reviews concerts


CD Presentations

Plackband - After the Battle ...


CD presentation "After the battle" - Plackband

Venue: "de Boerderij", Zoetermeer - The Netherlands
Date: 19 April 2002

We hoefden er maar twintig jaar op te wachten: het eerste volwaardige Plackbandalbum. Vrijdag 19 april werd het in De Boerderij te Zoetermeer gepresenteerd. Ik moet zeggen dat ik er behoorlijk sceptisch naar toe ging. Ik was nog niet bekend met de muziek van deze "Haagse Genesis", ik had alleen het "iO-pages singletje" gehoord en dat vond ik nu niet bepaald spannend klinken. Dat singletje bleek achteraf niet echt representatief voor de band te zijn.

De band zou twee sets spelen die avond. Voor de pauze werd het nieuwe album "After The Battle" ten gehore gebracht en de oude Plackband-nummers waren na de pauze aan de beurt. Het titelnummer als eerste. Na geluiden van een slagveld ging de band met een uitgesponnen instrumentaal stuk van start. Het meerstemmige zanggedeelte dat volgde stond als een huis en bezorgde me kippenvel. Het zou niet de laatste keer zijn dat ik dat had, die avond. Na een paar minuten was ik al volledig om. Deze vijf grijze mannen weten wat goede muziek is. Veel nummers werden aan elkaar gespeeld waardoor het lange, epische stukken werden. Alle nummers bevatten niet al te veel zang en veel instrumentale passages.

Dat de band er jaren uit was geweest was nergens aan te merken, ze waren bijzonder goed op elkaar ingespeeld. De band is gezegd met een klasse drummer in de persoon Ton van der Meulen, hij sloeg bijzonder strak en speelde mooi gevarieerd. Maar vooral gitarist Ronald Brautigam stal de show met geweldig spel. Prachtige lange gitaarsolo’s liet hij uit zijn instrument komen. Daarnaast liet hij regelmatig horen ook over een prima stem te beschikken. Ook zanger Kees Bik zong bijzonder sterk. Naast het muzikale deel had de band het ook visueel prima voor elkaar. De lichtshow was werkelijk formidabel. Wat geeft een mooie lichtshow toch een meerwaarde aan een optreden. De band maakte ook gebruik van een groot scherm waarop mooie dia’s te zien waren.

In de pauze werd de cd officieel uitgereikt. Ron Lammers van Xymphonia overhandigde een speciale ingelijste collage aan de bandleden en aan Rob Rehorst, de producer van het album. Na de verplichtte dankwoorden was de pauze aangebroken en kon de cd tegen een, éénmalig gereduceerde prijs, gekocht worden.

Na de pauze was het tijd voor de oudere Plackband-nummers. Vond ik de muziek voor de pauze al geweldig, na de pauze ging het niveau nog een paar tandjes hoger. Prachtige lange songs met veel tempowisselingen en geweldige instrumentale passages. Het geluid die avond was prima verzorgd, niet te hard en alle instrumenten kwamen goed uit de verf.

Ik moet zeggen dat ik de hele avond heb genoten. Mocht je nog eens de kans krijgen om deze band te bekijken, zou ik niet te lang twijfelen.
Plackband is terug, en hoe!!

