ColumbiaClub, Berlin, Germany24th January 2010
The Gathering & Autumn
The name of the band THE GATHERING became for many fans of alternative rock the embodiment of Dutch rock scene, the embodiment of unique female vocal combined with expressive music. The last two years were surely not the easiest years for the band with the departure of the vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen, the search for the new vocalist and the new album, which at least had to hold the standard and to fulfil the expectations of the fans. The band passed the challenges with flying colours and presents its performance as good as before. On their tour the band is supported by their fellow countrymen AUTUMN, sharing very similar history and similar challenges, they had to go through.
Autumn
The band AUTUMN was founded in 1995 in Groningen, Netherlands, by Meindert Sterk, Bert Ferwerda and Hilbrand v.d Woude. In 1999, the band decided to change to female vocalist Nienke de Jong. In 2002, the first album ‘When Lust Evokes The Curse’ was released with Nienke on vocals. From this first album and until today, the music of AUTUMN can be described as gothic rock with elements of progressive / alternative rock. Two other albums followed: ‘Summer's End’ in 2004 and highly acclaimed ‘My New Time’ in 2007. In January 2008 after some cancelled gigs due to health problems, Nienke de Jong left the band. AUTUMN managed to find the new vocalist in short time and attended the WGT festival in May 2008 with Marjan Welman. Nienke de Jong is currently singing in her band DejaFuse. http://www.autumn-band.com/
Music & Performance
The first time AUTUMN performed with Marjan was on WGT festival in 2008 just four months after Nienke left the band. Most of the people in the concert hall Kohlrabizirkus had never heard her or even about her and so the audience was very sceptical. But then during the sound check, Marjan came onto the stage and just sang twice ‘We are all satellites’ and her clear voice echoed under the round cupola of the hall. It was just like a sound of a brook, like flowing water. It was surely another image, another voice, but still fitting perfectly to the band and even to the older songs of AUTUMN.
Two years are gone and Marjan is now not a new singer of the band, but THE singer of AUTUMN. With new album ‘Altitude’ she proves again to be one of the best female singers in rock music. Starting the gig with two songs from the new album, the band filled the setlist with a mixture of new and some older songs, like 'Satellites', 'Blue Wine', and lyrical 'Epilogue' in the middle of the gig. Well, maybe Marjan is very optimistic person to sing this song with real feeling, real sorrow in her voice, but technically it as very respectable performance. With more vigorous 'Cascade' she was obviously much more in her element. All in one, it was very good gig with well-chosen setlist, perfect sound and good tempered band.
Setlist
01. Synchro-Minds
02. Paradise Nox
03. Blue Wine
04. The Heart Demands
05. Forget To Remember
06. Epilogue
07. Cascade (For A Day)
08. Skydancer
09. Satellites
10. Altitude
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 7.25 / 10
The Gathering
Dutch Band THE GATHERING was founded in 1989 and one year later the rehearsal tape ‘An Imaginary Symphony’ was released. The band played metal-oriented music with keyboards, which was rather unusual at the time, but the critics were mostly very positive. The first full length album ‘Always...’ was released in 1992 with Marike Groot on vocals. In 1993, ‘Almost a Dance’ was recorded with new vocalist Niels Duffhues and new female counterpart Martine van Loon. In 1994, Anneke van Giersbergen has joined the band as vocalist. The new album ‘Mandylion’ was very successful and reached Dutch charts. In 1999, THE GATHERING founded its own label Psychonaut Records and released the album ‘Almost a Dance’ in 2000. In summer of 2007, Anneke left THE GATHERING to take more time for her family and her own band, AGUA DE ANNIQUE. In March 2009, the new vocalist Silje Wergeland was introduced and the album ‘The West Pole’ was released in May. http://www.gathering.nl/ / http://www.myspace.com/gatheringofficial
Music & Performance
The new album of THE GATHERING was released more than eight months ago and it was enough time to understand that Silje is a perfect match for the band. For more than 13 years, Anneke was embodiment of THE GATHERING, so it was surely hard for the fans to accept a new vocalist, but much harder it was for Silje to be accepted as the new voice of the band. But the choice of the band was made and the choice was very good. Silje, having her unique voice, still managed to sing the older songs of the band the way the fans used to hear it. And so the audience really enjoyed the gig and it was not even noticeable as Silje has forgotten some lyrics on 'Leaves' and 'In Motion'. In the front of the stage stood a group of very active fans from Mexico, who sang the refrains with the band, but did it so good, that it sounded like a part of the performance.
The sound and light on this evening in the concert hall were really very good. Surely even those, who have never seen THE GATHERING with Silje before, were convinced in her skills and her talent. And Silje herself, apparently a bit restrained at the beginning of the performance, was encouraged by the positive reaction of the audience. Although the hall was only half-full, mostly because it was an evening before a new working week and because of unusually cold weather outside, but the people who dared to see this concert on this sold Sunday evening surely didn't regret it. It was really perfect concert of two unique bands from our neighbour country.
Setlist
01. When Trust Becomes Sound
02. No One Spoke
03. Inuit
04. A Constant Run
05. Analog Park
06. The West Pole
07. Great Ocean Road
08. Leaves
09. In Motion 1
10. No Bird Call
11. Even The Spirits Are Afraid
12. Marooned
13. Saturnine
14. All You Are
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15. Travel
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 7
Sound: 8
Light: 8
Total: 8.1 / 10
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