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Let me start off by saying I love travelling away to gigs, experiencing
new venues, people and bands. Tonight is no different, I’ve been to
Glasgow on numerous occasions but never seen a gig at the Barrowlands.
I’ve seen the place from outside in daylight and trudged round the Barras
Market, but tonight we’re heading inside to see a
band I’ve wanted to see since 2004. Within Temptation caught my attention
with their 'Mother Earth'
release and I’ve kept tabs on them ever since, but
gig wise, we’ve never been
able to co-ordinate our schedules, until tonight that is.
Within Temptation played Glasgow earlier in the year and were originally
booked to play The Garage in Sauchiehall Street, but the gig was moved to
the QMU due to ticket demand. Tonight’s gig is at the even larger capacity
Barrowlands. The band are huge in Europe and are starting to make headway
over here. I had ventured to the Barras Market earlier in the afternoon
and a motley crew of young fans were already queueing outside, the band
have a growing faithful following.
As I walk up the street to the venue
around 7.30 pm, the queue is now huge, snaking around two streets. I wouldn’t
mind, but it has been raining in Glasgow for two days solid and water was
running down the streets when I exited the train station, I got drenched
just walking from the hotel to the gig. The bands trucks are parked just
outside the venue and it shows their growing status that the trucks
display the band’s name and album title.
Now The Barrowlands is an old dance hall and if you find yourself doing
some chemical substances while you’re in there, just lie down and stare at
the ceiling for the evening, it’ll keep you entertained. There’s quite a
mix across the crowd, this is a 14 and over gig, so there are a lot of
young goth/emo, nu-metal types, classic rock afficiandos and a smattering
of parents. Tonight is a fantastic turnout, not far off sold out and
probably would be if Thin Lizzy weren’t playing the Academy up the road.
As
the lights dimmed just before Helsinki’s 69 Eyes hit the stage, a huge
cheer went up from the crowd and when the band actually walked on it got
even louder. Now I haven’t heard anything by this band but judging from
the reaction they are appealling to the young goth/emo crowd. The singer
looks a bit like Nikki Sixx but with Pete Steele of Type O Negative’s
voice. The band look the part and work the crowd, the drummer jumping up
on his kit at the end of the first song. They launch into 'Never Say Die'
and I realised that without the backing tracks the band would probably
sound a little dull.
I can hear bits of Bowie and New Romantic era stuff
going in the songs and the crowd are clapping along. They have a really
good sound for a support band with the drum sound being massive. All too
soon it’s over and the band finish off there set with Lost Boys, an
anthemic little ditty which sees the crowd singing along. The band leave
the stage to rapturous applause and the outro of 'When You Wish Upon A
Star'. This is a band to keep an eye on, no pun intended.
Within Temptation filmed a show in Holland a week ago in front of 8,000
people, the night before this gig saw Manchester Academy sold out and
nearly 2,000 are here to see them in Glasgow, There are 4 girls about 14
years standing next to me and as the house lights dim, the screams from
these 4 alone nearly deafen me! The band have tried to squeeze as much of
their stage show into this venue, the drums and keyboards are on podiums
either side, with two griffins just behind them. There’s a tower either
side of the stage with bowls atop and I was expecting flames and various
bits of pyro throughout the show but we don’t get any, the band relying on
their music and a great lightshow to do the work.
The intro from the 'Silent Force'
album announces the bands arrival onstage
and a massive cheer erupts from the crowd. Sharon Den Adel
has the crowd eating from her hand as soon as she hits the stage, the
sound is big and her vocals are really strong. Question for everyone out
there, when was the last time you came across a band that included nearly
every song bar one from a new album in the set? This is what Within
Temptation do tonight, we get 'Howling', which is just huge and bombastic
live, the crowd throwing their fists in the air. 'Our Solemn Hour',
'The
Heart of Everything', 'Hand of Sorrow',
'The Cross', 'All I Need',
'The Truth
Beneath The Rose', 'Frozen', a song that will be regarded as a classic in
years to come, and a fantastic acoustic version of 'Forgiven'.
Every song
from the new album is greeted with fervour, the band have cemented their
reputation as a force to be reckoned with and are running like a
well-oiled machine. Sharon den Adel moving around the stage, reaching
across to the fans at the front, Robert Westerholt looking serious as he
churns out those riffs and trades powerchords with Ruud Jolie. I must
give a special mention to drummer Stephen Van Haestregt, whose style makes
it look he isn’t even trying, while being locked in with bassist Jeroen
Van Veen and keyboard player Martijn Spierenburg creating soundscapes
across the whole bombastic serenade.
The anthemic 'Stand My Ground' sees the
crowd singing and clapping along. The announcement of 'What Have You Done
Now' which features Keith Caputo transposed on the back projection, has the
4 girls moving in front of me and leaping up and down like maniacs for the
whole song. The new album 'Heart Of Everything' has a more natural and
emotional vocal sound which suits Ms den Adel and gives the band a
wondrous contemporary sound . This should also ensure that future
gruelling tours won’t see Ms den Adel’s voice give out, not that it ever
has. The songs just kept coming and the Glasgow crowd lapped them up,
'See
Who I Am', 'Deceiver of Fools',
'Mother Earth', 'Angels',
'Jillian' and 'Ice Queen'.
For 1 ¾ hours Within Temptation entertained and enthralled this crowd
and they jumped, clapped and sang their way through the whole thing. We
may not have got the full stage production but Within Temptation proved
tonight why this is just the beginning for them. I look forward to coming
back to Glasgow to see them at the SECC maybe?
* Review by Brassy.
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