it turtned out that we were watching two shows for the price of one. As a trio the band rocked hard, showed great guitar work and came across convincing. As a fourpiece the band was adding a female flutist, background vocalist who looked so uncomfortable on stage that you tended to be relieved when she left for the back of the room or the bar. What the girl missed on stage presence was more than made up by the two veterans with special notion for the happy grin of the bass player. Further need to mention the drummer given the fact he turned out to be only 15 years old and holding on firmly. The music reminded by flute of Tull, by folky tones of Mostly Autumn and when a trio even touched progmetal territories. Overall a nice show, but no rush to the merchandise.

After a break we got the introduction of Matt Stevens. He is the master of looping. The only time I have been at The Peel before was during Mattfest (called after another Matt) when I witnessed a pretty similar show. Very impressive indeed and while being a great performer the show tends to become a bit too long. So basically everybody should have seen this at least once live, but half an hour should do to see his book of tricks. Meanwhile he plays guest solos on many CD's I have and his playing is well placed in the upper league.

Next came Primitive Instinct. I got some music from them already when deciding to go to this show and very much liked them. A band who with last year's release of one Man's Refuge commemorated 25 years existence, during which they commented doing basically hardly anything. Until recent under the radar to me I found a new favorite. What a great show they put on. Great performance of a mix of their three albums. They might have done hardly anything, but should get themselves on a tour with Pendragon or Marillion to get the exposure they deserve. Anyone who likes his British Neoprog should like this band and their classy material. Highlights all throughout, but Finding my Way gave the show an emotional touch most bands don't reach. Hope they start touring and maybe one day find de Boerderij on their way. Got the T-shirt, shall wear it with pride.

Mr So & So were on next and this time a female vocalist who knew how to work a male orientated prog audience sharing vocals with  Silent Bob on bass. The whole band was very at ease on stage and the songs from their good last album Truth, Lies & Half lies were pretty impressive live. The older material that was new to me also came over fine, so this was another success. Sometimes I wonder how many great prog bands are walking around in the UK, since the list of great discoveries never ends.

While the list of great bands might never end, the show did suddenly. Still not used to closing times in England I expected the best yet to come, when I found out that Simon Godfrey was not playing tonight. Due to totally understandable reasons the internet told me later I was surprised by this sudden end. Maybe I was outside or had not yet arrived when this was announced, but Shineback life with some Tinyfish inbetween has to wait for another time. Amongst the things I know for sure after this evening is the fact that I shall be back in The Peel again. Tonight I saw 4 bands who shall not come over to Holland that soon and basically liked what I saw all day, with Primitive Instinct guaranteeing a place in my live top 10 of the year with a stellar performance. While I'm still finding my way, Primitive Instinct showed me the direction forward.

Futebol

Holidays in Brazil also means prog rock and metal, but unfortunately the specialized CD shops in Rio (yes in Tijuca several are still there) did not have Maestrick on stock, so my holidays mainly concentrated on the Tricolor in Erikprogtricolor. For thos not knowing (shame on you) the tricolor in Rio is Fluminense, most sympathetic club in Brazil and while we are at it worldwide. Last year they were champions, but this year almost halfway things are disappointing somewhat with a 14th place so far and some support was welcome.

While in Buzios my support came from watching the matches on the street TV at the Botafogo bar. During weekdays the evening television games start at 21:50 hrs. since first the soap should end at main sponsor television channel Globo. Football is extremely popular, but that does not mean that football interest is defended by sponsors or federation. Another sad example is the friendly matches of the national team, which are played on same weekends or weekdays as the competition. This means for Fluminense that on some 12-15 matches out of 38 internationals Fred and Jean shall not be present. This has always been the case, but shows the complete lack of interest by the CBF in a fair competition.  Anyway last Sunday in Buzios was Fla-Flu day, so an afternoon match. While we were still very animated over lunch as shown above , the game was very disappointing and our minority of 4 against 40 supporters at the Botafogo bar was repeated om the field and resulted in a loss of 2-3.

In order to show the other side of Futebol I also dropped by the two pitches near our home when the noise of whistles and shout woke us up early that Sunday. Buzios Esporte Club played modestly in Barca colors, but after some 10 minutes I found that probably 25 years ago I would have made the first team as well, since level was not exciting (although I thought maybe I was watching the veteran team, which means I have to recognize my level was lower. I also visited Branco-Azul Buzios (White-Blue Buzios) but that accomodation was being renovated.

Talking about the level of Football the Brazilian competition is similar to the Dutch one. Not very good football, but due to the lack of predictability a very nice competition. Since many major players leave for Europe the competion is carried on teh shoulders of veterans, with most striking name Clarence Seedorf, who is the biggest star at Botafogo over the past 25 years and manages to get teh team on the top halfway. At Fluminense we have Deco (doping and injuries might justify retirement) Felipe (ex AS Roma) and Fred as the big star. Topscorer at last Conferderations Cup he unfortunately saves his efficient football this year for the national team, although he always gets his goals and scares opponents. Last week I told the family that we needed to return to Rio on Wednesday, since at least one match in the renovated Maracana I needed to see live. And so it happeed that at 21:50 hrs I saw the start of Fluminense-Corinthians. Among experts the Sao Paulo team is main candidate for this year's title with Pato (ex Milan) as most famous name. Flu was without Fred and Jean and had a very young team. As a result the match ended in a goalless draw and very few highlights (we should have had a penalty though). Still I loved every minute of it. I learned several new songs, stood up  90 minutes and the atmosphere was surprisingly positive after last Sunday's deception against Flamengo.  Still there is a comment several Brazilians made to me. The stadium is nice or even more than just that, but the old concrete rings were unbeatable. The sound from the surprisingly large supporters crowd from Corinthians did not travel to our side, which probably was the same to them. Also the shaking concrete, dirty toilets lack of chairs and importantly illegally sold beers, gave more of an atmosphere. This does not mean that I won't be back as much as possible, since Flu live is an experience not to be beaten on any football pitch.

Vamos pra cima Fluzao, Quero gritar campeao!!