013, Tilburg, The Netherlands
14th November 2013
My Favorite Scar, Amanda Somerville's Trillium, Dead man’s Curse
With three heavy rock bands that could each be headlining this evening at the small stage of 013, the order playing stayed uncertain until the evening itself. A modest crowd has gathered in front of the venue and right on time DEAD MAN’s CURSE kicks off.
Dead man’s Curse
DEAD MAN’S CURSE is a Dutch rock band consisting of (ex) members of BLIND SIGHT, BORN FROM PAIN, 37 STABWOUNDZ and RAZOR CRUSADE. Using the experience from their previous bands these four individuals decided to combine forces to form the ultimate rock band. No fancy haircuts, no over-paid producers, no eye-liner. Just four guys and their passion for heavy music. They have worked for months building up a repertoire eager to hit the stage again. DEAD MAN’S CURSE is Geert Kroes (Vocals/bass), Mark Weerts (Drums/vocals), Serve Olieslagers (Guitar) and Jaap Lagerweij (Guitar). www.deadmanscurse.com / www.facebook.com/pages/Dead-Mans-Curse/
Music & Performance
DEAD MAN’s CURSE is a self-proclaimed no-nonsense heavy rock band and that’s exactly what they show us tonight. Right from the start, their sound is solid as a rock and flavoured with a full-bodied American sauce. They present us amongst others with their recently released single ‘Shot to Hell’. Heavy guitars and pounding drums are combined with the double vocals of bass player Geert and drummer Mark and they work quite well together. Mark’s voice reminded me somewhat of BUCKCHERRY’s lead singer Josh Todd, but the vocals also relate to ALTER BRIDGE in a way. The American accent might come across as a bit over the top, but the overall sound is credible/authentic to me as a non-American and therefore not disturbing. Band members each are in a good mood and quite talkative between the songs. Both guitar players take it away with numerous guitar solos and matching facial expressions – love that! 
After a song or two, lead singer Geert explains the presence of a couple of supermarket shoppers on stage: that’s how they move their gear when going to a gig. No-nonsense that is. Up next are ‘One Man Grave’ and another song from their new maxi single ‘Willow Tree’. The audience didn’t really seem to warm up for this first band though, but perhaps the charismatic front lady of the next band is about to change that…
Setlist (incomplete)
Shot to hell
Dance with the devil
One man grave
Willow tree
Get it down
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Amanda Somerville’s Trillium
Amanda Somerville is an American singer-songwriter and vocal coach best known for her collaborations with various European metal bands (AVANTASIA, EPICA, KAMELOT, AFTER FOREVER). Since 1999 she has resided and worked mainly in Germany and the Netherlands. With a vocal range from tenor to soprano and stylistically diverse, Amanda’s solo career has thus far been primarily comprised of soft and elegant pop/rock with some hard rock, folk and soul music influences. Musically, her new band TRILLIUM is a hybrid of rock and metal: it's riffy, has a heavy hand instrumentally and is quite different from anything Amanda has ever worked on so far. The creative team on the album includes the acclaimed Sascha Paeth & Miro (KAMELOT, AVANTASIA, EPICA, AFTER FOREVER, ANGRA etc.) on production, songwriting and performances with the participation of Sander Gommans (ex After Forever). TRILLIUM on stage tonight is Amanda Somerville (vocals), Paul Owsinski (Guitars), Mark Burnash (bass) and Hans in ‘t Zand (Drums). www.amandasomerville.com / www.facebook.com/amandasomervilleofficial
Music & Performance
Cheers go up as Amanda and her band members take the stage and hit it off with ‘Machine Gun’; the first song of the album ‘Alloy’. Charismatic & expressive as ever, Amanda is very interactive with the audience making eye contact and moving around on stage all the time. Needless to say, taking care of the vocals seems like breathing to her: effortlessly. Moving on with ‘Mistaken’ and ‘Set a Fire’, TRILLIUM clearly constitutes a strong team on stage, with chained cowboy Mark on bass and backing vocals and Paul on raging guitars. The band as well as the audience seems to have a great time, as Amanda talks us through her repertoire between the songs. For the next song, Amanda announces a drummer swap as she introduces Tom Pluijmakers or ‘Tommy P’ of Dutch rock band Only Fate Remains. Tom joined TRILLIUM for the European tour with ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN last month and was able to pop in for one song during this set. 
