Within Temptation - Nirwana Tuinfeest Lierop
Within Temptation @ Nirwana Tuinfeest Lierop (Netherlands)
Friday 2 August 2013
Nirwana was originally an initiative for the local youth in Lierop, a small village in the South of the Netherlands about 30 minutes from Eindhoven. One of the activities that OJC (Open Youth Center) Nirwana started was a party in the garden of their venue (Dutch: Tuinfeest). This became over the years a tradition and a now for quite some years a real festival. This Tuinfeest was already the 38th edition. Currently it is a three day version with a structure that is reminiscent its origin. Two days paid, Friday and Saturday, with (inter)national bands, and on Sunday a free family day with mostly cover bands and family activities.
About the atmosphere: at what kind of festival can you find more space in front of the stage then in the beer tent? Although it's relatively small, every year Nirwana Tuinfeest offers the visitors an excellent line-up. Interesting (local) upcoming bands and known headliners. For Sonic Cathedral (and me) the Friday was the most interesting day with headliner Within Temptation. Sharon den Adel reminded the audience that Within Temptation played some years ago at Nirwana. That 2004 edition was also my last visit to Nirwana. The line-up from that version was, when I looked in my 'archive', the reason for attending: Epica, Within Temptation and After Forever. I also found that I was also less equipped at that time.
On one of the warmest days of the year (over 30ºC), the party should open with the winner of the 'Eurosjopper' band contest. Ohlsen had to cancel, so this opportunity was now for runner-up Stoosh. This local female fronted band from Lierop, was a little bit overwhelmed by the big stage. During the set they got more confident and overall played a nice set with their own songs. Stoosh identifies their music as Poprock with a unique sound and strong melodies. The band with singer Eline Otten, who has a clear and warm voice, was a nice start and the music was appreciated by the audience.
As the festival started in the late afternoon, more and more people came in during the next sets. The second band that played was Candybar Planet, a Stoner Rock Band from Eindhoven. A band with a long history, initiated by volunteers of de Effenaar (the music venue in Eindhoven). Candybar Planet already played on Dynamo Open Air Eindhoven (1996) and Dynamo Open Air Czech (1999). And now they were back after a long absence at Nirwana. With their enthusiasm they warmed up the people very well for the next set. Navarone plays 70's rock with modern elements and their own interpretation. The talented musicians proved their quality when Robin Piso (DeWolff) got on stage playing Hammond joining Navarone performing the extended version of “Child in Time” of Deep Purple. For sure this was one of the highlights of the day. The challenge now was on DeWolff to keep up the high level. We stayed in the 70's with this psychedelic blues rock trio. In the middle part of the set they lost the attention of the audience a little with their musical 'trip' but with the closing “Gold And Seaweed” DeWolff got on track again. The crowd gave them a big applause and made themselves ready for the headliner.
In no-time the stage was restructured for the set of Within Temptation. The danger of overheating was lowered with the decrease of the temperature with the sun going under, but got immediately in the red zone again when the video wall switched on for the intro film “Mother Maiden”. The crowd got really excited when they heard the first notes of Sharon den Adel and saw the band members entering the stage. In all you could see, this is top of the bill. The show of Within Temptation is set up very professionally; they want to create a great metal event and keep the audience’s attention though out the show. The films and images on the video wall keeps focus, however the real star is front lady Sharon den Adel.
The band members played very well but from that perspective they are there mostly to support Sharon. The set opened with "Shot in the Dark". This opening showed that the band was in good shape and eager to make a great show. From a musical perspective, Within Temptation moved a little away from gothic metal to a more accessible and sometimes poppy sound. The vocals are less operatic but still very well done. And Sharon showed all she is capable of doing. Although the stage was likely to be smaller than usual, Within Temptation wasn't bothered by that and went on full speed ahead. The next songs were "In the Middle of the Night", "Faster" and "Fire and Ice".
After that it was time for some classics; “Stand My Ground” and “Ice Queen.” The songs are still immensely popular according the reaction of the audience. Not only the crowd got overheated, the equipment started to have some problems too. The breaks between the songs got a little bit longer but the band continued well. The down side from a strictly organized show is the lack of flexibility when things go not that well. Within Temptation is not just a band, so they managed it very well and continued with “Sinéad” . Next came the Lana Del Rey-cover “Summertime Sadness,” which was certainly appreciated, taking into account the many "vocalists" in front of the stage.
The technical problems then got more serious and the breaks got a little long. Then Sharon started very professionally with “Memories”. She said that she had to go to a funeral that afternoon and dedicated the song to the boy. This was much appreciated by the crowd. After this ballad, where Sharon was supported by keyboards only, Within Temptation tried to pick up the show again with “Iron.” You could hear it was not that easy; it didn't go as smoothly as usual. Even Sharon had some challenges getting back on track. Because of all the delays the closing “Mother Earth” was really the closing; due to time restrictions there was no encore. Despite all the technical inconveniences, it was a great show and the 'crowd went crazy' was applicable. It also showed a little bit of what to expect from the upcoming world tour 2014.
For me this was the end of the festival; for most of the people there would 2 more days of fun, parties and good music in a very enjoyable atmosphere. I assumed that with the camping opposite the 'garden', the party would have gone for quite a while. Next year I will go for more days to this by me 'forgotten' festival.
Link to Larger Within Temptation Photos
