Mäläskä, Live at De Hommel Vlaardingen, 1 July 2016

A brand new band/project, established in 2016, doing their first (mini) European tour… That must be something to look out for! The band members Remy Stroomer and Petter Janse are far from unexperienced, they have worked wonderful together a couple of times before in a project named Free Arts Lab, which is also still active. Mäläskä’s debut album Uncle Jim’s Cidney Factory was just released before their tour started, and I had the honour to see them at music pub De Hommel in Vlaardingen. They told me it was going to be an evening completely based on improvisation, which made me very curious!

The Royal Spuds & Heylel, Cab03 Leiden, 22 May 2016

A strange, but bold combination. Ok, it’s quite common that two bands do a co-headliner show on the same evening, but the two bands could not be further away from in terms of their music genres. The Royal Spuds are a folk punk band, while Heylel are a progressive rock band with gothic influences. Punk versus Prog? Wow, that must be a spectacular combination to watch live! The Cab03 itself is a very cozy, intimate location (I know the people who’ve been there know what I mean), and the room was slowly filling up with dedicated fans of both bands. The light effects were far from spectacular and the room was very dark, so taking good pics was a bit difficult for me. Luckily the light was only a small minor point, because the rest of the evening was a fabulous performance of both bands.

Novatia & Silhouette, Live at Parktheater Alphen a/d Rijn, 15 April 2016

This was the first time that I would see the band Novatia perform live. I never heard their music before so I didn’t know what to expect that evening. I’ve seen the band Silhouette perform at ProgFrog Festival in October 2015. This was the first time that the band would perform their latest album Beyond The Seventh Wave in its entirety, so this was something to look forward to! I had an interview with Silhouette right before their gig, you can listen to the interview here. Silhouette’s performance was going to be filmed during the whole evening as well. The venue was pretty crowded, a lot of people came to see both bands perform.

Maiden UniteD, Live At The Boerderij Zoetermeer, 19 December 2015

Maiden UniteD are an acoustic tribute to the band Iron Maiden. When I reviewed their latest album Remembrance I was really impressed how this band turned the powerful metal tracks into lovely acoustic songs. This would be the first time I would see this band live. I didn’t know what to expect and how this band would perform live on stage. The back of the stage was nicely decorated with big banners and the stage itself was filled with instruments and amplifiers. When the band entered the stage they started with the track Strange World, a great track. After playing the track Charlotte The Harlot Damian Wilson introduced the band in short to the audience. Jonas Pap and Camilla van der Kooij were only on stage when they had to play.

IQ, Live At The Boerderij Zoetermeer, 12 December 2015

Every year IQ comes back to the Boerderij for a special Christmas show, named ‘Christmas Bash’. This would be the second Christmas Bash show I attended, making this the third IQ gig I ever went to. This band is always worth to watch because those guys know how to make a brilliant show. The first time I went to a gig was quite some years ago, they just released their album Frequency. Despite the fact that the band exists for quite some years I never really heard any of their music. I went to my first IQ concert with a friend and we both had no clue who they were, how they would perform live and what to expect. That first IQ concert is still one of the best gigs I’ve ever seen. I was totally flabbergasted by their performance. This band knows how to entertain the audience and be professional musicians at the same time. They are passionate when they play songs from both their older and more recent albums. I interviewed the band right before their gig, you can listen to the interview here.

The Aristocrats Live At The Boerderij Zoetermeer, The Netherlands, 9 December 2015

I never had the chance to see drummer Marco Minnemann and guitarist Guthrie Govan perform with The Aristocrats, although I’ve seen them perform live as members of Steven Wilson’s solo band. I was also very curious how bassist Bryan Beller would play and sound like because this would be the first time I would see him live. I had the honour to interview all members of the band right before their gig, you can listen to the interview here.

HeKz + Lonely Robot Live At The Boerderij, Zoetermeer, 4 December 2015

(NOTE: This is a short concert review)

A duo gig with two fantastic bands, HeKz and Lonely Robot. I’ve never seen both bands perform live before (ok, it isn’t unusual for Lonely Robot because this was their first tour of course). I was very curious and looking forward to both bands. I interviewed the lovely blokes from HeKz after their performance (you can listen to the interview here).

Soft Machine + Satisfaction Injection Live At The Boerderij, Zoetermeer, 2 December 2015

Soft Machine are a well-known progressive rock/fusion/jazz rock band, which had many line-up changes over the years. The most recent line-up consists of the following members: Roy Babbington on bass guitar, John Etheridge on guitar, Theo Travis on saxophone, flute and piano and John Marshall on drums. I had the honour to interview Theo right before the gig, you can listen to the interview here. The current line-up used the name Soft Machine Legacy, but since this year the band dropped the word ‘Legacy’ and are continuing their work and performances with the original name. Due to illness, John Marshall was unable to tour with the band. Luckily the band found a good replacement drummer, named Nic France. I’ve never seen Soft Machine perform live and don’t know what to expect at all. Would they be playing old material, or only their most recent work? The Dutch fusion/jazz rock band Satisfaction Injection had the honour to play before Soft Machine was going to perform.

Isn’t It Quiet And Cold (An Update From Your Gentle Reporter)

No, I did not miss the bus**, I’m just writing this blog post while I’m busy with writing a review for Background Magazine and replying on emails. This is just one of those days that you want to accomplish a lot, but somehow it doesn’t work out at all… Anyway, I’m glad that I have some great news to share with you guys!

Spam, bacon, sausage and spam (how to promote yourself on social media without looking desperate)

How do you promote your work without looking like a spambot, a troll… or a desperate person?  Well, that’s easy an easy answer for me!