ProgPower Europe, Sjiwa - Baarlo 4-6 October 2019

PPE 2019, the rainy edition. In my memory we always have decent up to very nice weather. This year especially the Sunday was wet. As if organizers knew this in advance, they put together the best line-up in years. Unfortunately Redemption had to cancel, as they are one of my absolute favorites. Still the last minute substitutes found made me happy. This time I knew most bands in advance, before they were booked, but luckily several of them I never saw playing live before. So we were more than a bit keen to head down to Baarlo again. We this year was 11 of us, as Lida had to cancel due to a fever. I was struggling with cold and chills  myself over the past two weeks, so somehow I did need to seek time for rest and go light on the drinks. Not sure how far I succeeded, but in order to arrive fitter I did cancel the pre-party in my hometown by Emma Ruth Rundle and Gold, pity but wisdom comes with age. So arriving around 15:00 at camping de Berckt we could start our own traditions. In our case that means have a few bock beers who arrive in October as well and eat the delicious Roti prepared by Ron and Astrid. Renting a bicycle and down to Sjiwa hereafter meeting friends we see either once a year, or pretty often at gigs in the country.

Friday
While the program was for the weekend very strong, the start was in my case not overly exciting. Unfortunately Tweve Foot Ninja cancelled their European tour and a substitue was needed. This was found in Voyager, known to frequent visitors. To me Voyager falls in the category that I follow, but not closely. The first time I saw them live I was fully blown away by their show and style. Later on I saw them a few more times and without the surprise, they became just a nice band to watch. I have a few of their albums, but not their last and I go see them play only if close to home. Luckily this evening they were inspired and gave us a nice show. They were Hyperventilating at the start, which I did recognize and The Meaning of I was also still in the set. They were announced as a headliner opening, which was true as it is not every festival that gives the opening band 90 minutes. Then again PPE is not your average festival by all means. Conclusion I liked re-seeing Voyager on stage and appreciated their set. I even almost managed to forget that I could have been in Bochum the same evening.
Next on would be that band. Almost every year PPE puts one band on the line-up, that divides opinions. Usually they go down really well, but those not getting the point walk around outside and in the downstairs bar asking WTF this is all about. This year that band would be Diablo Swng Orchestra and unfortunately I fell in the second category. I consider myself fairly open minded see just who I intended to see on Thursday and one of my favorite concerts this year was by Azusa, but DSO was too complicated for simple me. Or was it the huge amount of wind instruments on stage? We shall never know, so I can only say that the majority seemed to appreciate them and I expect such combo's to play at world chamionships speedskating.

Saturday
Saturday had legendary written all over the programmed bands. This could be one of those days where I would really like all six bands. This resulted in a sold out house, but also in some worries, how recovering me would handle this. It turned out that  I did well by staying inside half the set only a few times. The first band that happened were opener Scarlet Stories. They are from Holland, so I will see them again probably soonish. I liked their playing and style, although I woudl have appreciated a fast banger somewhere halfway for needed variation in pace. Still a band that opened for a full and enthusiastic hall went down very well I saw. For me only half an hour before getting some fresh air.

Now I obviously did not read the program carefully enough, so I walked back in when teh next band started playing. I thought this would be VotF, but it was Anima Tempo, the first Mexican band ever at PPE and one I definitely wanted to see. Entering the hall I was halted by Christian complaining I missed his Spanish introduction of the band. Now I don't speak Spanish, but my Portuguese is fluent (ish), so I probably could have been a judge on his lines. Not important as meanwhile Anima Tempo started ruling the hall. Their energetic played set with double guitar attacks, comes very close to the style I like most, so we had for me the first winner of the festival. I picked up their CD afterwards and shall play it with care, seeing if I can recall some of the high that went on for an hour to me. This is what is the best about PPE to me, bands you did not know yet, that become new favorites to follow. Gracias senhores. Voices from the Fuselage came next and I must again admit I did neither prepare, nor give them a fair chance as a delicious Falaf Hell was served by Pois Chic. So I saw only some 20 minutes, enough to get an idea on their music, with the recognizable high voice of Ashe O'Hara. It sounded ok I thought.

