Venue: Backstage (Im Klub) / Munich / Germany
Concert date: 24.04.2009
Attendance: 270
Ticket price: €14.00 (advance) / €18.00 (day of show)
Delain are a Dutch symphonic metal band founded in 2002 by Martijn Westerholt, the former keyboardist of Within Temptation. The band released their studio debut “Lucidity” in 2006, and a whole host of well-known musicians guested on it, including: bassist Marco Hietala (Nightwish, Tarot), singer Liv Kristine (Leave’s Eyes), drummer Ariën van Weesenbeek (ex God Dethroned, Epica), guitarist Ad Sluijter (ex-Epica), George Oosthoek and Guus Eikens, both former members of Orphanage, singer Sharon Den Adel (Within Temptation) and guitarist Jan Yrlund (Imperia).
The band put out their new studio album April Rain just at the start of this April. So it was also time for a new European tour from Delain, time for a new live adventure that fans of bands like Epica, Nightwish, Within Temptation and Sirenia will have a hard time missing!
| ALICE MONDIA: |
Alice Mondia, a Swiss-born girl, got into ballet at the tender age of three, and soon after started playing piano too, which is hardly surprising since she comes from a musical family. At eighteen she decided once and for all to dedicate her life to singing, which she also started studying very seriously. By her own account, she sees herself most in a mix of rock and pop, and that’s just what her debut, My Way Or No Way, sounds like. The album came out in 2008.
In Münchnu, at the Backstage club, in front of roughly a hundred people, she got a good twenty minutes, which she made the most of for some solid self-promotion. The band, which besides Alice includes three more members, comes across as tight and confident on stage, since these “hired guns” have quite a bit of mileage behind them. Alice played six tracks from the aforementioned album My Way Or No Way. The crowd received her fairly coldly at the very start, but with an energetic performance the lovely Alice won the audience over to her side and got them properly warmed up for Delain.
Alice Mondia and her band were a pretty nice surprise for me, since I’m not exactly a fan of pop rock. For wider recognition, though, she still has a lot of work ahead of her, as pop rock is teeming with bands like this. I really hope Alice Mondia isn’t a one-year wonder!
| DELAIN: |
First things first, I have to point out that I was extremely pleasantly surprised by how well-organized the Backstage complex in Münchnu is. The second, slightly less pleasant surprise came when I read on the poster that the Dutch symphonic metallers Delain would be playing a smaller hall than originally announced. It’s a little room, more of a club affair, called Im Klub. But it turned out in the end to be the right call, because the smaller club space was packed to almost the last corner, and the atmosphere in the room was incredible!
The concert kicked off, of course, with the obligatory intro, followed by two hits from the latest, that is second, album “April Rain”, which actually came out this April: the songs Invidia and Stay Forever. Contact between the audience and the band was established right after the first song, as the hall sang along to the rhythms of symphonic metal. Next came the song Sever from the first record “Lucidity”, and then an explosion of enthusiasm from the crowd, as Delain lined up three hits in a row: April Rain, Go Away and, in my opinion, their best song, The Gathering. It was right at The Gathering that an interesting question came up: how would the song work “live”, since the male vocal on the studio version is sung by Marco from Nightwish? It turned out the worry was totally unnecessary! The “Delain guys” pleasantly surprised everyone here, as the male vocal at this point was delivered very confidently by guitarist Ronald Landa, who also handles backing vocals.
As for the main magnet of Delain’s stage (and, well, off-stage) presence, singer Charlotte Wessels, there’s hardly any need to waste words. The girl completely gave herself over to the show and delivered a vocal performance in top form! Also worth singling out are the excellent keyboardist Martijn Westerholt (ex-Within Temptation), the founder of Delain, the hot Rob van der Loo on bass, and of course the indestructible drummer Sander Zoer!
With the symphonic power metal marches A Day For a Ghost, SOA Dancer, Control The Storm and Frozen, all steeped in a distinctive gothic breath, the band wrapped up the main set, which was sent off by two minutes of thunderous applause from the spellbound crowd, accompanied by booming, unanimous shouts of: “Zu-ga-be!!!!”
Delain didn’t keep us waiting too long and served up Sleepwalkers Dream as the obligatory encore, and for the big finale the song the crowd wouldn’t have let them go home without, Nothing Left.
The evening with Delain was phenomenal in every respect, both in performance and in sound. If you care at all about the legacy of symphonic gothic metal, make sure you don’t miss the next show like the one Delain conjured up in Münchnu. Seriously, don’t!
photos: Jure Frelih
Setlist
ALICE MONDIA: 1. Hear Me Now 2. Zebra Crossing 3. Once Awake 4. Saturday Night 5. Don’t Call 6. Rock The Party DELAIN: 1. Intro 2. Invidia 3. Stay Forever 4. Sever 5. April Rain 6. Go Away 7. The Gathering 8. A Day For Ghost 9. SOA Dancer 10. Control The Storm 11. Frozen —encore— 12. Sleepwalkers Dream 13. Nothing Left
Photo Gallery
