Artikel

Fri 27 Nov – Finn.

Setlist finn.

Prologue
.
Truncheon Sound
You
Hearts of Roses
Julius Caesar
Wrong Side
In the wake of...
The fourth, the Fifth
This is no Lullaby
The Truth is a Lie
For Mona

#encore
To Keep us busy for Years
Moon River (Mercer/Mancini)
Eisbaer (Grauzone/ Eicher)

#encore 2
I Just Called To Say I Love You (Stevie Wonder)

Wed 25 Nov – Winger, Markonee

"Ga je mee naar Winger?", klonk het enkele maanden geleden. Na mijn repliek: "Goh, Winger; écht kennen doe ik dat eigenlijk niet dus..." volgde al heel snel het advies om toch maar méé te gaan want; Jij gaat dat zéker goed vinden, Mark. Deze raad én het feit dat er gelinkt werd met namen van andere bands inhetzelfde genre die ik steengoed vind, maakten dat ik overstag ging. Heel benieuwd was ik dus naar dit optreden van Winger in de Spirit of '66, woensdag 25 november. En één ding is zeker: ik ben blijk dat ik het advies van mijn vrienden volgde!

Na een in zich alle bochten murwende dertien-in-een-dozijn Italiaans power metalbandje (Markonee) dat best iets kon maar leed aan: zovaak al eerder en vooral beter gehoord was het tijd voor Kip Winger (bassist/zanger) en de zijnen...

We kregen een geweldig knap optreden. Stuk voor stuk gebalde songs. Hardrock en roll van de bovenste plank met hoge meebrulfactor. Goede vocals van Kip, zalige gitaarsoli van Red Beach. En, ook dit hadden mijn vrienden me voorspeld, ik bleek meer van deze band te kennen dat ik vermoedde!

Het was een bijzonder aangename afspraak met de melodieuze hard rock 'n roll, in een goedgevulde zaal, een schitterend geluid en veel fijn volk...

En na het concertje prompt me een paar Winger-cdtjes aangeschaft natuurlijk!

Op de setlist ondermeer:
GENERICA (!), YOUR GREAT ESCAPE, EASY COME EASY GO, MILES AWAY en STONE COLD KILLER ...

wingerkip wingerrock 'n rollmarkonee

First off, the honorable mentions :

Danielle Peck - Can't Behave, which was apparently released late in 08, but I only found out about it this year!
and Taylor Swift - Fearless (the UK version)

And on with the main list:

Jake Owen - Easy Does It
Eric Church - Carolina
Rodney Atkins - It's America
Billy Ray Cyrus - Back to Tennesse
Rascal Flatts - Unstoppable
Luke Bryan - Spring Break With All My Friends - EP
Ashley Monroe - Satisfied
Sarah Reeves - Sweet Sweet Sound (EP)
Michael Giacchino - Star Trek (The soundtrack from the new film)
Tift Merritt - Buckingham Solo
Justin Moore - Justin Moore
Keith Urban - Defying Gravity
Gloriana - Gloriana
Jordin Sparks - Battlefield
Tanya Tucker - My Turn
Lenka - Lenka
Kelly Clarkson - All I Ever Wanted
Cledus T. Judd - Polyrically Uncorrect
La Roux - La Roux
Victoria Banks - When You Can Fly
Billy Ray Cyrus - Back To Tennessee
Brooke White - High Hopes & Heartbreak
George Strait - Twang
Melody Gardot - My One And Only Thrill
Steve Martin - The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo
Whitney Duncan - Selections from Right Road Now - EP
Mindy Smith - Stupid Love
Luke Bryan - Doin' My Thing
Rosanne Cash - The List
Chris Young - The Man I Want To Be
Carrie Underwood - Play On
Miranda Lambert - Revolution
Jimmy Wayne - Sara Smile
Holly Williams - Here With Me
Willie Nelson - Naked Willie (Or "Stripped" as the bashful UK renamed it...)
Joe Nichols - Old Things New
Big Kenny - The Quiet Times of a Rock and Roll Farm Boy
Tim McGraw - Southern Voice
Jessie Farrell - Good, Bad & Pretty Things
Taylor Swift - Fearless [Platinum Edition]
Jessie James - Jessie James
Patty Loveless - Mountain Soul II
Kris Kristofferson - Closer To The Bone
Cheryl Cole - 3 Words
Katherine Jenkins - Believe
Miley Cyrus - The Time Of Our Lives [EP]
Demi Lovato - Here We Go Again
Selena Gomez & The Scene - Kiss & Tell
Ashley Tisdale - Guilty Pleasure
Colbie Caillat - Breakthrough (Deluxe Edition)
Pixie Lott - Turn It Up
Lights - The Listening
Lights - Saviour - EP
Lights - Lights - EP
Little Boots - Hands
Susan Boyle - I Dreamed A Dream
Emily Osment - All The Right Wrongs (EP)
Mitchel Musso - Mitchel Musso
Hank Williams Jr. - 127 Rose Avenue
The Proclaimers - Notes & Rhymes

Indigo_Ice's top 10 albums for the previous 3months:
1. Late Night Alumni - Of Birds, Bees, Butterflies, Etc. (156)


2. Imogen Heap - Ellipse (129)


3. Ugress - Reminiscience (80)


4. Ellen Allien - The Other Side Of Berlin (79)


5. Elsiane - Hybrid (60)


5. Hooverphonic - Sit Down And Listen To... (60)


7. Zofka - Bikini (56)


7. Pink Martini - Splendor In The Grass (56)


9. Halou - Halou (48)


10. Raz Ohara And The Odd Orchestra - Miracle (45)

Sat 28 Nov – Simple Minds, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark

Really enjoyed the gig yesterday . And am really happy with the setlist !
De band were on fire, the crowd even more..

