Peacefest
Peacefest in Hof Ter Lo (Belgium)My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Soundisciples , Beyond Dawn and Thine
03/03/2001
The Hof Ter Lo in Antwerp was not full; one year ago, when MDB performed there, the hall was full and hot as hell. Of course the extra empty space gave some advantages as well: there was enough space to headbang and to jump around and that freedom of movement was maybe the reason that the public in Belgium was so enthousiastic and lively!The first band on the bill,Thine, played some kind of catchy metal, but the whining vocals (totally out of tune too) annoyed us endlessly. Heiko went to see the metal market in the back as soon as they started playing their third song or so and Kostas added Cd's from Thergothon, and Evoken to his already impressive doom-metal collection :).
Beyond Dawn was a little disappointing to see for Heiko. They played a nice, mellow, psychedelic set. The kind of music you put on when you almost go to bed or when you smoked a lot of pot. But not the kind of band you want to watch at the beginning of a promising evening. After a few songs Heiko got slightly bored again. Kostas thought they were Ok, because they reminded him a bit of the great Joy Division. Unfortunately, they didn't fit at all with the rest of the bands at the Peacefest, and certainly not with the two headliners. Beyond Dawn would better get a spot somewhere in the afternoon on a sunny summer rock festival. It would fit them better.
Soundisciples started off very chaotic, with a plethora of samples, drums and no drums and then drums again, the singer who was yelling some indefinite words into his mic and so on. As soon as it started to remind us a little too much of Korn, we left. Heiko had a nice chat with Duvel from Mindview Magazine / Doom-metal.com at the bar, something to do with a didgeridoo and a famous person in the Belgian metal scene :) Kostas drunk some beers with some friends, as far as possible from the horrible noise of this trendy band. And in the meanwhile he couldn't resist buying the latest Dolorian album.
Then came Katatonia. The first band worth to see really. Most of the songs they played, came from their two latest releases 'Tonight's Decision' and 'Discouraged Ones'. They also played one new song, called 'Teargas' from their upcoming album 'Last fair deal gone', which sounded slightly harder live than on the album version. Too bad they didn't play anything from 'BraveMurderDay' (which we both consider their best work), apparently because singer Renkse can't do the growled vocals any more. But all in all this was a great gig, with a superb sound. And Renkse looked kinda funny with his cap on.Then we got to see the Bride guys (and girl) on stage. It was definately a great show, making both the new and the old fans happy. Here is the setlist of their gig:
- She is the Dark
- The Snow in my Hand
- The Cry of Mankind
- Turn Loose the Swans
- The Cruel Taste of Winter (a new song, sounding really great, a good evolution of the style on 'The Light...' It sounded like a promising taste from the new album!)
- Under Your Wings and Into Your Arms
- A Kiss to Remember
At that point,, the Bride members left the stage for a few minutes and then they came back for a few VERY surprising encores:- YOUR RIVER!!! (complete with acoustic intro and everything. Just too bad the violin is replaced by the keyboard)
- The Fever Sea
and last but certainly not least:
The complete - SYMPHONAIRE!!! They split it up in three parts.
After the show, Heiko asked Andy why they didn't play it at once, and he said that they used to play only the first part in the past, after which they pasted 'Like Gods of the Sun'. When rehearsing the song, they fucked up every time again to play it as a whole. So because they fail to play the song at once, they play it in three parts, or something like that :) Oh well, it's a kind of test for the fans too: that way they can see how well their audience knows their songs. And we must say that some people next to us (on the second row in front of the middle of the stage) didn't seem to know 'Symphonaire' at all. A few of them even reacted quite shocked when hearing Aaron doing the very rough death vocals at the end of the song, hehe.
Heiko also asked Andy why they aren't playing 'The Crown of Sympathy' live, seen the popularity of the song (it ended on the first place from the fan poll last year). He said that it just doesn't sound well, when they replace the violin entirely by the keyboards, in the middle part of the song. He said that when they tried to rehearse it, it was so boring during that middle part (only keyboards playing, all others doing nothing) that they decided not to play the song live. We can only hope that they find some kind of solution in the near future.
Well, it's pretty safe to say that we both found it an unforgettable gig. Kostas (who saw them for the 4th time) and Duvel (10th time) both think that it was (one of the, if not THE) best MDB gig they ever saw. So it is a pity for all the other European people and even more so for all the American people who don't get the chance to see them. We wish you more luck next time. But we sure are happy.