After the break things could not go wrong really as I know and like to totally love all three bands. Kingcrow being the first was the one I like. I knew them since their album with the easy name Phlegethon. I saw them a few times hereafter and always liked them, yet not buying their last album any longer. When they hit the stage I recalled what I like so much about them. It is their sympathetic appearance on stage, a band that is enjoying themselves playing for us and doing so rather well. I did not go for the full 75 minutes due to two reasons. First the rest for what was to come and second the similarity inbetween songs to me. So start and finish together I got some 45 minutes and that was enough. Kingcrow are a band I will see when playing the west of Holland, but as with many bands to me, when the surprise is gone the efforts from my side diminish a bit. They did have huge response though and might have been a silent headliner to many.

Next another band I was really looking forward to: Ghost Ship Octavius. On tour with Psychotic Waltz I was even considering seeing them on Thursday in Hamburg or Friday in Bochum. When due to cancellations they were included to PPE as well I decided to skip those, save some money and health and see them here. Well that did not disappoint. During PPE I usually tend to love it when a band just comes and blows us away with Heavy or even Death metal for the needed variation throughout the day. And that is just what they did. Heavy from begin to end giving us an overview of their two albums, with personal favorite Turned to Ice, what a killer song that is. For the occasion they came on stage with painted faces and I loved this set from start to finish. Very welcome last minute addition to the line-up indeed.

Psychotic Waltz
Yes I know Psychotic Waltz is not a day, but this band deserves a full chapter. On the FB page of PPE, people were asked to introduce themselves and tell among other things which three bands they were looking out for. To my shock and awe, hardly anyone mentioned Psychotic Waltz. This must be an age thing and also explained why I did not manage to get many regulars to come to The Hague, when I had Heir Apparent playing in June. So as I am old and older people have to teach herewith a small history lesson of Progressive metal. Without Psychotic Waltz, there would not have been a PPE festival. Let me explain this a bit. As from the eighties all good Progmetal came from over the ocean to us. The so called big three never played clubs. Queensryche supported Dio and Bon Jovi in main halls and then headlined Aardschokdag when Mindcrime was released. Fates Warning hardly came and first time was as opener for Manowar in Paradiso (their first ever European gig) Dream Theater released WDADU, but that one was overlooked by the mainstream and with Images and Words they sold out Vredenburg at once. Then there were other bands who just managed to come over once (or even never) due to lack of finacial support. Here you can think of Watchtower, Heir Apparent, Crimson Glory and Lethal for instance. In comes Psychotic Waltz who with their debut A Social Grace amazed all that understood great music. Opening Dynamo Open Air 1991, they would from there on tour every year at lest once through Europe, playing all clubs sized around Sjiwa size. They became my absolute favorite band of the nineties and I can't count how often we went to see them. I even travelled abroad seeing them at a metalbar off Heidelberg in Germany and once in Vienna, when Ajax picked up the Champions league that same weeek. That last tour they brought along Threshold as support. The years before they gave a stage to many Dutch (Donor anyone?) and German progmetal bands, helping to grow the scene. So when PPE started a firm base was placed by their intensive touring. Since 1997 they more or less disappeared with only a 2011 support on a Nevermore tour and two years ago a very strong appearance at Amersfoort and Graspop. Now there is a new album coming and they finally made it to PPE. Since my first visit to Baarlo in 2000 I always put Psychotic Waltz on the evaluation form after PPE. So fanboy me was happy as can be and I hoped that Psychotic Waltz would show us all how proper Progressive metal is supposed to be played.

And then came Saturday 22:05 and I was placed up front next to old school PW fan Gerrie with his camera. Let me first share how I underwent 90 minutes of Psychotic Waltz. For me this trip down memory lane was the high of PPE, for nostalgic reasons. The sound was OK to me, and if Devon's voice was not as dominant as it was in the past I had no complaints. So upon a high after the show I only ran into people telling me they were disappointed in the vocals. Musically very strong, but off key vocals making it hard to them to like the full set. Well that was a cold shower as I did not get this and my wish for PW to win over the full crowd apparently did not come true. Well I have the right to be biased, so I had a brilliant show. Maybe not their best ever, but still PW so hard to match by anyone. The setlist was great with an overview of all four albums, two new songs and a Black Sabbath cover to close with. I remember (!) on their first tour they played obscurer BS song Disturbing the Priest. This time it was Children of the Grave. On the songs I can not mention highlights as all of them are favorites to me. Amazing also to see that A Social Grace until the day of today remains one of the most exciting progmetal albums ever released. So coming out of their set on a high reactions of literally everyone talking to me, gave some disappointment. Not to me, but the missed chance. Well February 2020 the new album is out and Psychotic Waltz already promised a fast return to Europe. Go give them a chance again, as in 2017 they were the best gig of the year, not just to me.