The amosphere was superb!

Setlist Simple Minds:

1. Themes For Great Cities/ Sanctify Yourself
2. Stars Will Lead The Way
3. Waterfront
4. Big Sleep
5. Moscow Underground
6. All The Things She Said
7. See The Lights
8. Street Fighting Years
9. Sons And Fascination
10. Someone Somewhere in Summertime
11. In Trance As Mission
12. Sombody Up There Likes You
13. Once Upon A Time
14. One Step Closer
15. Don't You (Forget About Me)
16. Promised You A Miracle
17. Glittering Prize
18. Let It All Come Down
19. New Gold Dream

# encore
20. Neon Lights (with OMD)
21. Alive And Kicking
22. Rockets
23. Graffiti Soul
24. Let There Be Love
25. Home

OMD played a great gig too and seemed overwhelmed by the public's response!

Setlist OMD:
1. Dazzle Ships
2. Messages
3. Electricity
4. Forever Live And Die
5. She's Leaving
6. Souvenir
7. Joan of Arc
8. Maid of Orleans
9. Statues
10. Talking Loud And Clear
11. Locomotion
12. So In Love
13. Sailing on the Seven Seas of Love
14. Enola Gay

I'm never really was into OMD and am not 'converted' now, but it was a good
gig and they appeared to be the ideal 'warm up' for Simple Minds.

More later!:

Sat 28 Nov – Amon Amarth

Awesome.

That's usually a good start to a review, and thus it is how I will start this one. It... Was... Awesome. 8:00 the doors opened, giving us all half an hour to grab our merchandise and prepare for the Vikings to command us and lead us into battle... But that's not what happened, instead we walked in and were greeted with the first supporting act of the night, Eye of the Enemy... Now, don't get me wrong, I do have a broad range of musical tastes (especially when it comes to metal) but I really had trouble getting into this. Although they were the first act, I think it's safe to say that most people there didn't think much of them. The mosh remained still, those of us in the mid-section remained still and those further back were even more motionless. The tuning and organising of the sound led to the vocalist being practically impossible to hear, leaving just the guitars and drums to give is the impressions of what they had to offer. However, most every song sounded the same and, overall, I found these guys fairly disappointing, especially when compared to Cradle of Filth's first support (Naetu) when they were in Sydney... Was this to be our modern sign of the coming storm? Well... No.

After the 15 minute intermission, Bane of isildur (which I still have trouble pronouncing) made their way onto the stage and fixed everything that was wrong with the previous act. The vocals, the costumes, the performance, the music, the energy... Everything just suited the feel of the night and was truly preparing us for what was to come as they eagerly led us without fear into the main act of the night. I don't have much else to add about these guys except that they were really good and definitely worth checking out if you're a fan of Amon Amarth or the like, last.fm offers free downloads so it is worth your time.


30 minutes passed. 30 silent minutes of waiting, they felt like an hour. The crowd was eager to get started, and suddenly the lights went dim. An instrumental/orchestral track began playing, the lights started to come on then silence. Music stopped. Lights went out. Darkness. Nothing to hear but the crowd, but even the roars of excitement were silenced out of fear when the riffs of Twilight of the Thunder God began. The entire theatre was filled with Johan's vocals coming from each and every person there. Johan made great interaction with the crowd, consistently questioning and performing. Combining light-hearted humour to settle our nerves, once we were calm, Amon led us on one hell of a victorious march, going through some of the best songs that they've released.

The set-list (please bear in mind I am writing this from memory)

Twilight of the Thunder God
Free Will Sacrifice
Valkyries Ride
Bleed for Ancient Gods
Varyags of Miklagaard
Where Silent Gods Stand Guard
Tattered Banners and Bloody Flags
Runes to my Memory
Asator
Victorious March
Live for the Kill
Death in Fire

Amon Amarth left the stage, the crowd drew them back, as to be expected, and they closed the set with

Cry of the Black Birds
Pursuit of Vikings

(I apologise if this is not the correct order, these were the songs in the show however, but if anyone would like to correct me, please do and I'll make the relevant changes)

Overall, Johan's interaction with the audience, the bands' clear passion for what they do and the atmosphere and sound just culminated into one hell of a concert. This review may be generic, or sound biased, but the concert was brilliant and, if ever they come back, I'll be there and I hope you will too. They truly are the masters of war.