After ‘Purge’ drummer Hans in ‘t Zand takes his place behind the cymbals again and TRILLIUM moves on with ‘Bow to the ego and ‘Path of least Resistance’. It’s great to see TRILLIUM on stage, as their music really comes to life compared to the album. The vocals, sound and everything just seems to sparkle & radiate much more. And it says something that days after, I still have several tunes in my head that I can’t get rid of. Great show!
Setlist
01. Machine Gun
02. Mistaken
03. Set a Fire
04. Utter Descension
05. Mayday (Amanda Somerville cover)
06. Purge
07. Bow to the Ego
08. Path of Least Resistance
09. Coward
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 7.8 / 10
My Favorite Scar
MY FAVORITE SCAR is a Dutch dark rock band formed in 2008 by brothers Jeroen and Eef and their friend Daan. In August 2010 MY FAVORITE SCAR launched their first CD at the major record label Universal. The recording reached the 29th place in the album chart in its first week, it became album of the month in the magazine ‘Aardschok’ and the band went on tour. Beside their own Dutch Club tour and an unforgettable show at the Lowlands Festival, they performed as a support act for bands as KISS, MEGADETH, DISTURBED and EPICA and in Amsterdam, Berlin and Antwerp they opened for ALTER BRIDGE. MY FAVORITE SCAR released their new EP called ‘Wide Awake’ in September 2013. The EP contains 7 brand new tracks and will be released in cooperation with Pummel Records. The release will be preceded by a single and music video for the song ‘My Enemy’. MY FAVORITE SCAR is Evan Reed (Lead guitar, vocals), Daan Janzing (Rhythm guitar, vocals), Patrick de Kok (Bass guitar), Jeroen van Riet (Lead vocals) and Roel van Helden (Drums). www.myfavoritescar.com / www.facebook.com/myfavoritescar
Music & Performance
Swapping drummers seem to be the trend of this evening we see as Martijn Peters from STREAM OF PASSION takes place behind the cymbals. After a not-to-miss electronic intro, MY FAVORITE SCAR kicks off with their new single ‘My Enemy’. This evening’s set list is logically filled mostly with songs from their brand new album ‘Wide awake, Pt 1’. Their music has an ominous & angry atmosphere with the vocals of Jeroen going from hoarse whispers to clean vocals. The new songs also seem to have more electronic influences mixed into them, a valuable addition that enriches their music and really adds up to their sound. The obvious lady fans in the audience front row were having a great time and in the meantime the rest of the audience at the small stage seemed to be warmed up as well. A small remark should be made on the volume of the last band of this evening though. Even with proper earplugs, I still had my ears ringing when I got home. There’s a thin line between awesome & annoying loudness and unfortunately MY FAVORITE SCAR was more on the last side this evening. Singer Jeroen assures us that they will not forget about the old work this evening and then announces ‘No Love Lost’ from their debut album, where additional vocals are taken properly taken care of by the angry grunts of guitar player Daan. 
Up next, MY FAVORITE SCAR surprises us with a cover of RIHANNA’s ‘Diamonds’. Doing a cover becomes interesting when a band is able to amplify certain elements of an existing song and expand on that. I’m thinking this is a perfect song to show of Jeroen’s well-trained rock vocals. Therefore, I was a bit disappointed as I got the impression that this cover was a last-minute decision or a rush job. After another oldie ‘Liberty is Dead’ the band treats us to two more new songs ‘What a waste you are’ and ‘Like a loaded gun’. With the new album, MY FAVORITE SCAR has proved further growth into their own direction and sound - keep an eye on this band! After tonight in Tilburg, this impressive trio of heavy bands will do a couple more shows in the Netherlands, so don’t miss out!
Setlist
01. Intro
02. My enemy
03. Time to wake up
04. The great deceiver
05. Angel eyes
06. It’s not love
07. No love lost
08. Diamonds (Rihanna cover)
09. Liberty is dead
10. What a waste you are
11. Like a loaded gun
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 7
Light: 6
Total: 7.3 / 10
All pics by Ruth Mampuys (www.ruth-less.nl)
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