Stream of Passion @ Tivoli Spiegelbar
Stream of Passion @ Tivoli Spiegelbar
Utrecht (Netherlands)
Friday 13 September 2013
Sometimes people say that I'm lucky to live in the Netherlands. Oh yes I agree, we have quite some opportunities here which I enjoy as much as possible. Revamp was excellent last week and this special acoustic set of Stream of Passion coincided with another ReVamp show, but I don't regret my decision. I'm definitely sure that I made the right choice.
The Spiegelbar is a special place in the larger Tivoli venue. If you translate the name you will get Mirror Bar. The fun thing is, there are no real mirrors. The "mirrors" are in the tons of disco balls that hang on the ceiling. Fortunately they don't aim special lights at those balls and they are not turning. The stage is small but is well suited for this acoustical set. The venue is not big and invites a cozy intimate session with direct interaction with the audience. This special set had made fans so curious that it was sold out.
There were two kinds of tickets. The most "expensive" (limited) ticket was already sold out for a longer time. I was lucky to have one of those tickets. A photo pass does not always allow access to everything. And what was the special option? That was an eat & greet with the band. In the venue a number of long tables with benches were set up. The "invited" fans joined all band members and the special guest for a simple but tasteful dinner (main course and dessert). There was more than hour that we could chat with the artists. I was not that unlucky having Marcela opposite and Maxi Nil (Vision of Atlantis) next to me. We talked the most about daily life but also a little bit about the upcoming Eve's Apples performance at the Metal Female Voices Fest. That will be special too.
When the band went backstage to prepare themselves for the show, we were kindly requested to move to the bar so that the tables could be taken out. And what happened? Most of us were very surprised because they started to set up chairs. Sitting at a metal concert? Seems to be quite odd, but let's wait to see how things would go. OK, no head banging and for sure no crowd surfing or wall of death.
There was no support scheduled, and the show started immediately with Stream of Passion. For the first song only Marcela Bovio (vocals) and Jeffrey Revet (keyboard) came to the stage. A look at the set list was not that helpful; it showed simply "Klassiek" or in English "Classics". Marcela’s introduction mentioned the origin was from a well-known composer, W.A. Mozart. Later she told me it was the aria “Ach, ich fühl's” from Die Zauberflöte. After that aria the other band members came to the stage: Johan van Stratum (bass), Eric Hazebroek (guitar), Stephan Schultz (guitar) and Martijn Peters (drums). The first song together was "Deceiver" from the first album Embrace the Storm (marked as 1 below). This intense song from an album with clear influences of Ayreon (Arjan Lucassen) is even more intense in this setting.
The introduction of the next song was used by Marcela to thank everybody that participated in their crowd funding campaign. Most in the audience raised their hand when asked if they had participated. The campaign, still open at that time for a couple of hours, has been very successful. Initially the campaign was intended for funding the 4th album but even the stretched goal for an additional video was reached. The reward now was an acoustic version of a song that will be on the new album called "The Curse". This was followed by "Runaway" and "My Leader" from the album The Flame Within (2). Two additional songs for the break were "Spark" from Darker Days (3) and "Far and Apart" (2).
In the break the main impression I got was that the audience was surprised and still "impressed" by the setup of the show, sitting on chairs, with the bar and smoking area closed during the set. However as someone said now you have a chance really to enjoy the music; there were no people running around, no people talking taking your attention away from the music. The intermediate feedback was very positive.
After a short break the show continued with "All I Know" (2). The next song was introduced as a small gift to the fans with a hint to the Mexican roots of Marcela. She convinced the band to play this song with a special Latin rhythm on this show. For this show only song was called "Llorona". For me the next song, a new song without a title, was the best of all -- as a matter of speaking because there were only great songs in the set. It's clearly a Stream of Passion song with some hints to the music of the early days of the band. When afterwards people said to Marcela that it was a great song, she replied for her the electrical version was somewhat different but even better.
Now it was time for the next surprise. Maxi Nil joined the stage in a duet with Marcela. The song was "Open Your Eyes"(1). Everybody was quiet but with the last note came a very loud applause and cheering. Then the band continued with "Broken" (3) and "Nostalgia"(1) before Maxi joined again for "Street Spirit" (2). The last "In the End" (2) was for the band again.
After that the reaction of the fans was not that quiet and relaxed any more. When the band went backstage, the crowd went almost crazy. Although the number was relative low because of the setup, they made noise for at least three times as much. So the band had to get back on stage. An encore was really not scheduled. Usually you'll find it already on the set list but not for this set. In interaction with the audience it was decided to do again the two new songs. Ultimately they closed with my favorite of the night, the untitled one.
When the band joined the fans afterwards and talked about this event, the most heard words were "excellent", "marvelous" and "wonderful". I agree with all of this. The setting (eat & greet, sitting at a show, "after party"), the music in an excellent different style (acoustic), all in an intimate way, made it for all that were present an unforgettable evening.
These guys (and ladies) proved that metal music does not need to be loud to be impressive. This set showed how excellent their music is and of course also their musical skills -- not only Marcela's excellent voice, but also the subtle guitars of Eric and Stephan (also sometimes on mandolin), the relaxed supporting bass of Johan (was strange not seeing him jumping around), the variation in percussion of Martijn and the well played keys of Jeffrey, especially when he was the only one on stage with Marcela.
The acoustic event proved why the fan base supported their campaign so strongly. They should keep such shows on the agenda once in a while. I’m now looking forward to the new album.
