DE VICTORIE, Alkmaar, support-act: IGNORAMUS

Illumion, de talentvolle band rond gitarist Eveline van Kampen, deed in De Victorie in Alkmaar de vuurproef met voor het eerst toetsenist Gerton Leijdekker (S.O.T.E.) in de gelederen. In het voorprogramma speelde Ignoramus. Illumion, die melodieuze metal speelt, en zijn frontman hebben nog een lange weg te gaan voordat ze een serieuze speler in het genre kunnen worden. Afgezien van wat kleine foutjes speelde Illumion een voortreffelijke set, maar helaas voor te weinig publiek.

De zenuwen waren bij Eveline van Kampen echter wel te zien: opperste concentratie en er kon niet vaak een lachje af. Esther Ladiges, die tevens zangeres van de groep Unicorn is, zong sommige stukken zelfs met meer overtuiging dan op de debuut-cd Hunting For Significance al was de live uitvoering zonder de meerstemmige zang natuurlijk toch anders. De (ex) S.O.T.E-leden Peter Boer, Emile Boellaard en Gerton Leijdekker deden het uitstekend. Zeker Boer met zijn zelf gebouwde stick speelde gemakkelijk en hij voelde zich goed thuis op het podium. De setlist bestond uit Under The Harrow, Scarlet Sin, Metamorphosis, Into The Labyrinth, Prophecy en Died For Beauty. In het slotnummer The Bliss kon Boellaard, die dit werk gemakkelijk aan kan, zich lekker uitleven. Van Kampen heeft een uitstekende techniek en met haar frêle postuur is zij een opvallende verschijning op het podium. Als de band de kans krijgt om wat vaker te spelen is, er een goede kans dat Eveline haar niet te onderschatten compositorische kwaliteiten nog verder zal kunnen ontwikkelen en zullen we zeker nog veel luisterplezier gaan beleven. De kop is er dus af, nu nog een goede vervolg!

ENGLISH:

After a demo, a few years ago, new Dutch prog and gothic band Illumion recently released the critically acclaimed debut Hunting For Significance. For the first time they played live with new keyboardplayer Gerton Leijdekker (S.O.T.E.). The band formed by guitarist Eveline van Kampen, went on stage in Alkmaar. However, Illumion would be preceded by support-act Ignoramus, while another Dutch gothic rock band Gandillion was supposed to be the main event. Because Gandillion for some reason couldn’t make it, Illumion was to be the main act for this late September evening. Ignoramus, which means ‘know nothing’, is a beautiful name for a band and maybe they will eventually climb up the ladder. Their slightly progressive influenced rock turned out to be not extremely enjoyable, especially because their singer Cees-Jan Bes wasn’t in great shape and personally I doubt if he will be able to reach such a degree of professionalism that the band he fronts could ever be successful. It was a surprise for me to learn this band actually released several CDs! The other members of Ignoramus did rather well, but the compositions could neither impress the audience nor me.

Then it was Illumion’s turn. Unfortunately not too many people found their way to venue De Victorie’, but luckily there were more than when the first show began. Eveline van Kampen, the rather slender guitarist of the band, was a bit nervous. She was dressed in a tasteful and rather sexy outfit. Singer Esther Ladiges thought for a moment she was fronting her other band Unicorn, but she corrected her slip of the tongue instantly and sang with more power and confidence as on the CD so it seemed, also because now she had only one voice instead of multiple recordings of her on the album!

Bass player Peter Boer (also from S.O.T.E.) proved to be a very reliable and stable factor in the band, keeping his balance and playing his bits perfectly. Newcomer Gerton Leijdekker also did a good job and considering that he's a guitar player, he must have practiced a lot to be able to play his parts! Another familiar face on stage was Emile Boellaard on the drums and backing vocals, who played with S.O.T.E. until recently. Unlike the other musicians, Boellaard is a professional drummer. The others have all ‘ordinary’ day jobs next to making music. Boellaard is more than capable to play these often 7/8 time signatures that Eveline composed. Although the band has to work a bit more on their stage performance, there’s no doubt that all musicians are well-trained and perfectly capable of bringing the music from their debut album on stage. The only way to get the experience needed to perform at a professional level, is to play live regularly. Hopefully, the venues will recognize the talents of Eveline van Kampen and her band mates and book them for more shows: they deserve it!

Setlist: Under The Harrow, Scarlet Sin, Metamorphosis, Into The Labyrinth, Prophecy, Died For Beauty, The Bliss.