Sunday
After Saturday with so many ups, Sunday promised to be a bit more low key and unknow to me. Well not opening band Lost in Thought. I had their debut album Opus Arise and then they went a bit under the radar. Through the website of the Man of Much Metal I read about a new album, so I joined the crowdfunding. It was nice to meet Matt Spall after the Lost in Thought set and share that he put me on the right track for this band. I said right track as to me Lost in Thought were the first highlight of the day. Good band, nice presentation and songs that flow and differentiate between them. So they skipped their (classic?) debut Opus Arise and played the new album in full. Well either set would have worked as I liked my first encounter with these men from Wales. Finally I am surely not the only Dutch person being surprised how good our ex topjudoka Dennis van der Geest is on guitars in this band.

Prehistoric Animals would be next and they were the only band I heard or read absolutely nothing off and about. The idea was to let them surprise me and what a good surprise this was. Unknown to me, now one to follow and getting their CD after the show. Again it was for me about the quality of the songs, which in their case were helped by videos on the background. It always helped when the  on stage appearance is sympathetic and appreciative. Well no lack of either here and later on they told this was only their fourth show ever. If they return one day to holland I will travel further to see them again. Now knowing the songs it might be even better. So that was two out of two wins on a Sunday afternoon.

Rendezvous Point are from Norway, but are not very weird in music, given their passport. Fairly open and accesible songs to me. A few weeks ago I saw them opening for Vola and now getting a full hour, they managed to keep my attention spanned. What I saw in the hall was this to many probaby also a silent headliner, as it was and remianed full throughout. Well a nice show again, not my top favorite maybe, but definitely a nice live band. Then came a break for dinner and I made a mistake, Staying outside far too long I managed to miss most of Kong's show. What I did get was their last 20-25 minutes, which sounded impressive. While Kong are Dutch I still managed to never  see them before. Defintely one to look out for, as this felt and sounded like more.

My silent headliner and band I looked out for most on the Sunday were Teramaze. Their progmetal is closest to Heavy Metal again and I love their feel for melody. Only holding their last two albums I did recognize most songs. Yet being honest I probably was hoping for too much, as I was not blown away. Turns out you can not be blown away just by expectations only. Don't know what it was exactly, but something did not fully connect with me. So I saw an enjoyable show, by an obviously good band. Still wondering what I missed though.

Persefone headlining ProgPower Sunday is a bold statement. I do like this band, but know that their death metal parts are a bridge too far for some. Yet we saw those present (fairly large in numbers still given the Sunday night) enjoying themselves during their long set. Energy is the only certainty never missing during a Persefone gig and that was present again. Only issue seemed to be with the mic. Talking inbetween songs, we got some cartoon like voices thrown at us, and noone seemd to be bothered to solve this. While Marc Martins is the one jumping around on and off the stage all the time, the clean vocals from behind the keys are as important to me. Maybe a bit long for me as we are old and tired, but another good gig by Persefone, showing us they deserved the headline spot for the weekend.

Afterparty's
Being old and tired is one thing, but skipping all the afterparty's is simply not an option. Down in the basement the mood is brilliant and so many nice people just seem to be happy to be there and then.This year the Saturday held a top 25 of epics as chosen online by the audience. I only stayed a while. The Sunday knew the introduction  of a Hard Rock and Metal Karaoke and let's hope another tradition is born. Maybe swapping both days is even better for enabling more to participate. This was pure fun and highlights where Death Metalizzed Three Little Pigs and the smoothly sung Tequila. People understanding music told me that a certain The Boys Are Back in Town sounded rather awesome as well. Well what a great way to end this wonderfull weekend. An annual high on music and more for many frequent visitors, so we can only thank the organization and many volunteers, for giving us this platform to get together and enjoy some brilliant bands.  2-4 October 2020 has been noted down in the agenda. See you all there again.

