|
IMMORTAL
TOUR 2000
RIJSSEN -
30 September
Report from the gig
in Rijssen: The gig was absolutely brilliant, we had about 800 people in
the audience and the place was packed. It was a real 'fan' evening and
things were very 'up' from the beginning to the end. We're really getting
into the songs now, the way they're joined together, and this evening we
played 'set B' with Sirens on the menu. On the other Dutch gig in
Amsterdam, they will get 'set A' with Solomon instead. Clive made the
crowd cheer and shout for the live album that is being recorded thoughout
this tour and the band rocked! It was a very good vibe on stage and Rob is
showing his best sides as a frontman. Earlier in the day we had a bit of a
drama with one of the samplers suddenly giving up, but thanks to the cool
headedness of Ace ('ace' keyboard tech) and Phil (Running Frog) who took
the gizmo apart and then put it back together, it worked out fine. And now
we're off to Offenbach!
Photo: Ian Moffatt
A review of the gig
in Rijssen, by Alle Jansen:
I was in Rijssen
(nl) to see the boys playing there. I went of to late from home so I get
to late in Rijssen. I walk in and find myself a good place to see
everything good.
To bad (for me , and good for the band) that the band is growing and a lot
of peolple want to see them also. My advance is I am tall so I look over
all the people. Lucky me.
The first notes came from "Moviedrome" Too bad. That song
is so great, that I was sorry for they playing that as number one. The
sound was not yet good (or I stoot on a wrong place) I wasnt hear guitar
and one of Clive's keyboard was very very very loud.
At last they have found the right balance and it was wonderfull to hear
that song live on stage. All the way during the show I was in exciteing
and love it to hear the boys growing and growing. They become a great band
(was it already. I am fan from the first hour)
Keep on growing and please our ears with this heavenly music.
So everyone there in England thank you for this wonderfull gig.
greetings from Alle Jansen.
A review of the gig in Rijssen, by Hester Stasse:
Arena's gig in Rijssen was a smasher!! :)
No intro music this time, just a minutes-long, droning keyboard sound
which made clear what song was the first to be played: "Moviedrome"!!
Great to hear that track live!! Rob was wearing an alien-like outfit:
black sunglasses which made him have big, alien eyes, hair combed
backwards, slick clothing and some robot-like movements. The atmosphere
during this song was really intense and was crudely disturbed by one of
the people of the venue forcing himself through the crowd almost up to the
front of the stage and then going "Are there any glasses standing
there?" [In Dutch, of course, and with a distinct East-Netherlands
accent......] during one of the more quiet bits of the track. I could have
bashed his head in!!! Geez, what an *rseh*le!!!!
Next on [I believe......
my memory of Friday night is a bit hazy.....;) And I obviously don't have
a setlist......;)] was "A Crack In The Ice" and I really like
the super-heavy version Arena are playing nowadays!! So did most of the
people there, because the crowd was going berserk!! :)
After that, I'm not sure
exactly which songs were played, nor in what order...... [No, I didn't
drink any alcohol, but managed to get drunk on the music instead......;)]
Anyway, here's some stuff I think [;)] was played: "Double Vision",
"(Don't Forget To) Breathe", "The Butterfly Man",
"Friday's Dream", "Serenity", "Chosen" [ROCKING!!!!!],
"Midas Vision",
"Jericho", "The Hanging Tree", "A State Of Grace"
[:) :) :) :) :)], "Enemy Without" and "The Visitor"
Nice thing about "The Butterfly Man" was the little snippets of
paper Rob was strewing around over a ventilator, which made them dance in
the artificial wind...... Only.... they weren't very well lit up, so the
effect was probably lost to most people in the crowd.......:/ [Maybe Arena
has a new guy for the lights[?]. I mean, I don't know whether it was just
because of the venue, but the lighting wasn't very good, IMO......:/]
Sound quality wasn't
everything either, sadly; most of the time the high tones were pretty much
inaudible and therefore the keyboard solos kind of drowned among the other
instruments......:( And I really REALLY missed hearing them!!!! :( Hope
that will be better in the other concerts.....
Some remarks (in no
particular order): Rob - looking much more adjusted to his role as a front
man than last year, now probably looking to acquire the nickname "Chameleon"
because of his frequent changing of clothes.....;) John - all over the
place; this guy must have sold his soul to play that good......;) [And yes,
again with a new look: hair now bleached and spikey.....] Ian - his usual
happily smiling self, taking care of some really solid
bass-playing and engaging in some axe duels with Mr. Spikes......;) Clive
- wearing a new coat/cloak thing: black with a silver lining and small
silver question marks on his upper arms [mind you, he assured me that it
had nothing to do with a certain Mr. Wakeman's wizzard outfits......;)]
Mick - backbone of the band, demonstrating some massive drumming and
obviously enjoying himself....:) After "The Visitor" the band
left the stage, but the crowd was shouting for more like mad people!!
First encore was "Sirens"....... I'm not religious, but GOD, I
LOVE that song!!!!! :) Don't believe I took many pictures during that one,
since I was engaged in some pretty heavy head banging and singing along
routines.......;) [Er....... to anyone who got struck by feathers:
sorry!!]
