Tristania - Den Bosch 2005

W2, Den Bosch, The Netherlands
February 20th 2005
Tristania and Nemesea
 
This is the day that many people were waiting for. Tristania is on tour with their new record “Ashes” and for the first time they will be a headliner in the Netherlands. It seems the band has brought the cold of Norway with them, but it has no influence on the people who are waiting outside. It is a bit strange to have a concert at three ’o clock in the afternoon, but they have coffee so I’ve go the time to get into the mood. Soon the venue is full of excited people and the atmosphere is very good.

This new gothic sensation comes from the Netherlands and they are well known by the audience because of the fact that they were on tour with After Forever. I never had the chance to see them in action, but I was happy that they booked them for tonight, because they really brought a good vibe with them. The most impressive thing of the band is that front woman Manda Ophuis shows a lot of real emotions in her songs. Together with her voice she really knows how to give a good show.

Music
The band starts very fast and up-tempo and it’s good to see that they want to make a great show. Almost all the songs of their debut record “Mana” are on the set list. Manda needs the time to get into the songs and halfway through the set it goes better when she sings the beautiful ballad “Angel in the Dark” here Manda shows that she has a good voice, especially the high emotional draw out of her voice. The songs are coloured by her emotions and that makes the songs more impressive. She is the one who lifts the band to a higher level. The drum parts are very technical and very basic, that also goes for the structure of the other instruments. They keyboard parts cause the songs to be more open, the guitars are not impressive and boring to listen to. The songs are composed around the voice of Manda and for me they are a mix between Nightwish (the high parts) and the power of a band like After Forever, but the band has a long way to go before they’ll be on that level. Manda uses the same technique as Floor (AF) and she has the will to come that far so hopefully also the other members will have the energy to put more into the music. The band also played a cover from The Gathering “Strong Machine” but Manda didn’t start very well and it was not a good idea to do that song. 

Performance
It’s Manda who stands in the spotlight and she does it very well. With her long red hair and natural movements she knows how to fill the stage with her presence. Her voice reflects her emotions so well that she impresses the people even with that alone. Her face changes a lot: you can see when she’s really sad or desperate and that causes the audience to feel the songs. The other band members are static on stage and they have no real contact with the audience. There is no interaction, which doesn’t make it interesting to look at. When there is a long instrumental part Manda is not on stage for more than two minutes. The guys try to fill the stage, but they can’t. When Manda is back the whole show has more power. She is the only one who really has contact with the audience. It seems that she grown a lot in that part of her performance and that’s very positive.

Rating
Music 7
Performance 8
Sound 6
Light 6
Total 7

Tristania

The band, so common in the scene, always acts on the highest level and still they guarantee quality and a good sound. Also their typical sound with three different vocalists makes that the shows are always very impressive. It is for those reasons that the venue is sold out. When the red curtains are closed the people started to move more to the front. People are exited and you can feel it in the air. A good sign because it shows that people are curious and respect the band. With “Ashes” they may have made some enemies because the sound was different, but these people here are those impressed by the last record. When the band enters the stage people start to scream and it’s good to see that the band is exited too and want to give their all.

Music
The band has a good set list today: many new and old songs were mixed in a powerful set. The most impressive song on the set list was “Equilibrium” (also the new single from the record, the band has just made the video for the song) where Østen and Vibeke sing together very powerful and also “The Wretched” showed the contrasts between Vibekes strong voice and the aggressive screams. Those new songs are very powerful and the band shows on stage that they have the energy to give more power to the songs. The sound was very good and with some new faces in the band (keyboard player Einar couldn’t be there because of his work) and they have Kjell (Trail of Tears) to play the bass with them.

Performance
Vibeke always stands in the spotlight and also this time she is the one who is very strong on stage. Her combination of movements in the show are so natural that it almost seems like she is in trance. She creates her own world on stage without loosing contact with the audience. Her voice is deeper and lower when she sings the new songs and it even impresses more. Her face reflects more than ever the strong emotions and the drama that she feels. Also grunter Kjetil has grown a lot on this tour. His screams are very impressive and together with the very subtle grunts of Anders (guitar) they give a very aggressive sound. Many people had difficulties with the sound of the new grunter after Morten left the band, but Kjetil proved that he can do a lot of different things with his voice. The grunts and screams are fast, but more than that, he shows a lot of energy on stage. He performs very well and makes a lot of contact with the audience, runs around and even plays the acoustic guitar on “Equilibrium”. Than we also have Østen the man with the dark, doom voice. He is the most peaceful one on stage, but, he has the most dark and deep lyrics. He doesn’t move a lot but he shows his emotions on his face. All together this is not a show or a simple performance but a modern opera: its theatre on the highest level. Tristania proved that they are more powerful than ever and have found their sound. When the curtain falls the audience is silent for a while and I realise myself that this was a memorable show: the band and audience had good interaction and understood each others emotions.