Mario's 55th Birthday Fest - Little Devil Tilburg, 14 September 2019

This weekend Tilburg is the capital of Ayreon land with huge banners starting at the station and fans from all over the world selling out 013 four times. Now I am not a huge fan of rock operas, but probably would have liked the spectacle if I was bothered to attend one show. Fans of metal knew that the place to be in Tilburg for them would be Little Devil as is so often the case. Mario the man who brings so many great bands to Holland had a birthday weekend and while I could not attend the Friday I was in almost from the start on the Saturday Fest. Five great bands 10 Euro, beers reduced to Eur 2 so even Baroeg Open Air was no competition for me. The program needed some updates after unfortunate cancelations by Leather and Syren, but the substitutes performed well.

Upon arrival GRZLY was already playing. First band of the day with a female vocalist and luckily no angelic sopranos but singing with balls and this all guided by an obviously experienced band. The music was heavy hard rock and turned out to be a perfect opener for the day. Next on Thoughtless were the only Dutch band on the bill, so I saw them a few times before. Also female vocals and again of the good kind.  They play heavy metal which goes thrahsy at times and is full of nice guitars. I even remembered drummer Axel's name this time and shall see him again in Baarlo in three weeks, not on the stage but in the audience though. During Metal Experience Fest I could hardly see them in the overcrowded small hall, now watching the full set was a joy. Good band.

The next band on was the one that definitely made me decide to go down to Tilburg: Spirit Adrift. I only recently discovered them through their great CD Divided by Darkness. Their doomy metal definitely sounds like something I would love to see live, so this opportunity was not to be missed. Well that did not disappoint. Sounding live a bit rougher in general and vocals mainly this was an energetic set of doom (if that is possible) Playing songs from DbD and their previous one Curse of Conception we got a good idea on what they are about. This set deserved a purcahse of CD and Tee afterwards and was a highlight of the day to me. Not sure if the huge Tattoo Born Too Late on the vocalists chest was a message to Mario, but  guess not. Highlight of the set Angel & Abyss, check that song out somewhere online. Spirit Adrift are currently touring Europe for the first time with Sanhedrin, so that was the next band. Now up front I heard and read some positive buzz about this band, but I decided to not prepare and let them surprise me. Well that was a nice surprise. A power trio with for the third time today female vocals gave us one heavy set.  The strenght to me lay in the building of atmospheres of power. Great voice suiting the music and yet another highlight of the day with obligatory CD purchase afterwards. As this tour is only just starting I can recommend highly to catch them somewhere in Europe. I shall later be able to say that I was there during the first victorious visit to Holland by Sanhedrin.

Closer of the evening were Tysondog in quartet formation as Steve Morrison was enjoying holidays in Crete. Remember they were a last minute substitue so this was to be excused and in the end did we suffer the loss? No not really as what a party these guys build for us. I am close to Mario's age so starting to get tired I thougt maybe taking an earlier train more towards the end of their set. Well no such early departures as we got a party to close the day. Tysondog are from the NWOBHM era, but I must admit I did not have their LP's at the time. Still I recognized several songs, so must have heard them around. Even if songs were new to me their catchiness made them instantly bangable. We even got some sort of moshpit and I am not sure what the huge drunk german was about looking to hang over the vocalist and the stage. Well a very enjoyable end of a great day came with the song about French cuisine: Dead Meat. So next year I am turning 55 myself and this day gave an idea on how to celebrate that in style. Maybe I should have some talks in Musicon next year and pull of something. Congrats Mario and thanks for the party. 

Vola, Uneven Structure, Arch Echo, Rendezvous Point & Schiermann - Patronaat Haarlem, 12 September 2019

Five bands on a weekday, challenging to start with. I came to see the headliner as I discovered Vola through the Prog Metal Zone website some years ago around the release of their EP Monsters. Pretty soon thereafter they played Progpower and released full album Inmazes. Then last year I did not get their last album "Applause of a Distant Crowd". Reviews on both their album and live shows were positive as I read, so time to reintroduce the band to me. Before they would hit te stage many bands would try to warm us up and although upon arrival we feared an empty house, the evening was held in a very decent filled small hall of Patronaat.

