10-03-2012 Protest The Hero

Supports: Uneven Structure, Blood Command, Long Distance Calling; Venue: Tivoli de Helling, Utrecht (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Protest the Hero and Long Distance Calling joined forced on the road, with some support of the band Blood Command and Uneven Structure they filled the venue quite well.

Starting this evening was Uneven Structure, a band from France that works with loads of intensity levels. The band makes Post Metal and does this quite well. It is perhaps a bit of a short performance to really blow us all away with this music, it certainly needs some time to grow into, but they have showed what they are up too.

Blood Command was doing a comeback since the last time they were here (with Comeback Kid)their performance was not exactly one they should be remembered off. This time the band showed themselves a bit better. The centre of the pain was their vocalist which keeps her notes a bit better this time. Good for them as they have a wonderful drummer that really has the skills and combined with some good guitarists they have all the potential on the stage. Yet, tonight they are a bit of an outcast in some way, not really getting the audience along, but in the end they found their way to some of the crowd.

Long Distance Calling delivered a wonderful album last year. The selftitled release was the third full length of these Germans and the band received some nice feedback on it. Tonight they would show how this all comes out live. The start of the band quite sets it, not much of a show, just start playing. Their progressive instrumental tunes are there, tension building and full of vehemence when needed, to slide back into the more calm and relaxed parts after that. Groove comes in to make it all exciting. What is amazing to see is that the band with little show and just their instruments are able to get the heads moving here in Tivoli. They hit the crowd and leave an impression. Even though people asked for an encore, it was not given, the schedule of tonight seemed quite tight but perhaps we’ll see the band in NL again soon. The festival season is coming up and the line ups have plenty of empty spots there.

Protest The Hero was headlining and the band quickly got themselves ready for a performance that shows their progressive side as well as the core part that is within them. That last side is kept a bit away from the obvious and this results in them having a quite diverse crowd. The band takes their time to speak to the audience in between and some jokes pass along which relaxes it all a bit. A small moshpit starts at the very end of the set and sooner than wished for the band finished their performance. An encore is asked, but the lights are switched on already, it is over.