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Tivoli, Utrecht, The Netherlands
April 28th 2005
Paradise Lost, Orphaned Land and Society 1

Due to the late arrival of a sound engineer the show started an hour too late. In the mean time quite a row had formed in the hall of Tivoli, it was very warm. Then finally the doors opened and all could go in. The first band started quickly and the show was on the road. The opening acts were only known to a few members in the audience but the response to both bands was good. Even tough the hall was full, the venue was not packed, the balcony wasn’t open, some 700 tickets were sold.

Society 1

In their bio on the website Matt Zane (vocals), who calls himself ‘the Lord’, makes some heavy statements. He has some big plans, wanting to influence the world with their music. He even states that in the future politicians will use much more music to make statements and express power. With their music Society 1 wants to break down pre-existing mindsets and realities, pretty big plans for just the first band of the evening.


Music

With raging guitars and the warm voice of ’the Lord’ Society 1 made a pleasant opener of this evening. Not only their singer could sing but also their bass player ‘Dirt’ turned out to have a great voice, he could even sing quite high, which I didn’t expect from such a big man. Sometimes their music was chaotic, but all in all they have a powerful sound. In the beginning of the show the sound was not very steady but that was adjusted and for the rest of the show the sound was ok.


Performance

When entering the venue the band was already playing. The first thing which caught my eye was ‘the Lord’. With his very low cut pants, long black hair, muscled body and black tape crossed over his nipples. Accompanying him on his right there was ‘Sin’ the guitarist of Society 1, he had no sweat on his face (while the others were dripping) and when head banging it was a great sight for he had long red and black braids. ‘Berzerk Kirk’ was playing a special kind of drum set, for his cymbals were on sticks of at least one and a half meters high. These high cymbals especially stood out in contradiction to the low microphones of ‘Sin’ and ‘Dirt’ who had to bend over to sing. ‘The Lord’ is a great performer he has a great stage presence but in addition to that he comes across a bit arrogant. There was some interaction with the audience, we were asked to sing along the word ‘die’. Many did sing along even though at first there only seemed to be one fan in front of the stage. The lights added to the energy of the show and the music, it was great especially considering this was the light for the support act.


Rating

Music 6
Performance 7
Sound 5
Light 7
Total  6 (6,4)




Orphaned Land

After having performed in Turkey at the 'Rock the Nations festival' with amongst others the Dutch band Epica , which is closer to home for them, they now have finally found their way to the Netherlands themselves. Orphaned Land plays a mixture of doom metal with oriental and traditional flavours.


Music

After having heard their last album ‘Mambool’ (2004) many times I was very curious how it would be to see and hear them live. They sounded a bit darker on stage; the grunts are deep and rough. Songs were introduced by singing children (‘Birth of the Three’) and the beautiful sounds of a traditional song: percussion with traditional singing. They have found a perfect combination of metal and traditional music which gives them a very distinct sound. It makes you want to shake your hips as well as bang your head. There was some noise in the sound during their performance; the balance between the instruments was good though.


Performance

Orphaned Land was very happy to play in the Netherlands, and it showed, they were having fun amongst each other and with the audience while posing for photos and such; smiles were almost constantly on their faces. There were some fans in the audience, which is of course great to see for a band which has travelled all the way form Israel to tour here. At one point during the show Kobi (vocals) asked the audience to sing along, and quite a few people joined in. Kobi uses his microphone standard like a real rock star, lifting it up and moving it around to emphasize the emotions in the songs. It was crowded on stage, for the equipment of Paradise Lost was on stage too but they managed and gave a great and enthusiastic show, leaving both band and audience with a smile on their faces. There was no real light show during their performance, there was enough green and blue front light though which enabled the audience to see all the movement on stage well for it was quite crowded, but the lights never changed colour which was a bit boring. Especially if the lights at the back of the stage were used these could have added a nice touch to the show.


Rating

Music 8
Performance 7
Sound 6
Light 5
Total  7 (6,9)


Paradise Lost

Formed in 1988 this band named after the epic poem of John Milton (1667) has been around for quite a while now. They have released 10 albums now. Their latest album ‘Paradise Lost’ has been released recently and is received with different opinions. Some like this new work; others think it is too slow and soft. Despite these comments many had come to see them play in Tivoli this evening.


Music

Besides the new songs Paradise Lost also played some ‘old’ songs, to the pleasure of many audience members. Especially for the black metal fans they played ‘So much is lost’, “the song you love to hate” according to Nick Holmes (vocals). The sound was much better than with the other two bands.


Performance

Thinking back of the Paradise Lost performance I remember Nick kept announcing songs one or two people might know… after which the entire venue started to cheer. Nick sung with his eyes closed during most of the performance, he disappeared in to the songs he was singing. There was not a lot of movement on stage, even though they had the entire stage to them selves. They were standing in front of the stage, except for the drummer and hardly moved, they went from static to small movements, the band loosens up a bit while performing. At the back of the stage hung a beautiful back drop, with the new cd cover on it. With Paradise Lost the light didn’t stand out either, there was hardly any movement of lights on stage or any colour changes. There was little front light so the faces of the band members were not lit, which was a pity because now the only movement and emotions on stage, which were on the face of Nick couldn’t be seen.


Set List

Don't belong
Grey
True Belief
Erased
Redshift
Mystify
So Much is Lost
Symbol of life
Accept the Pain
No Celebration
For all you leave Behind
As I Die
Shine
Shadowkings
Close your Eyes
One Second
----
Forever After
Over the Madness
Say Just Words
Last Time

Rating
Music 7
Performance 6
Sound 7
Light 7
Total  7 (6,6)




More articles about Orphaned Land

Concert Review - Tessaloniki 2005


More photos

www.concertvisions.com

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