First band was Schiermann. Kicking off he ran into the first technical issues of the evening. Being so worried with his laptop he missed fixing the sound of his guitar so we heard nothing and a restart was sympathetically announced. This instrumental trio played hereafter four songs and they were building up nicely with at times some references to Joe Satriani for me. Pity that they fall in the category overdose on laptop, as keyboards and guitar were also provided by Apple. Next band Rendezvous Point did hold a singer. That does add a song structure in their case and I did like what I saw. Good songs, varried playing and interesting enough throughout. Even liking their set I got distracted as from minute one. No not by the blonde lady on bass, but by the keyboard player. He seemed to have walked straight out of classical dutch saitire program debiteuren/ crediteuren. Result I was waiting for him to throw sandwhiches at us during the 30 minutes shouting Toedeledoki. They shall have a full hour at Progpower, which they did not announce strangely enough, but apparently something to look out for.

The next band was instrumental again, depending on laptops and to make matters worse with bigger technical issues. They could not hear each other with defect in ear systems and thus gave us a jam of music. With music being so complicated a rather hard task, so we got tiring bits inbetween what I thought two songs they could play in total. I would love to see them once without the technical issues showing what they are able of. Now the band was pleased with what they pulled of, but I felt bored at times and thought this miss a victory of organic heavy metal. Next band were French band Uneven Structure. I missed them at Progpower in the past, but saw them at Complexity some years ago. I recall liking them, but tonight they were a bit flat to me. In their defense what did distract and annoy were a bunch of children making a lame attempt at a moshpit or slamdancing without any sense of the music being played. These kids should go obligatory to a next Exodus show in Holland to learn how it is done "Murder in the front row, crowd begins to bang and there's blood upon the stage". Bassist of Uneven Structure was the same eccentric moving guy from Schiermann, thanks Marcel as I did not even notice that. Not their best evening I guess, yet at heavier moments pretty acceptable.

And then Vola came on and it took very short to notice why they were headliners. Sound and songs at another level. Technical issues continuing with a broken string during the opening song causing a minor delay. We had a very convincing band going through their discography, although I believe they skipped their EP. Luckily my favorite Your Mind is a Helpless Dreamer  was in the set. And afater more or less one hour they announced their last song Stray the Skies. This was one succesful reintroduction to Vola and I can see them climbing the time schedule at Progpower any year soon. This band mixes their technical domination of instruments with well written songs and that was not the case with all tonight. Pleased to have trained to Haarlem for the evening and I wll keep a closer eye on Vola returns to Holland.

SOTO & supports - Boerderij Zoetermeer, 7 September 2019

Jeff Scott Soto is one of those vocalists of whom you have no idea how many CD's/LPs you own so many bands and projects he sung in. I know I first heard him with Yngwie Malmsteen. During the set he mentioned how he loves coming back to de Boerderij as he has been here with bands like Talisman, Sons of Apollo and J.S.S. He actually skipped Soul Sirkus an album I picked up now for the occasion. Solo he can go many directions where he does not scare away from some soul influences at times. His last album Origami is more hardrock again, so we expected some melodic hard rock tonight.

Before it was so far we did get two supports both playing some 40-45 minutes. This meant a long wait as Scarlet Aura was not at the right place at the right time. Their old school metal with female Doro clone did not get any reactions whatsoever from the small crowd, but they kept on trying till the end. Stop Stop hereafter sounded better. No idea how pissed they were when deciding that Stop Stop is a catchy band name. Yet their rock and roll landed better and a walk through the audience by all three band members playing on was an interesting end before they dropped dead on stage.

