01-04-2016 Leprous

[schema type=”event” evtype=”Event” name=”01-04-2016 Leprous” description=”Supports: Earthside, Voyager; By: Sabine van Gameren” sdate=”2016-04-04″ street=”W2″ city=”Den Bosch” country=”NL” ]
Leprous planned a new tour to do some clubshows in some of the countries they did not attend last time.

Earthside was the first band to play, the band comes from the US and plays cinematic rock as they say. A quite short set, but one that is played with passion. With a keytar the band is being quite mobile, all of them rock around. A varied set is played which is entertaining enough, but perhaps a bit too short to get a proper look at what they are up too.
At least they did not have to worry about an audience, many people found their way to the club early and managed to see them play. Earthside released their debut album “A Dream In Static” and did a US tour already before coming around Europe. Being in a package with Leprous seems a good choice for them.

Voyager was the second band of the evening. Maybe we did have too high expectations of these Australians but the show was not really what we had hoped for. That said, it must be known that it certainly was not the energy and the enthusiasm that was lacking this night, the band is not standing still for a second even, but perhaps we hoped for a bit more bombastic power in their sound. Somehow the sound seems quite flat. The people on the first rows seem quite ok with the shows though, being entertainers certainly seem to pay off.

A bit strange seem to be the statement of Dutch people being into techno so much and then playing a cover of a non-Dutch artist. Would have been nicer to wow them audience with something local if you need to make a statement like that. Whatever it was, for us it did not click tonight. Luckily for the band not everyone in the audience felt that way, so we are sure they gained some fans.

Leprous is a band that leaves you no choice, a front row place is mandatory for the best results and luckily the guys have a reputation of bringing amazing energetic live shows, so that is all worth it. Vocalist Einar is known for being able to do a whole lot of vocal tricks, high skilled vocal parts that are not made for everyone. Although it is always tempting to try. That’s why we say: stay upfront, less problems if the people around you do not realize yet that they are not Einar.

But being there also give you the advantage and the thrill of observing the guitarists from close by, because they have plenty to offer. Sometimes you even step back when they come very, very close. On the set list of tonight is a good span of songs taken from their latest releases. The band does not only choose to promote the album “The Congregation” but also has “Coal” represented very well. The two albums are following each other well so the set is flowing with ease. Songs like “Chronic” and “Slave” seem to fall good at the audience and the band has to return twice to play some more today.

A little joke from the guys for the fans is there as well. It is April’s first after all. Some when during the set, one of the staff adds setlists to the stage. A trained eye spotted that all on there was the same. Yet not many fans noticed and the battle for a souvenir was on. Hopefully they were not too disappointed, but to be fair: they should not. The band played a great show and there was a good atmosphere. Leprous showed us why they are worth to see them again and again.