Page 1 of 2
W2, Den Bosch, The NetherlandsDecember 26th 2005
Auracle, Yobbo!
On the day after x-mas most people have a day off with more family routine, dinners and other boring stuff. The lucky ones who broke away from that could go to Den Bosch to see a small festival for emerging 'local' bands. Arriving a bit late the first two bands of the night had already finished but after all it was the headliner which we wanted to review anyway.
Yobbo!
There are all of a sudden three men on stage who seem to represent the Eindhoven based band Yobbo! As the claim on their website they deliver cruel and brutal extreme loud music. Yobbo! members are: Quintijn Lohmans on guitar and vocals, Antoine Adams doing bass and Joris Camps hitting drums.
Music
When the band starts playing there seems to be nothing original in their music. It all sounds like things done before by major bands, but repeating bits of great songs like 'Enter Sandman' over and over again is not even boring, it's annoying. There must be a talent that brings this band to the stage, or isn't there? It's not the vocals which are decent but nothing special nor is it Quintijn's pronunciation of Spanish during one of the songs. The drummer just hits the drums in very simple patterns and doesn't really seem interested in playing something new, as long as hitting hard is sufficient it's his thing. Maybe the bass is the differentiating factor, but no, just there as well like the rest. Then it has to be... no we've run out of band members and have to conclude this band's mediocre at best. The sound during the gig wasn't really bad but it was a bit thin and playing that loud still doesn't give you a rich and full sound. "Eindhoven: Rock city"; I'm afraid other bands will have to prove that.
When the band starts playing there seems to be nothing original in their music. It all sounds like things done before by major bands, but repeating bits of great songs like 'Enter Sandman' over and over again is not even boring, it's annoying. There must be a talent that brings this band to the stage, or isn't there? It's not the vocals which are decent but nothing special nor is it Quintijn's pronunciation of Spanish during one of the songs. The drummer just hits the drums in very simple patterns and doesn't really seem interested in playing something new, as long as hitting hard is sufficient it's his thing. Maybe the bass is the differentiating factor, but no, just there as well like the rest. Then it has to be... no we've run out of band members and have to conclude this band's mediocre at best. The sound during the gig wasn't really bad but it was a bit thin and playing that loud still doesn't give you a rich and full sound. "Eindhoven: Rock city"; I'm afraid other bands will have to prove that.
Performance
The stage seems a bit big for these three men to fill. The ferociously hitting drummer is in sharp contrast with the jacket wearing singer. Where the drummer looks like he's chased by the devil the singer is just standing there singing. At times when he had a guitar break he must have mistaken himself for a metal god because his performance starts to resemble a parody. On the right there's still and always the bass player who only seems to move away from his spot when three ladies enter the stage. All of a sudden the gig seems to interest some of the audience, but as sudden as they were there the more sudden they leave the stage after having shown their corsets. Then they return after another song spraying around cheap imitation champagne into the audience and at the same time don't bother if these people are actually carrying stuff that doesn't function well when covered in sugary liquids. When they have done their part the women leave the stage, the band finishes their show and leaves most of the audience wonder what was the reason for all this nonsense. To add a positive note, the lights were good; too bad what was on stage wasn't that interesting though.
The stage seems a bit big for these three men to fill. The ferociously hitting drummer is in sharp contrast with the jacket wearing singer. Where the drummer looks like he's chased by the devil the singer is just standing there singing. At times when he had a guitar break he must have mistaken himself for a metal god because his performance starts to resemble a parody. On the right there's still and always the bass player who only seems to move away from his spot when three ladies enter the stage. All of a sudden the gig seems to interest some of the audience, but as sudden as they were there the more sudden they leave the stage after having shown their corsets. Then they return after another song spraying around cheap imitation champagne into the audience and at the same time don't bother if these people are actually carrying stuff that doesn't function well when covered in sugary liquids. When they have done their part the women leave the stage, the band finishes their show and leaves most of the audience wonder what was the reason for all this nonsense. To add a positive note, the lights were good; too bad what was on stage wasn't that interesting though.
