Artist:   Within Temptation & 69 Eyes

Venue: The Barrowlands, Glasgow, Scotland

Date:  30 November 2007 

Let me start off by saying I love traveling 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 queuing 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 aficionados 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 appealing 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 fervor, 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 power chords 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 grueling 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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