Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht, The NetherlandsMarch 5th 2005
Tanzwut and Sylver Myst
It was a cold and slippery evening but everybody arrived in one piece. At first you come in to the entrance hall where you can hang your coat, have a drink, check out the merchandise and warm up before entering the concert hall. Everybody seemed exited and ready to start the Summer Darkness kick off party!
Sylver Myst
Sylver Myst was founded in 2001 by a group of friends. May 2002 they released their first demo. However after some successful concerts there is a change in the bands line-up. In the summer of 2003 the band is complete and in November that year the band goes back in to the studio to make their second demo ‘Strains of Souls’. Sylver Myst only play their own songs and write their own lyrics, sometimes written by just one person or conceived by the entire band during a jam session. As such each song contains a contribution from one of the 6 band members. They all find their inspiration in different kinds of music which makes their style hard to capture in one word. But gothic metal springs to mind.
Music
It is clear this band knows their stuff. The riffs sound smooth, they make no obvious beginners mistakes. Every instrument is tuned in to one another. What stands out is a firm bass melody part and some very good guitar solo’s. The songs are solid and sound good. This band will stick around.
The vocal technique of Marjolein (vocals) is ok, although she doesn’t really seem to feel what she is singing. This off course had its impact on the performance. The sound was ok this evening although sometimes the volume suddenly changed.
Performance
The guitarists look very serious and it seems as though they don’t even notice us, they don’t seem to be at ease with an entire audience staring at them. Only Didier (guitar/vocals) shows some energy and even moves around the stage. Marjolein is doing her best to get in touch with the audience; she asks us to shout ‘Tanzwut’ twice but hardly gets any reply. This doesn’t stop however and thereafter this she asks us to shout ‘Sylver Myst’ and as expected there was no reply, except of course for someone shouting ‘Slayer’ which seems to happen at least once at every single concert. The overall performance of Marjolein seems to be somewhat of an act; the emotions she shows don’t seem real, she sometimes doesn’t seem to know how to move on stage. She tries to look confident and at ease but is all seems a bit fake to me.
I believe a leading lady should be the main representative for the band and that just wasn’t the case here, she should really pay some more attention to her looks when she is on stage. During the concert the guitarists seemed to relax, even a smile or two were given. During the heavier songs they really enjoyed themselves and that was good to see. The lights were there to light the stage but no more, they didn’t add anything to the show of Sylver Myst.
Rating
Music 8
Performance 5
Sound 7
Light 5
Total 6 (6,2)
Tanzwut
Having seen them just two days ago in a very intimate atmosphere I was really curious how it would be to see them perform tonight. The stage was much higher, creating more distance between the band and the audience. This barrier seemed no obstacle for Tanzwut however! Before Tanzwut entered the stage there was a tension to be felt in the audience, everybody was anxious to see them.
Music
The fact that Tanzwut makes music to dance to was once more confirmed this evening. Everybody was moving, if not on the outside then at least on the inside. A new instrument caught my eye this evening Koll played a silver flute, which had a very distinct sound and added a delicate touch to the song.
Performance
The men of Tanzwut seemed to really love their audience this evening, they were flirting during the entire concert; making eye contact with girls and the men weren’t forgotten either, the band shook hands as well during the concert. The band was radiant; they were having a great time. This evening the symmetry on stage was very clear. During the entire show the band members stand in symmetric positions, it seems as though the entire show is choreographed. There were many lamps so the entire stage was well lit, this unfortunately did cause the black light effects to be less strong. But that didn’t matter to the audience of this evening; they all seemed to know every word to every song. Everybody was singing along and dancing, there even was a mosh pit.
Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 7
Light 7
Total 8 (7,7)
Comments powered by CComment