Wed 25 Nov – Opeth, Contrive


Opeth are a band that I had only recently discovered (maybe a year or so) and ever since hearing Watershed I have been dying to see them play live.

When the tour was announced I quickly snatched up some tickets for Jack and I and ever since have listened to them non-stop; at work, in the car and at home.

The amount of skill displayed on all of their albums is astonishing, so both Jack and I agreed that they’d probably be able to “do it live”.

We weren’t let down at all.

They opened with Windowpane, one of their slower, softer songs from the almost completely acoustic album Damnation. The crowd loved it and sang along all the way through.

After a quick “hello” Mikael Åkerfeldt launched straight into Ghost of Perdition, a song that bounces between heavy and soft, brutal and delicate. This is one of their “hits” and it was magnificent to see the crowd get so involved.

The whole night was a bit of a blur, with no real loss of momentum despite the slower acoustic parts of songs, so I can’t place where Mikael joked around between songs, but man, he was pretty funny. He managed to have a go at James Hetfield, ABBA, AC/DC, Manowar and others. I didn’t realise he was such a great frontman. Despite being very “out-there” you got the vibe the he – and the rest of the band – were very down to Earth people.

The middle of the set was a bit of a blur for me, but the setlist went something like, The Lotus Eater (a classic prog song from Watershed), The Leper Affinity (heavy as fuck featuring an awesome proggy riff), Hessian Peel (one of my favourite songs, which went down an absolute treat, especially the heavy part), April Ethereal.

After a bit of banter Mikael introduced Face of Melinda, which was probably the “moment” for me, where I realised how amazing these guys really are. His voice was just phenomenal in this one!

This was followed up with one of my favourite drum-heavy songs, Reverie/Harlequin Forest – to me if there is the “galloping guitars”, this song features the galloping drums. Love them.

We were informed that the “last song” of the night would be Hex Omega, and while that was one of my least favourite songs off Watershed, this was probably my favourite of the gig. The soft part 2/3 through suited the gig completely. Couldn’t have been more happy with that song choice, especially with those varied drum rolls at the end!

The crowd went absolutely mental for about 3 minutes before Opeth came back out and Mikael introduced all of the band members, and Per Wilberg ripped a really cool keyboard solo, then Fredrik Åkesson pulled off (I hate this cliche but it really was) a face melting solo. I hadn’t realised how good that guy can shred!

The crowd demanded that Mikael do a solo, but for about a minute he kept repeating, “I don’t do solos!” The crowd didn’t give up so he decided to do an A cappella version of a number of Whitesnake songs before joking around some more. The guy had the entire audience in his hand. Not many frontmen can do that.

They finished the gig with Deliverance, which is a perfect song for that, especially the double kick drums at the end. What a gig.

9/10

(Texto en español disponible abajo; Texto em português disponível em baixo)

English:

Dear friends and supporters,

After a while in silence with no time for composing and recording, I'm happily proud to announce my come back and the release of my latest tune called "Burner". I think it's my hardest rocking oriented song 'till date, so I'm afraid it might not be suitable for all listeners. Just give it a listen and let me know what you think!

If you've enjoyed or if you think of someone who might enjoy listening to it, don't hesitate to share it with them, or to share it in your Facebook, twitter, or wherever. I really appreciate any help on distribuition! We independent artists, only count with your support, which means a lot to me.

Enjoy, this and the rest of my music is for all of you!

Peace and love,
Lele Melo.
http://www.reverbnation.com/lelemelo


Español:

Queridos amigos y oyentes,

Tras un período de silencio, sin tiempo para componer y grabar material nuevo, es un placer para mí anunciarles mi regreso y la publicación de mi más reciente canción: "Burner". Creo que es mi canción más "cañera" hasta la fecha, así que tal vez no sea apta para toso los públicos. Escúchenla y ya me cuentan qué les parece.

Si te ha gustado, o sabes de alguien a quien le pudiera gustar, no dudes en compartirla con esa persona, o a través de tu Facebook, twitter, etc. Realmente agradezco cualquier ayuda con la distribución. Los artistas independientes sólo tenemos la ayuda de nuestros oyentes, lo cual ya es mucho para mí.

Disfruten, ésta y el resto de mis canciones son para ustedes!

Paz y amor,
Lele Melo.
http://www.reverbnation.com/lelemelo


Português:

Caros amigos e "supporters",


Depois de algum tempo de silencio, sem tempo para compor nem gravar novas músicas, é um prazer para mim anunciar o meu regresso e a publicação da minha mais recente canção: "Burner". Acho que para já é a minha música mais "agressiva", sendo assim que tal vez não seja apta para todos os públicos. Ouçam-a e depois me dizem qualquer coisa.

Se gostarem ou se sabem de alguém que possa gostar, não hesitem em partilhar-a, ou mesmo a través do Facebook, twitter, etc. Apreciava muito qualquer suporte e ajuda nisso. Os artistas "independentes" só temos a vossa ajuda, a qual para mim já é muito.


Desfrutem-a, esta e o resto das músicas são só para vos.


Paz e amor,

Lele Melo.
http://www.reverbnation.com/lelemelo