Second encore - I believe
- was "Crying For Help IV". Still think that Tarquin's solo
absolutely outdoes the one Mr. Rothery played on "Songs..."!!
What was more, it flowed into the soaring guitar solo which forms the end
of "Grendel"!!!!! One could see people looking 'round bewildered,
going "What..... what's that?? I'm sure I recognise that from
somewhere..... It's "Grendel"?? IT'S "GRENDEL"!!!!
YEAH!!!!!!!" Big smiles on the faces of all band members......:)
If I'm not mistaken
"Crying For Help VII" (rock version) was on last..... The crowd
kept repeating "Help me, help me, whoa...[etc.]... help me" for
ages, but the band did not return. And who could blame them after such an
electrifying set!! :)
For members of The Cage a
special after-party had been organised. On it, Arena did an acoustic set.
Rob, John and Clive played "Medusa", the start from "Solomon",
"Waiting For The Flood" and "Crying For Help VII" [I'm
not sure whether they played more tracks...... sorry......;)]
I think it was really great that Arena had agreed to do something extra
for the members of The Cage; hat's off for that!! :) Only...... since the
actual concert had been SOOOOO good, the acoustic set turned out to be a
bit of an anti-climax. I mean, the guys had already given all but
everything [heck, Clive's T-shirt was absolutely drenched with sweat!!]
and to then gather yourself to play another set must be really hard.....
Also,
I think an acoustic set would have worked a lot better as a warming-up; to
get some "dressed-down" versions of some of the tracks after
they had already been played [and played really well at that!!] in the
electric set just does not work very well, IMHO. Still, great they did it!!
:)
A review of the gig in
Rijssen by Maarten Goossensen:
I had been busy for a long time trying to convince my friends that Arena
is a great band, and finally we went to Rijssen with 10 guys and 1 girl!
We had to drive 180 kilometers to get there, but with "Songs from the
lionscage" and "Immortal" in the cd player, that was no
problem.
Once inside, four of us directly bought the beautiful new tour T-shirt.
The gig started with Pain of Salvation. I’m sorry to say, but not one of
us liked it.
Arena started with a very "spooky" intro, it was the intro of
the beautiful epic "Moviedrome". It was great to hear this song
live for the fist time! I had my camera with me, and I could shoot some
great pictures. I will send them shortly. Highlight of the evening for me
was Jericho, it’s so cool to see all those people jumping! The
interaction between the band and the audience was great, everybody did
sing along with Cry for Help, Even when the band was off-stage everybody
kept on singing. I had promised my friends that ArenA would play Solomon,
because, with the first competition arena promised to play the three most
voted songs live, and Solomon ended up third. So we were all really
disappointed when they not played the song. But I heard that they will
play it in Amsterdam and I will be there too.
We all had a great night, for me it was the best Arena-gig ever.
Maarten Goossensen
A review of the gig in Rijssen, by Jaan-Jaap de Haan:
I was fortunate this night to visit the sound-check as well, which is a
wonderful experience, since you get an insight in the things that *can* go
wrong, but (of course) never do.... It became clear that Arena would play
the B-set with Sirens, which was great, since that's one of my favourites...
Pain of Salvation opens
this tour for Arena, playing prog-metal with many changes, styles and
twists. However, despite their musical skills, their heavy music is not my
cup of tea... But still I enjoyed looking at those bearded, angry-looking
young men, who definetely had some fans in the audience!
Starting with Moviedrome,
Arena made clear that they've really grown since last tour. Although the
sound wasn't great (Clive's high notes being a bit distorted), the band
came across in a great way. They seemed much more relaxed than previous
tours and Rob really grew as a performer over the last year...
Ian and Mick were solid as a rock, Clive was the master once again and
Tarquin (ooops, I mean John) really rocks!
Highlights were Butterfly Man, State of Grace, Breathe, the audience
participation of Jericho (of course!) and Crying for Help IV, which
was leading into the closing section of.... Grendel!! Shivers everywhere
(at least on my body)... Crying VII (heavy version) finished it all off in
a great way. Of course this is not the greatest prog-song, but it sure is
a fun time and all people present really got into it... Even when Arena
had left the stage,
the kept on singing "heeeeelp me".
As an extra, the band
returned after half an hour to do a short acoustic set, which included
some of the already played songs (but played very differently) and Medusa
as well as the intro to Solomon.... At two o'clock (AM!) the five were
still signing CD's and talking to fans, which once again shows these boys
really care about their dedicated followers!
Boys, thanks again for a great night! See ya in Amsterdam!
Jan-Jaap (JJ II)
Voice from the crowd,
Erik Fraanje:
Great concert yesterday !! Great venue too !! The sound could (should)
have been a little better, but hey who cares ? A pitty that Solomon wasn't
played. The great "Grendel" end to Crying for help 4 was
fantastic though. Rob is starting to get better every time. John played
great, again. See you in Amsterdam.
back to Arena Live
|
| |