Tivoli, Utrecht, the NetherlandsNovember 18th 2005
Life of Agony & Green Lizard
Since Life of Agony’s reunion in 2003 I was really looking forward to see them again. Ok, ok, I have seen them already at Graspop 2004, but in my eyes it’s something completely different to experience this band at a festival than in a smaller clubs. I really prefer easy to grab venues. The atmosphere is more private and relaxed.
And tonight was the night! Life of Agony hit the stage of a very nice location in Utrecht, called Tivoli. The guys from New York are always a guarantee for a very exciting and unforgettable evening. That’s a fact which was proven a couple of times in the past. But are they still the same? Or do I expect too much. Lets wait and see.
Green Lizard
Before LOA will go on stage it was the turn of Green Lizard. Surely I knew that there might be a support act. Until the moment I entered the venue I had no clue who it would be. I however never heard of this band named Green Lizard. After touring around Europe and recording an EP (‘The Nine EP’) and two albums (‘Identity’ and ‘Newborn’) they gave their guest performance tonight.
Music
All of a sudden and without any warning Green Lizard opened the stage in front of a sold out Tivoli at 19.15h. At the beginning I was extremely surprised cause it seemed like they used only half of their capacity. That counted for sound, interaction on stage, their performance and the use of light. The dissolution came after 5 minutes from the band itself. Green Lizard didn’t have time to do a soundcheck before the show. Ups, so rewind and start again.
All of a sudden and without any warning Green Lizard opened the stage in front of a sold out Tivoli at 19.15h. At the beginning I was extremely surprised cause it seemed like they used only half of their capacity. That counted for sound, interaction on stage, their performance and the use of light. The dissolution came after 5 minutes from the band itself. Green Lizard didn’t have time to do a soundcheck before the show. Ups, so rewind and start again.
With a lot of power the band started “the” gig. The sound reminded me pretty much of Sum41, Faith No More and somehow of Soundgarden. The reason for this might be that they worked together with Jack Edino (renown for his work with bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden) The second album was produced by Clif Norrell (know for his work with REM, Faith No More, Skunk Anansie). Someone called it a solid, heavy and mature punk-grunge sound. And I have to agree!
Performance
The guys are well known for their energetic live shows. And that’s exactly what they presented on stage in front of the sold out venue. Remi loved to pose with his guitar while he was singing. While Brian and Jay built the perfect frame around him. Roela showed us what it means to play the drums with full dedication. Green Lizard seemed to enjoy themselves a lot.
The guys are well known for their energetic live shows. And that’s exactly what they presented on stage in front of the sold out venue. Remi loved to pose with his guitar while he was singing. While Brian and Jay built the perfect frame around him. Roela showed us what it means to play the drums with full dedication. Green Lizard seemed to enjoy themselves a lot.
The interaction with the audience was quite ok. They tried to whip up emotions and somehow they succeed. But sadly most of the listeners were standing in the hall and had a nice chat with the person next to him/her. Or used the last chance to get a drink before the main act would enter the stage. Maybe it also has something to do with the fact that Remi told the audience that the 50 fastest concert visitors could get a free EP. So a couple of people left the room. Well, the band didn’t care about that and rocked on. That’s what I call professional and it showed that this band gained a lot of experience while touring around and performing on stages at Lowlands and Pinkpop.
Beside that the light tech did a good job as well. He underpinned the speed of sound by changing the colours of light in the same way. Mostly the colours purple, green and yellow were in use. During the slow songs the audience was captured by a very well chosen composition of blue and green light. All in all it was a nice performance of around 45 minutes. And they were worth being the support act of Life of Agony. Probably most of the people in the audience thought the same like I did. “Save your energy for the star of the evening and don’t party to exuberant.”
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7
Music: 7
Performance: 6
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7
Life of Agony
I used the changeover of almost 15 minutes to visit the toilet and to get a last drink before the gig started. Everybody in the hall was giggling around and full of anticipation. You could read that in their faces and I’m sure in mine as well. After my short excursion I placed myself on the right side of the stage, something like second row and next to the speaker.