My Dying Bride, Katatonia, Soundisciples , Beyond Dawn and Thine
04/03/2001
Despite being sick I pulled myself out of bed early to go and see the Peacefest on Sunday morning. I wasn't going to let some silly headache stop me from seeing bands such as Katatonia and My Dying Bride. The show in The Netherlands began early so as to enable fans from all over the country (as well as Belgium and Germany) to attend. Unfortunately this did mean getting up early to have any chance of seeing all the bands. Having nearly forgotten my ticket and having a swell argument with the lady who sold the train tickets, I was on my way. Stopping in Amsterdam to hook up with Jeen, the webmaster of the My Dying Bride homepage, and as it turned out also meet Hammy and Lisa of Peaceville and a few others travelling with them (whose names I shamefully forgot). I can say these where some of the nicest people I've met in a long time.Seeing as how the Belgium gig has been reviewed already I'll simply pass over my experiences from the Dutch one. First up as you might already know by reading the Belgium review, was Thine. I had heard a lot about this band but never actually heard anything by them. They surprised me, pretty straightforward metal and played pretty well. Despite the short set and the early hour on the day (only 4 o'clock!!) they made an impression on me.
Next up was Beyond Dawn. Beforehand I thought this would become either extremely interesting or extremely boring. Unfortunately I have to say it was the latter. They mainly played new work and failed completely to get their music across. Even the one older track they played failed to become interesting. A shame as I believe in a smaller venue and perhaps playing a little more of their older work this could have been highly interesting.
The next band, Soundiciples, was another one I had not heard before. Apparently they used a lot of samples and indeed they started off with a sampled intro as slowly band members appeared on stage who started to play. They seemed to mix in various styles, incl. Metal and Hardcore (Nu-metal?) and although slightly interesting they really where not my cup of tea. It also being around dinnertime so me and a friend decided to skip the rest of their set and get something to eat. When we returned they had already finished.
Katatonia were up next and this really was the band I had come to see. I must say I was pretty shocked to see Renkse looking like he belonged in a band like Suicidal Tendencies or Biohazard wearing a very out of context cap. They only played songs from the last two albums and one track from the upcoming album called 'Teargas'. While they played a fairly solid set they struggled to connect with the audience. Nobody seemed interested in them and nobody seemed to pay attention. During the more mellow parts the noise of people talking was louder than the band! It also seemed like the band themselves gave up trying and just finished their set. Needless to say with such highly emotional music their set because of this fell apart and failed to move me. I did think it was totally uncalled for by a few people to cheer when they announced the last song. The evening was still young then My Dying Bride appeared on stage. It had been over 6 years since I saw them last and despite what everybody had told me I was sceptical about how they would sound live without the violin. Well I was blown away to be honest. Apparently the gig of that night was also going to be recorded for a possible live CD and the band really made an effort. Also it was clear to see that My Dying Bride have been around for a long time and know what they are doing on stage. Aaron's theatrics were most impressive. I've always found him an impressive stage personality but he has grown so much since I saw them last. When he fell, or should I say dropped?, to the floor and lay there twitching in agony you could see several people in the audience look to the stage all confused and worried.
The fact that they played a lot of tracks from 'Turn Loose the Swans' was absolutely wonderful. 'The Snow in My Hand', 'Your River' and the title track where highlights for me. The lack of violin filled in brilliantly by the keyboards in a non-cheesy way, although I will admit I missed it a little on 'Turn Lose the Swans'. They played tracks from almost all their albums and most interesting off all... a new track! That track sounded like they are returning even more to the 'Turn Lose the Swans' era. Ultra heavy and combining grunts with clean vocals. It promises a lot for the new album. The band ended their show by playing 'Symphonaire...' in 3 parts. After the second part Aaron took some time out to thank Hammy and Peaceville for all the years they had worked with them and to congratulate them. After which the 3rd and final part was set in. It was hard to realise that once My Dying Bride had played their last notes it was not much past 9 o'clock. But still feeling pretty sick and learning the hard way that it isn't wise to headbang if you already have got a killer headache (who would have thought?) it wasn't that big of a problem for me. The Peacefest definitely was one interesting place to be, even if it was a bit of a shame to see Katatonia's set fall apart.
- Kostas Panagiotou & Heiko Isselee (Belgium)
- Aldo Quispel (The Netherlands)
(16 March 2001 )
Pictures by Tapio Viinamaki (http://ukko.virtualave.net)
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