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LVC, Leiden, the NetherlandsApril 7th 2006
Theatre of Tragedy and Gothminister
I was really looking forward to seeing Theatre of Tragedy again. Especially I was anxious to see and hear their new singer. In the old days I was pretty hooked to Theatre of Tragedy, but they lost me with their crossroad album ‘Musique’.
Gothminister
Tonight the Norwegian gothic band Gothminister was back in the Netherlands after their rather good show some months ago at Summer Darkness. While the audience was slowly entering the stage singer Björn was walking around video taping just about every person he saw. For those of you who didn't recognize him without his make-up, yes he was that rather ordinary looking man.
Music
The band has been busy promoting their 2005 album 'Empire of Dark Salvation' for a long time now and it really shows on stage. Their musical performance is most definitely good and sounds very powerful. Most songs of the new album are on the setlist and it seems like there are even a few people in the audience who know the words to them. Gothminister plays music that is rather dark, low voices, heavy guitars and funny tunes on the keyboard while the drummer hits a steady yet ferocious beat. Yes, you are right, the bass guitar, nope not there on stage, but that didn't make the sound any bit less impressive when it comes to their music. Looking at the setlist they played 6 songs of their new album and pleased the crowd with another 5 of their previous album ‘Gothic Electronic Anthems’. You can feel the darkness when they are playing yet the beat makes you want to move and sing along. Their latest single 'Monsters' is a song which people, who don't know this band, should listen too. The reaction from the audience showed it was well appreciated, and admitting, it has a quite catchy tune! The sound in the venue wasn't bad at all just the venue keeps bouncing tones back and forth; nothing much to be done about that.
The band has been busy promoting their 2005 album 'Empire of Dark Salvation' for a long time now and it really shows on stage. Their musical performance is most definitely good and sounds very powerful. Most songs of the new album are on the setlist and it seems like there are even a few people in the audience who know the words to them. Gothminister plays music that is rather dark, low voices, heavy guitars and funny tunes on the keyboard while the drummer hits a steady yet ferocious beat. Yes, you are right, the bass guitar, nope not there on stage, but that didn't make the sound any bit less impressive when it comes to their music. Looking at the setlist they played 6 songs of their new album and pleased the crowd with another 5 of their previous album ‘Gothic Electronic Anthems’. You can feel the darkness when they are playing yet the beat makes you want to move and sing along. Their latest single 'Monsters' is a song which people, who don't know this band, should listen too. The reaction from the audience showed it was well appreciated, and admitting, it has a quite catchy tune! The sound in the venue wasn't bad at all just the venue keeps bouncing tones back and forth; nothing much to be done about that.
Performance
A stage filled with smoke and some blue light from the back provides the right atmosphere for the band to enter the stage. With keyboard player Halfface hidden under a cloak and the rest of the band wearing facial paintings like they have just escaped from the darkest Batman movie the audience was prepared for his eminence, Gothminister. Wearing a top hat and carrying his scull decorated staff darkness seems to embrace you. And then the light kick in better, the bands starts playing and Gothminister in very expressive ways starts to entertain the crowd. With the two chained heads hanging from the cross en his mini stage to the right the singer Björn is busy all the time. And this does cause it's share of problems because the stage is way too small for this band to really do their show properly. But no, this wasn't a bad show, not at all. With the lights being rather okay except for the floorspot casting nasty shadows and the fact that when he was on this raised stage he almost had to hit the lights. With all the obstacles to overcome and the bumping into each other occasionally the band never lost they fun in playing. Good to see how well they interacted with the audience, many of which seems to have come especially for them and by all means that's understandable. If only they could get a bigger stage next time they are back in the Netherlands!
A stage filled with smoke and some blue light from the back provides the right atmosphere for the band to enter the stage. With keyboard player Halfface hidden under a cloak and the rest of the band wearing facial paintings like they have just escaped from the darkest Batman movie the audience was prepared for his eminence, Gothminister. Wearing a top hat and carrying his scull decorated staff darkness seems to embrace you. And then the light kick in better, the bands starts playing and Gothminister in very expressive ways starts to entertain the crowd. With the two chained heads hanging from the cross en his mini stage to the right the singer Björn is busy all the time. And this does cause it's share of problems because the stage is way too small for this band to really do their show properly. But no, this wasn't a bad show, not at all. With the lights being rather okay except for the floorspot casting nasty shadows and the fact that when he was on this raised stage he almost had to hit the lights. With all the obstacles to overcome and the bumping into each other occasionally the band never lost they fun in playing. Good to see how well they interacted with the audience, many of which seems to have come especially for them and by all means that's understandable. If only they could get a bigger stage next time they are back in the Netherlands!