Music
The stage was covered in black, in the back a huge banner with the cover of their newest album ‘Broken Valley’. An intro started and sparkles of blue and white light broke through the darkness. The venue was filled with the sound of an acoustic guitar. This song reminded me a lot of the legendary Johnny Cash. During the last tones of this wonderful song Alan Robert, Joey Z and Sal Abruscato entered the stage. Followed by an huge applause. To the stains of ‘Don’t Bother’ Mr. Caputo finally jumped on stage. The audience was at a preliminary stage of going crazy.
The stage was covered in black, in the back a huge banner with the cover of their newest album ‘Broken Valley’. An intro started and sparkles of blue and white light broke through the darkness. The venue was filled with the sound of an acoustic guitar. This song reminded me a lot of the legendary Johnny Cash. During the last tones of this wonderful song Alan Robert, Joey Z and Sal Abruscato entered the stage. Followed by an huge applause. To the stains of ‘Don’t Bother’ Mr. Caputo finally jumped on stage. The audience was at a preliminary stage of going crazy.
While taking a look on the setlist you will see that the band has chosen a fantastic mix of their four albums. Dominated by ‘River Runs Red’ and ‘Broken Valley’. ‘Weeds’ was the only song taken from ‘Soul Searching Sun’. I’m sure that the boys from New York knew what would happen when playing their greatest song ‘River Runs Red’. The result was that the entire venue sung themselves hoarse. One of the greatest comments of Keith was: “You’re supposed to be deaf when you will leave this venue.” Congratulations guys, you did a very good job. And I’m happy about the fact that I had ear plugs with me.
The sound of the guitars and drums was well balanced, Keith voice sounded very strong and more experienced than years ago. It still keeps me wondering where this small, tough guy gets his power from. Expressing every single song with his whole body, jumping around and still not exhausted!?
The sound of the guitars and drums was well balanced, Keith voice sounded very strong and more experienced than years ago. It still keeps me wondering where this small, tough guy gets his power from. Expressing every single song with his whole body, jumping around and still not exhausted!?
Performance
After LoA finished their first song Keith welcomed the audience with a simple and almost shy “good evening”. Isn’t that guy adorable? Especially when he went in front of the stage, holding a glass of red wine in his hand and announced the next song. Although stage diving and crowed surfing isn’t allowed, there was no holding back anymore. People went on stage and jumped in the crowed. Most of the time exactly into the moshpit. Which was close to the place where I was standing. I was pretty glad that I didn’t have my camera with me. Besides enjoying myself and dancing around I was too busy with taking care that no one hit his elbow in my face.
After LoA finished their first song Keith welcomed the audience with a simple and almost shy “good evening”. Isn’t that guy adorable? Especially when he went in front of the stage, holding a glass of red wine in his hand and announced the next song. Although stage diving and crowed surfing isn’t allowed, there was no holding back anymore. People went on stage and jumped in the crowed. Most of the time exactly into the moshpit. Which was close to the place where I was standing. I was pretty glad that I didn’t have my camera with me. Besides enjoying myself and dancing around I was too busy with taking care that no one hit his elbow in my face.
On one hand there was the rough side of Keith. While he was singing ‘Strong out’ he jumped off the stage. Hell, who expected this?! That short guy was surfing the crowd. Everybody tried to touch him. Finally he safely arrived on stage again. Incredible! On the other hand during slower songs the very emotional and passionate short guy posed for pictures or just calm down a bit. The whole band has a lot of charisma to spare and a great rapport with the crowd. The interaction with the audience was amazing. Almost right from the beginning none of the concert visitors stood still until the very end. Heads banged uncontrollably. Sweaty bodies all over the place.
The whole scene was dominated by blue, purple and pink light. But as we all know LoA is not famous for a huge and exceptional light show. The lights just underline the performance and is more a nice side effect. The whole audience was hugely impressed after a robust performance of Mr. Caputo and his guys. After more than 1h and 25min- including an encore – the audience was riding high on the waves of joy. And I was completely satisfied with what I had seen. Life of Agony are not only a guarantee for an exciting evening. Moreover they are a guarantee to freak out in a sort of cerebral and physical state of bliss.
Thanx guys for this amazing night. My upshot: WOW…. Wonderful, Overwhelming, “Want more”. Ups… maybe that’s just endorphins babbling ;)
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8
Music: 8
Performance: 9
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 8
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