 S.O.T.O. came on hereafter and we got the music we came for. During the set they played music from several bands he sung in but unfortunately no Yngwie or Soul Sirkus, There was a WET medley for fans of that band and a Talisman cover next to several Soto or JSS solo album songs. His genuine love for de Boerderij was also expressed when he complained about UK venues trying to kick you out fast for a disco to follow. So we got an extra medley where his old favorite cover Crazy by Seal was included again. At first his voice seemed to need some warming up, but later on all was fine. His presentation is professional and sympathetic and his looks reminded Leroy Fer returning after summer holidays. This was just a nice evening of live music. Good band nice performances and afterwards the band would come to the bar for signing without any star issues. September it is and the gig season can be declared open now.

Golden Age Rock Festival - Manege Fonck Liege, 25 August 2019

Golden Age Rock Festival is a new one. Focusing on Classic Rock bands of which many never or hardly played Europe this was one adventurous three day event. I could not attend the Friday and Saturday, but with Sunday holding Angel I simply could not resist. Magchiel was interested in seeing Dee Snider  and both of us were more than a bit keen to see Heavy Pettin as well. Unfortunately Pat McManus played too early for us to reach Luik, so we missed that. Pity as the last time we saw him with Gary Moore in Amsterdam was already 34 years ago as well. On a Sunday which saw the return of summer and full beaches we drove against the stream eastwards. Checking in at the hotel and off to the manege. This turned out to be a huge building with a large market and food area behind it in the garden. First compliment goes to the food options which next to the eighties fries truck also had some very delicious Indian options at fair prices. When we entered the hall we were immediately in for the first nice surprise: Rudy Lenners and friends. Now I did not know Rudy, but it seemed he was local and used to play in the Scorpions from 73-75. So after one cover we got a medley of Tokyo Tapes. Speedy's Coming, Pictured Life and In Trance. With the young guitarist/vocalist doing a great Klaus Meine we had a winner after ten minutes in the hall Hereafter the set was closed with Rockin' in the Free World. Now I am not a great fan of the obvious covers on stage, but with all friends joining in, including his daughter the atmosphere was amazing and the more spiritual inclined among us could feel the positive vibes on their skin. To add to the fun, this set was talked together om stage by one of the three organizers (we guess) and that was when we found out that our French is a bit rusty at best. One thing Magchiel and I already decided there and then. If this festival survives we shall be back.

The breaks in between sets were fairly long so we could hang in the garden and bumped into our Bristol/Stampede friends Patrick from Belgium and Gerrie from Limburg. While talking the nerves increased a bit as Heavy Pettin was on next.Now we knew their Classic albums Lettin' Loose and Rock Ain't Dead, but never saw them live before. That is when I decided to move a bit forward to feel the melodic metal through the stomach. Years ago Heavy Pettin were called Scottish Def Leppard and while boxing does not work you can hear why this was the case. Being Scottish all was a bit rougher on the edges, but their songs went down really well. Victims of the Night, Love times Love and Rock Me passed by and we had a blast, I guess their biggest "hit" is In and Out of Love and makes you wonder why that did not do wonders in the eighties when the world was waiting for such songs. Closing their strong set with Throw a Party was a fine choice as that is just what they did to us over the past hour. This was two winners out of two, so we were only getting more in the mood (or was it with some help of our friends the Belgian beers). Only pity was that I was considering getting their T-shirt later on the evening finding out after Angel they already left the building, probably with a boat to catch. ,

Now things would become more melodic Swedish metal, but I never knew much of 220 Volt. It all sounded OK and apart from the vocalist I guess several original members were on stage, but I played smart. Knowing I would need my limited forces for Angel and Dee Snider still I looked for a place to sit.Now inside there was a small stand to sit on, but this was reserved for VIP visitors and we were obviously not that important. So outside it was and sorry 220 Volt.

