07-01-2010 Epica

Supports: Trail of Tears; Venue: Bibelot, Dordrecht (Netherlands)
By: Elvira Visser

This evening was mainly about Epica as most of the fans came to see this band, but Trail of Tears has gathered fans in the Netherlands as well. Trail of Tears played at Metal Female Voices Fest in Germany for example. The first band this evening was Morning but they played rather early. Trail of Tears was about to enter the stage when I arrived at the venue. It was crowded but still people came in. When Trail of Tears, a Norwegian band that plays bombastic metal with male growls and a female vocalist. Two years ago the bands was playing this same venue with only a hand full of people, that their fame has grown over the years showed when many people in the audience were singing along and shouting. The band got the energy right where it should be, by giving away a very entertaining powerful show. The band feels good on stage something you can notice. They played tracks from their latest album “Bloodstained Endurance” but also the most catchy older songs. Fans from Epica who did not know Trail of Tears have seen a very good show from Trail of Tears. After their gig when the band was standing at their merchandise table many people came buy for a CD or an autograph. The band can be proud of their performance, it was energetic. All the band members contribute their piece to the Trail of Tears sound. Which tonight, kicked ass!

When Epica started it was crowded in front of the stage. When the intro tune started almost all the fans were screaming and raised their hands in the air. Epica is not a new band that plays this town, almost every year they play this venue and it almost always sold out. They bring metal with orchestal and film soundtrack influences together with the superb vocals from Simone Simons. The atmosphere is always good, like it is today. After a few songs Simone tells the audience it is nice to be back in Holland after a South-America tour to just talk in Dutch to the audience. She is a very elegant and draws the attention of many men. When asking if the crowd is ready for a little bit of action as a warming up the crowd cheers. The band is very interacting with the audience throughout their show. Mark Jansen, their guitarist tells the crowd that he had a problem with his ears today and that he was lucky to be there. That afternoon they were measuring for new in-ears. Due to that his ear got blocked up but they found a doctor right in time before the show. Epica got the crowd going, singing along and cheering. The band knows how to perform over the years and that results in a great evening where many old and new songs were played.

More photo’s of this event can be found at Photographic Retentions

Links:
Trail of Tears MySpace
Epica Official