Supports: Swallow the Sun, Longdistance Calling; Venue: p60, Amstelveen (Netherlands)
By: Elvira Visser
The “Night is over Europe” tour came to the Netherlands this Saturday evening. Long Distance Calling had the task to open his evening of the tour. Being precise the fourth night of the tour.
| Long Distance Calling, a five-piece from Germany’s Münster region that hope to bring you a variety of moods and atmospheres. Their style is a bit post-rock and instrumental. At least this evening. The microphone was only there to announce the next number they were going to play. The band play some long tracks where they built in each of them a climax, sometimes delicate, sometimes more out there. Not a bad band to start the evening, they performed and showed that they know how to play but for me I missed something. Others seemed to embrace this band while we were further in their set. For this music I need to sit down and only focus on the music. It was very silent in the hall except then the guys from Long Distance Calling ended one of their songs. |
| After the change over it was time for Swallow the Sun from Finland. The band has been in the Netherlands in the previous months and their share of fans is expanding. Their music is somewhat different then Katatoni and Long Distance Calling. Swallow the Sun have more the melancholic dark atmosphere together with delicate melodies that need to grow in each song. Sadly one guy and a few friends of his kept the audience from this. He though he needed to mosh like he was at another gig pushing and pulling people. The band also needed a bit of time to show their skills, holding back. Near the end of their performance they did build a different atmosphere then the guys from Long Distance Calling. Singer Mikko, like always, wears a scarf and a beanie, walking up and down between his microphone stand and the drums. Calm. Not all people were fond of Swallow the Sun. The older work from them seemed to leave a better impression then their new work from “New Moon”, however an other group seemed to recognise these. More and more people began to clap and the best of the evening for the guys from Swallow the Sun was actually their last “Swallow”. This song had the most energy, had captured the audience and took them through their landscapes. It seemed that the guys had saved some energy and used it all in the last moments on stage. The guy in the audience ruined their show a little, as the atmosphere they try to build with their music came not across due to the intrusion. Luckily I was standing on the balcony and could enjoy their gig to the fullest. Can’t wait to see this band again. |
| Now I have to admit I had never seen Katatonia before and expected a bit more dark doom-like music. However the guys from Katatonia took me by surprise and left a great impression. The band came to Europe to promote their new album “Night is the New Day”, which was released right before the start of this year. Tonight the band was playing with Per Eriksson (or you might know him from his nickname Sodomizer) and Niklas Sandin. No strangers to the band. What the band did to surprise me was that they really had a good built up set list. It started quiet slow and brief moments of the metal which gotten more and more throughout the songs. Sadly the sound was not the best at the first tracks Katatonia played, Swallow the Sun seemed also have some problems to get the right sound for the audience. But singer Jonas did not seem to care and was very focused on his singing performance. Hiding behind his hair covering his face. He took me of guard, because that voice was great, what a great control. While he was focussing on singing the others had to interact a bit more with the audience. Both Per and Niklas did not seem to mind and together with Anders they did the job. The songs got more and more energy and more people began to cheer. The band seemed to play very long, which most people of course did not seem to mind. A good gig from this Swedish band. |
More photo’s of this event can be found at Photographic Retentions
Links:
Katatonia MySpace
Swallow the Sun MySpace
Longdistance Calling MySpace
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