After a fine Chicken Massala with rice and salad I was ready for Angel. Actually I am ready for Angel for 40 years now and Live Without a Net is one of the highlights of double live albums. I never expected to still see them live on stage and they were to me the reason to drive down to Luik. Unfortunately Gregg Guiffria left the music business, but it turned out that his substitute played rather well, Original members Frank Dimino on vocals and Punky Meadows on guitars were still there and that is where I have to start, The voice of Frank Dimino is amazing and at respectable age he did not loose any of his power it seems. Punky Meadows was always a glam factor in the band, but seeing him arriving on stage was kind of over the top in double. With his tanned skin, huge mouth and very full hair he looked different from the average man in the audience to say the least. As this was a music festival and I can't be bothered too much by looks his playing was great. Actually there was hardly anything to complain. On the Rocks, Mirrors, Can You Feel It opening a set of Classic Angel songs with such a strong voice and clear sound was the party I hoped for, The Fortune, Rock & Rollers the high never stopped. Well the party might have gone on, but the band hardly did. After only 45 minutes they announced their last song, which obviously is their best song ever the Tower. So we were supposed to get an hour, it seemed to me, they were not all that pleased with the small audience or something else annoyed them. The set was professionally played and very well so, yet two more songs should have been possible with so many classics to choose from and a new (not even mentioned) album coming up. so I saw Angel. loved their show and setlist, yet a tiny disappointment came with the short playing time. Still I will buy Risen upon release and hope to see them one day again.

And then we knew that roller-coaster Dee Snider still was to come on stage. He decided to mix songs from his strong 2018 release For the Love of Metal  (tks for the tip Theo) with some Twisted Sister Classics. Anyone having seen the man on stage before knew what we would be in for. Heavy Metal of the catchy kind with some in-between ranting with a healthy dose of humor. Building a setlist is also no issue for him and as it should be he opened and closed with strong songs from his solo album. Yet while all the music sounds good, the party picks up a notch when we can shout that We're not Gonna Take It. The Kids Are Back and Burn in Hell were nice as well and actually the evening was a a fest. Everyone in watched this set with a smile on their face and sung their lungs out on I Wanna Rock. Dee really does this for the love of metal and if he might have hoped for a larger crowd, he does not show any signs of disappointment. Party, righteous headliner and what a way to close the festival. Dee rules.

Well actually the festival was not closed yet as a cover band would come to play for those not willing to go home yet. I thought by their name we would get Eagles covers, but this was much better. 6 wigged Wallonians gave us covers of Europe, Mr Big, Skid Row, Aerosmith and the likes. Very nice band, but we were satisfied, by so many highlights on the day already. Now what the future holds in store for this festival is unclear and was buzzed around all the time. The effort they made on billing bands you can never see is admirable. Fact is that many bands playing (Moxy, Doc Holiday, Vulcain) shall be hardly known by anyone under 50. I hope they somehow managed to get by with those who attended. The initiative deserves a wider audience and the atmosphere was brilliant. So thank you Golden Age Rock.

The Eternal & Vetrar Draugurinn - Musicon The Hague, 24 August 2019

Saturday night, warm temperatures and no plan in live. Let's check out some unknown bands to me in an air-condioned Musicon. The Eternal are from Australia and play doom. I also heard some new wave like sounds and in general it was dark rock. They pack their music in long songs which have all the time to develop into something heavy and  sad at times. I listened once to bandcamp before deciding to go to Musicon and as usual live it came better together being heavier. Pretty good overall, but still more a band to see on stage than play often at home to me.

The evening was opened by the Dutch band with the impossible name Vetrar Daugurinn. Now Dutch bands with female vocals in general make me a bit scared as the vocalists tend to go operatic. This band has onen who sings and pretty good as well. I liked them best when they went slower and heavier. They play Dutch Doom Days in November and I think that even at Progpower they might appeal to many. A diverse enough set opening a nice evening in Musicon. Today the full houses of late were not met, but interesting enough some 75% of the audience I never saw before, which normally is the other way around. Now off to Luik for some Classic Rock.

Pedal to the Metal - Little Devil, Effenaar, Merleyn, 11-13 August 2019

Pedal to the Metal!!. In a recent post I explained the reason behind my trip. While being in my head some time more or less, this tour all came together rather fast when shortly before my last Portugal trip I sort of fixed my bicycle. After I printed the shirt I realized that I could have included the shows in Musicon and Waterpop I attended 9 and 10 August as I visited both by bicycle as well. Anyway back on the saddle and did that hurt? Yes in a way it did. My total training kilometers must have been around 80 km combined over three days. Now I had to start with the longest stage from home to Tilburg, which including the road-detour and wrong roads taken should have been around 110 km. Never much in a hurry in life I took matters easy and arrived in Tilburg well in time and reasonably fit. After a Japanese dinner I could go to Little Devil.