Setlist
00. Intro
01. Dark Salvation
02. Hatred
03. Forgotten
04. Angel
05. We Die in Dreams
06. Gothic Anthem
07. Devil
08. Nachtzehrer
09. March of the Dead
10. Monsters
11. Happiness in Darkness
00. Intro
01. Dark Salvation
02. Hatred
03. Forgotten
04. Angel
05. We Die in Dreams
06. Gothic Anthem
07. Devil
08. Nachtzehrer
09. March of the Dead
10. Monsters
11. Happiness in Darkness
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Soound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Soound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 8
Theatre of Tragedy
The history of the band Theatre of Tragedy starts in 1993 when a band called Suffering Grief was formed in Stavanger, Norway. At that time the band didn´t even have their own rehearsing room but had to drive from place to place. In 1994 the band changed their name to Le Reine Noir which they only kept for a few weeks. In the end of april 1994 they finally changed their name to Theatre of Tragedy at about the same time that Liv Kristine joined the band. In 2003 Liv Kristine parted Theatre of Tragedy to work on her own solo Projects, like ‘Leaves Eyes’’. Nell Sigland joined the band and at this moment the band is touring with their new album ‘Storm’.
Music
The band started off with 'Storm’ followed by ‘Lorelei'. Nell (vocals) proved herself to be a great replacement for Live Kristine. Too bad that their was a little problem with the acoustics of the venue; When standing in front of the stage there was a lot of feedback into the audience, which made the sound a little blurry. Theatre of Tragedy played a very varied setlist: from ‘Theatre of Tragedy’ (1995) ‘till ‘Storm’ (2006) and everything in between. The voices of Nell (vocals) and Raymond (vocals) were perfectly fitting on each other and made it a great combination. Especially on the new songs of their latest album ’Storm’. This album proved itself to again be heavier than the previous ones. When they left the stage for the first time, the audience wasn’t ready to let the band go. With a big applause Theatre of Tragedy entered the stage again and played two more songs: ’Image' and they closed the set with ‘A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal‘, one of my favourits.
Performance
The band was really in the mood when they entered the stage. They were received by an enthusiastic crowd and Nell was pretty pleased by that. I was impressed by here stage preformance: she had a lot of interaction with the audience and moved graciously onto the rhythm of the music. It was too bad that the lightshow wasn’t making the joy of the band visible. There was just not enough light or red light which made it quite impossible to read the emotions on the faces of the band members. It was good to see that the band felt quite confident again playing the new songs, which were greatly received by the audience. I lost Theatre of Tragedy for a time, but after this show I guess it’s time to hook up again. We will be hearing more of them again in future times.
The band started off with 'Storm’ followed by ‘Lorelei'. Nell (vocals) proved herself to be a great replacement for Live Kristine. Too bad that their was a little problem with the acoustics of the venue; When standing in front of the stage there was a lot of feedback into the audience, which made the sound a little blurry. Theatre of Tragedy played a very varied setlist: from ‘Theatre of Tragedy’ (1995) ‘till ‘Storm’ (2006) and everything in between. The voices of Nell (vocals) and Raymond (vocals) were perfectly fitting on each other and made it a great combination. Especially on the new songs of their latest album ’Storm’. This album proved itself to again be heavier than the previous ones. When they left the stage for the first time, the audience wasn’t ready to let the band go. With a big applause Theatre of Tragedy entered the stage again and played two more songs: ’Image' and they closed the set with ‘A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal‘, one of my favourits.
Performance
The band was really in the mood when they entered the stage. They were received by an enthusiastic crowd and Nell was pretty pleased by that. I was impressed by here stage preformance: she had a lot of interaction with the audience and moved graciously onto the rhythm of the music. It was too bad that the lightshow wasn’t making the joy of the band visible. There was just not enough light or red light which made it quite impossible to read the emotions on the faces of the band members. It was good to see that the band felt quite confident again playing the new songs, which were greatly received by the audience. I lost Theatre of Tragedy for a time, but after this show I guess it’s time to hook up again. We will be hearing more of them again in future times.
Setlist
01. Storm
02. Lorelei
03. Bring Forth Ye Shadow
04. Venus
05. Silence
06. Cassandra
07. And When He Falleth
08. Fragment
09. Fade
10. Crash/Concrete
11. Episode
12. Begin and End
13. A Rose for the Dead
14. Ashes and Dreams
15. Machine
---
16. Image
17. A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal
Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 6
Light 5
Total 8
01. Storm
02. Lorelei
03. Bring Forth Ye Shadow
04. Venus
05. Silence
06. Cassandra
07. And When He Falleth
08. Fragment
09. Fade
10. Crash/Concrete
11. Episode
12. Begin and End
13. A Rose for the Dead
14. Ashes and Dreams
15. Machine
---
16. Image
17. A Hamlet for a Slothful Vassal
Rating
Music 8
Performance 8
Sound 6
Light 5
Total 8
More photos on page 2
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