Maarten Goossensen, April 2002

It's strange but true. Going to a concert at the Boerderij often means that we had to face bad weather with a lot of rain. But this time the weather Gods were friendly. No rain or what so ever. Maybe it had to do with the special happening at the venue. The progressive rock veterans Plackband would release their first official studio album ever in 25 years. The launch party would included two sets of one hour each. The first set would include the whole new album "After The Battle". The second set was reserved for the 'left overs' that did not make it on the album. But first how did they deliver their first child. It was for me the second time that I should see them live since they were reformed. So I already knew that they still could lay down a wonderful performance. Also this time. After an introduction tune we could here the sound of battle and war. Gunshots and the sound of horses filled the music hall. It was the start of the first song. "The battle". An instrumental written as the opener for the second track "After the battle". As special effects they used a great light show and at the back we could see a slight show illustrating the story of this musical concept. The musicians were for this occasion dressed in special costumes. Singer Kees Bik was dressed as a general of war. To give his acting role more shape. But the music was the most important of all. I already knew the 'old' songs such as "End of the line", "The hunchback" and "Sign of the knife". Because they go way back into the seventies. But for the new album they had written a couple of new songs to complete the story. It was for me the first time that I heard songs like "See the dwarf" and "There comes the warlords". But it seemed as they were already for years on the setlist. The songs are musically in the same style as the rest of the material. Songs that reminded me of Genesis. Well done. The bonus track on the new album "Remember forever" was not done. Also not during the second part of the set. As a sort of 'best of the rest set' they started this second set with "Bloodmaster". Another highlight. For the second song "Teasing the boss" the singer left the stage and it was show time for the other four musicians. Again we could hear how much the band must have been inspired by Genesis during their "Wind And Wuthering" period. Beautiful! After "Some party" they played their longest written song ever. Originally it lasted 45 minutes but they washed it a bit too hot and cut it down to 16 minutes. The song is called "The good earth" and includes a lot of solos on keyboards by Michel Van Wassem and guitars by Ronald Brautigam. The last song of the regular set "7thy warriors" included some wonderful harmony vocals. But more important was the amazing guitar solo done by Ronald. It reminded me of Dave Gilmour playing his solo for "Comfortably numb" on Pink Floyds "Wall" album. Again beautiful. But their was not time to leave.One of the former fanclub founders told the crowd that band knew one more song. It was called "We want more". So the band returned to the stage for a second performance of "After the battle". Again wonderful done. But the audience thought that they wanted something extra so they sang ""We still want more". But unfortunately the launch party had come to an end. We saw a band in great shape. Although not as good as in the seventies but still worth seeing. Hopefully we don't have to wait another 25 years for another CD promotion party.

Henri Strik, April 2002

 

Timelock - Circle of Deception ...


CD presentation "Circle of deception" - Timelock

Venue: "de Boerderij", Zoetermeer - The Netherlands
Date: 1 November 2002

Going to a CD presentation is most of the time a successful evening. Also the one on the first day of november in The Boerderij in Zoetermeer. Timelock from The Hague, Holland, would launch the release of their third album "Circle Of Deception". Finally 8 years after their last album "The Dawn" we can enjoy some new music from them. For Absent Friends had the task to bring the audience in the right mood. Three musicians in the band would also be on the stage during Timelocks celebration party. Timelocks most important musician Julian Driessen joined FAF last year on keyboards and is still with them. At the end of all the performances he had been three hours on stage. It was not a surprise that he was tired at the end of the day. Singer Hans van Lint and drummer Ed Wernke made guest appearances on the new Timelock album and did later on three songs with them. But first it was FAF time. They started with "We can not" and soon we realized that they would do a great performance with a lot of highlights. Like the old"The stone". But also the "Boy-Father" combination with a great guitar solo done by Edwin Roes. The title track of their last album "The Big Room" is also always something special. The song everytime reaches a beautiful climax. Also this time. The band could not do a whole set because more things were to come next. The audience was in the right mood and hopefully Timelock could keep up with the high level. After a short break the band entered the stage. First they would do a short set focused on the new album. On drums we found the already mentioned Mr Wernke. Also Mr van Lint had a microphone in his hand to do some extra vocals. Further on we saw Bert de Bruijne on bass, Martin Hendriks on guitars, Ruud Stoker on lead vocals and ofcourse Mr Driessen on keyboards. To give the presentation something extra they used images at the back. They started with "Redskindian". Ruud and Julian both played the keyboards. this way they came close to the studio version. "Different light" and "Man in the mirror" were next. After those excellent versions it was time for the official part. All members got their copy of the new album. Also Ed Wernke and new drummer Rob Boshuijzen who only played on one track. Too bad that producer Rob Rehorst could not come to collect his copy. Sadly enough he was brought to a hospital with the first signs of cancer. We wish him all the best. After another break the band again returned to the stage. This time a little bit longer and with Mr Boshuijzen behind the drums. What we heard was a selection of tracks from all their albums. Plus "Salesman" from the "Dreamcarnation" project. Only too bad they could not perform the long epic song "Everthing except the world". The only remark about this well played concert was the sound. It was way too loud. Also when they did a final encore. Thank God somebody started to scream "WE WANT MORE" otherwise "The wrong century" was never played. The musicians and audience were both satisfied so it was again a successful CD presentation. Hopefully next time we can have a couple of more people in front of the stage. The Progfarm festival the next day could have been the reason. Not everybody has the money and time to witness two musical events in one weekend. Some people have to make choices.
Thank God I didn't have to.

Henri Strik, November 2002

 

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