Tilburg; 11 August
To be honest I included this show for logistical reasons. Tilburg was nice on route, but without the cycling I probably would not have been here. I do like Krisiun and saw them before, but they fall in the category I travel for limited to the Leiden/The Hague/Rotterdam triangle. Last time I saw them they played the huge stage in de Nobel and now one of Holland's smaller stages. That did not matter much to them as they gave us a great set of death metal. with old and new songs. Opener of the evening were Dutch upcoming Death metal combo Sepiroth introducing their new vocalist. I expect to see them more often in the near future, good band for warming us up.

Eindhoven: 12 August
Cycling in the sunny morning I could recover from first small pains in neck, back and knees. only 40 km this was never going to be impossible. The evening had a show I would have gone to see anyway. Soilwork's 2019 release Verkligheten is one of the albums I played most this year. Their melo-death mixed with very accessible melodies makes this a highlight of the year to me.  Headliner was Hypocrisy a band I never saw before and hold a few CD's of. Soilwork did give us a pleasant hour of melo-death, where many new songs were included. My only comment would be that with one keyboard and two guitars on stage I did not get why almost all songs started with a tape. Closer Stälfägel was a party to me and certainly far too commercial for death metal purists. Headliner Hypocrisy is a machine of heavy brutality, but with a sense of great melodies. The not so full Effenaar on a Monday night midst festival season was treated on probably the same set as most festivals, but inside lack of wind and rain always improves sounds. Pleased to see Roswell 47 live once closing a nice evening in de Effenaar. By the way with rather good Verkligheten T-shirts on sale, I regretted not having much space on the bicycle for purchasing merch.

Nijmegen: 13 August
This morning weather forecast was similar, sunny morning, showers as from lunchtime. So another early rise and feeling stronger than the day before a pleasant ride through forests and farmlands. Arriving in Nijmegen I already decided I would train home Wednesday. This gave me the chance to lunch, dine and drink at ease. Another plus was the extra space for merch I created. This was just in time as this show I definitely wasn't going to miss. The Contortionist are my favorite Djent-band and Azusa gave us recently Heavy Yoke a killer album of math rock with a twist. So before Azusa started I made sure I found a good spot close to the stage to see what the hell would be going on. Even after playing Heavy Yoke repeatedly recently, I expected this music hard to recognize song by song. I was right at the opener until they later told us this was a new song. Actually without knowing song titles I did recognize all later on, which does help appreciating their music. References? well with a bassist having a past in The Dillinger Escape Plan and guitars and drums passing through Extol you can hardly expect easy listening. A second guitarist was added, but the surprise comes on vocals. I saw Eleni before with Sea+Air at Brainstorm festival. Well that band had absolutely nothing to do with Azusa. She does rule the stage with her aggressive screams, blended with sweet vocals through another mic reminding me of This Mortal Coil (You and your sister). The interesting part is that when she decides to go soft and sweet the band does not necessarily follow and blast beats might guide her through. I already loved the album, now have another live favorite. This band should get more exposure and I know just the festival in Baarlo where half the audience would totally love them (and the other half not getting the point). Definitely highlight of the week to me and hope they can come back soon. Shall proudly wear their Tee. And than The Contortionist still had to follow this up. Well they could as obviously they gained lots of touring experience over the years. Last time I saw them was in the bar stage of Patronaat, so it was good to see now Merleyn sold out. Through the years they are mellowing out, but the set had many dynamics to the heavier bits. Language I and II remain highlights and actually all was good, although a bit short. A band going their own way this time brought light pink band shirts and played Whitney Houston as intro-tape. To my surprise many people liked this intro, so I must be inflexible here.

What an evening to close my short trip. My health was keeping up fine although cynically enough the rather new shoes I wore at shows gave me a big blister on the heel. Tiago left home Sunday for Leiden and seems to be settled already. Hoping he keeps on spending weekends in The Hague. Again this year I missed out on more day festivals, but this row of five evenings was a success. Next year I might repeat this cycling, joining friends at a festival I choose. I was lucky with the weather, the lack of flat tires, the shows and the food. Sometimes you get what you deserve.