Rating
Music: 3
Performance: 3
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 4
Music: 3
Performance: 3
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 4
Auracle
Auracle is a studio project gone live, former Xystus keyboard player Joris van de Kerkhof and bass player Fred Hasselman gathered quite a nice group of people around them to make the sounds they want. The experienced Bryan Kettelaars on male vocals, Niek van Doorn on guitars, Marco Verberne on drums and the latest addition: the young but lovely Amelie Mangelschots on female vocals
Music
From a studio project one expects something special when it comes to music, and this band certainly lives up to the expectations. A mix of all sorts of styles combined with powerful clean male vocals that resemble bands like Symphony X. But then there's the addition of the gracious voice of Amelie which combines nicely with Bryan's voice. A lot of keyboard is integrated in the music and live the sound now seems to be better mixed than before. The melody lines from the keys are clearly there which certain is important for this band. The technical skills are most certainly there, all band members handle their instruments very well but it's maybe the combination of their instruments that tightly interconnect with each other which makes this show a great piece of music to listen to. Considering this is only their fourth performance live their harmony is at a great level. Both vocalists have a good day; their voices are pretty good and have the extra power and expression you'd expect from a live setting. Like said before the mix was good, volume at a very pleasant level, no complaints there.
From a studio project one expects something special when it comes to music, and this band certainly lives up to the expectations. A mix of all sorts of styles combined with powerful clean male vocals that resemble bands like Symphony X. But then there's the addition of the gracious voice of Amelie which combines nicely with Bryan's voice. A lot of keyboard is integrated in the music and live the sound now seems to be better mixed than before. The melody lines from the keys are clearly there which certain is important for this band. The technical skills are most certainly there, all band members handle their instruments very well but it's maybe the combination of their instruments that tightly interconnect with each other which makes this show a great piece of music to listen to. Considering this is only their fourth performance live their harmony is at a great level. Both vocalists have a good day; their voices are pretty good and have the extra power and expression you'd expect from a live setting. Like said before the mix was good, volume at a very pleasant level, no complaints there.
Performance
This is where things normally get harder for studio projects that left the safety of their studio: performance. Well the band tries hard to improve on that with every new show and by placing their keyboard player Joris up to the front they manage to nicely fill up the stage. Unfortunately this means Fred and Marco are getting a little less attention from the audience but it seems like Bryan and Amelie are sucking up all the attention anyway. Entering the stage wearing a Christmas hat Bryan's expressive way of singing immediately grabs the audience. There seems to be no other option than to pay attention to what comes next. And next up is Amelie, dressed in a dark red petticoat and a top with high collars she seems to be more open and free than ever. The progression in her performance is stunning to a point where only "wow!" comes to mind. While the rest of the band continues playing and in the mean time trying to make contact with the audience it's both vocalists again who step in and take over control. When not singing Bryan just moves aside, while Amelie loves to give the rest of the band some attention. Band interaction is good, interaction with the audience is good, is there any room for complaints? The lights were okay, just too bad there weren't enough front lights to cover all band members leaving bass and drums a bit out of the picture. So, any complaints? Yes, next time takes too long!
This is where things normally get harder for studio projects that left the safety of their studio: performance. Well the band tries hard to improve on that with every new show and by placing their keyboard player Joris up to the front they manage to nicely fill up the stage. Unfortunately this means Fred and Marco are getting a little less attention from the audience but it seems like Bryan and Amelie are sucking up all the attention anyway. Entering the stage wearing a Christmas hat Bryan's expressive way of singing immediately grabs the audience. There seems to be no other option than to pay attention to what comes next. And next up is Amelie, dressed in a dark red petticoat and a top with high collars she seems to be more open and free than ever. The progression in her performance is stunning to a point where only "wow!" comes to mind. While the rest of the band continues playing and in the mean time trying to make contact with the audience it's both vocalists again who step in and take over control. When not singing Bryan just moves aside, while Amelie loves to give the rest of the band some attention. Band interaction is good, interaction with the audience is good, is there any room for complaints? The lights were okay, just too bad there weren't enough front lights to cover all band members leaving bass and drums a bit out of the picture. So, any complaints? Yes, next time takes too long!
Setlist
00. Intro
01. Echoes of Utopia
02. Land of the Gods
03. The Last Avatar
04. Cries in the Wind
05. Crystal Lies
06. Confessions of a Demigod
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 9
Music: 9
Performance: 9
Sound: 8
Light: 7
Total: 9
More photos on page 2
Comments powered by CComment