10-05-2008 GGPVR

Venue: Gooth, Ridderkerk (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

GGPVR is a band contest hold in my hometown Ridderkerk. Every year a lot of bands from the area join in this competition in order to win a gig at the Goothstock festival and a gig at the biggest free festival in the area: Wantijpop.

With temperatures above 25 degrees Celsius outside and many festivities in the village not too many people attended this festival from the first moment. So come that the first band of today, Artistic Fusion, did not have too much audience. Too bad, since they gave the festival a nice start with their funky pop rock songs. The band has female vocals, done by Megan. I enjoyed watching this band, too bad they haven’t played later.

Second band did not score too badly either. Natha Lee was there to give us some steady rock which is slightly influenced by 80’s rock bands and even some metal influences are hearable when the band brings their wildest songs. On the stage I see a band which knows how to give a performance. Not just standing there and play but actually enjoy their time even though the venue is still quite empty. Natha Lee is coming from The Hague and haves some gigs scheduled in this area, so if you are around, they are worth to check out!

Toffe Haan is a band singing in Dutch. In The Netherlands, bands singing in Dutch are not really popular in general. Toffe Haan is a known name though. Unfortunately, most people took the time the band plays to rush to the terrace outside and enjoy the sun with a beer in the hand. Whether you like it or not, the band thinks about their stage appearance. They all wear the same colorful clothes and enjoy playing their set.

One Pitch Down did not make a big impression on me. Their music is melodic and funky rock, but somehow it didn’t really stick in mind. Mostly that is caused by the vocals. They vocals sound like a young guy singing. It missed the power to fit in with the instrumental part of their music.

Spartaco was suppose to play next, but did not show up. So next band I saw was The Death Letters. The band exists out of two members, so the stage was big for them. The band from the city Dordrecht makes blues/rock music. It was kind of weird to see just two persons on the stage but it was quite ok. They turned out to be the winner of “de kleine prijs” which means they were the runners up.

Vigilante was up next. This band is from Ridderkerk, so they had some friends to cheer for them. The band exists only since the summer of 2007. In their music you can clearly hear influences of Queens Of The Stone Age. Active music, with a sweet edge. Nice to see.

Disfunction was having a more or less home match as well, they do not come from Ridderkerk, but neighbor town Hendrik Ido Ambacht. Their make some alternative rock music with a raw, but still emotional voice. Though, I think the band needs some time to work on some of the songs. I was not really blown away by them. With a little more emotion and drama in the music I expect a lot of more results from them.

Now it was time for the next band called Antenna. They make some ordinary rock music, not to active. Quite calm. It was clear that they had quite some people with them to watch the show. There was not too much response from the audience though. In the end, they had to play again because they were the winners of tonight.

Up next was Dark Roses, a band I recently saw in the Semifinals from Emergenza. This band comes from Rotterdam and was responsible for the only mosh pit of the day. The band brings some metal and got the audience along with their songs. They had to play exactly at the right moment; the terrace was closing down so everyone came inside to watch the band. Overall it was a relaxed performance, the band took their time in between the songs and nothing was rushed. Energy from the response of the audience got returned all over again.

Spaug is quite a known name already. Pop rock with loads of sugar. Emotional a la Keane and very melodic. I liked their performance even though I was not really in the mood for it, that soon after the metal of Dark Roses. The band shows that they are very professional and play a great gig.

When telling you that the last participating band is called: So Electric, you might expect a typical electro band with loads of electronic effects. I have to tell you that you are quite wrong with that thought. So Electric is a pop rock band which did not even use any typical electro elements. The band does have some punk influences and clearly knows their classics as well. I was not too impressed by their performance though. It was actually quite boring. I think this music would have done better in the start of the day. For this time, most people expect some wilder music.

When the judges have a meeting about who will be today’s winner we got a performance of last years runner up: Crow Jane.
After that, they immediately let us now the winners:
First place was for Antenna and the runner up place for The Death Letters.

More pictures of this gig available at sabinevangameren.com

Links:
Artistic Fusion MySpace
Natha Lee MySpace
Toffe Haan MySpace
One Pitch Down MySpace
The Death Letters MySpace
Disfunction MySpace
Antenna MySpace
Dark Roses MySpace
Spaug MySpace
So Electric MySpace