KASTEELTUINEN, Arcen, (met onder meer: TARJA TURUNEN)

Op een prachtige zaterdag ronddolen in en om kasteel Arcen met zijn schitterende tuinen en natuur is geen straf. De organisatie van de Elf Fantasy Fair had behalve het weer niets aan het toeval overgelaten. In het kasteel waren onder anderen schrijvers en hun boeken; rondom het kasteel tal van stands met onder meer een roofvogelshow, middeleeuwse wapens en ook kleding en aan elfen gerelateerde gadgets. Verder een Star Wars-show, films, workshops, een demonstratie van de Nazgul en diverse kleinschalige muzikale evenementen met een link naar fantasy, oudheid of folklore: kortom ruim voldoende om een mens de hele dag bezig te houden.

Als je je probeert voor te stellen dat er ook nog honderden bezoekers op en top verkleed rondliepen dan is een fantasiewereld niet te veel gezegd: ik zag tal van Star Wars figuren, creaties uit Lord Of The Rings, een samurai, bosnimfen, elfjes, tovenaars, enzovoort. Dan was er natuurlijk ook nog muziek. Hoewel niet volgens een tijdschema traden op het grote podium achtereenvolgens de volgende artiesten op. Die Piraten maakte vrolijke rock met een folkloristische inslag met onder meer een rockversie van My Bonny Is Over The Ocean, Esha Ness speelde aansprekende poprock eveneens met een folkloristisch tintje, en Adivarius bracht een soort folkmetal. Een opvallende verschijning was de Britse Lahannya met blauwe dreadlocks in haar haar. De muziek was ook aardig: metal met veel elektronica, zoals in de synthipop van de jaren tachtig, al was de zang een tikkeltje minder dan haar uiterlijk. Als voorlaatste de groep Lacimas Profundere, die het slachtoffer werd van het uit de hand gelopen tijdschema: de donkere muziek met een gothic inslag moest na een halfuurt al worden gestaakt.

Als grote trekker op het hoofdpodium stond tenslotte Tarja Turunen, de voormalig zangeres van Nightwish. Tarja is een uitermate charmante verschijning en zij bespeelde het enthousiaste publiek zeer geraffineerd. Waar Tuomas Holopainen (Nightwish) destijds wilde dat ze meer poppy zong, werd duidelijk dat Turunen solo nagenoeg uitsluitend haar klassiek geschoolde sopraanstem wilde laten horen. Dit kwam de Nightwish-nummers niet altijd ten goede, maar haar eigen repertoire met zelfs een solostuk waarbij ze zichzelf op keyboard begeleidde, kwam uitstekend uit de verf. Natuurlijk kwam ook de grote klapper I Walk Alone voorbij en na anderhalf uur was de zeer smakelijke koek op en kon het publiek huiswaarts keren. De band van Turunen bestond uit: drummer Mike Terrana (Masterplan, Savage Circus, ex-Rage, ex-Malmsteen), toetsenman Christian Kretschmar (Schiller), bassist Oliver Holzwarth (Blind Guardian, ex- Sieges Even), gitarist Alex Scholpp (ex-Farmer Boys), cellist Max Lilja (Hevein, ex-Apocalyptica) (voor concertfoto's zie onder CONCERTFOTO'S).

Het was, mede beïnvloedt door het prachtige weer, een dag met een kostelijk slotstuk. Ik mag hopen dat Tarja Turunen en Nightwish ooit weer de strijdbijl begraven, want ik denk dat beide partijen daarbij baat zouden hebben. Voorlopig kijk ik met meer interesse uit naar een nieuwalbum van Turunen dan naar een nieuwe van Nightwish! Ook op de zondag, die ik overigens niet heb bezocht, ging deze goed bezochte Elf Fantasy Fair met de Duitse inbreng in de organisatie met als afsluitende act Qntal, een fusie tussen middeleeuws georiënteerde muziek en elektronische muziek, die zeker bij veel lezers in de smaak zal zijn gevallen.

ENGLISH:

What can be more pleasant than walking through the beautiful gardens of Arcen Castle, enjoying good music and to see all those people dressed like elves, wizards or movie creatures? Right, nothing! So, I undertook the long journey to the south part of our low lands very near the border with Germany. The organizing committee - both Dutch and German - was lucky with such a nice sunny day but everything else was well-organized and there were lots of stalls with medieval weapons, dresses, jewelry, music, etcetera and of course lots of different foods. There were shows of Nazgul, the dark riders on horseback, a Star Trek spectacle, movies, workshops and demonstrations of birds of prey and medieval dances. In the castle were displays of artworks, books and so on, often presented by the creators themselves. To cut a long story short: an amazing variety of things to see and lots of things to do. Imagine you are wandering through gardens and you see Gandalf or Dark Vader in an unexpected corner near a waterfall...

My main interest, how else could it be, were the bands appearing on the big stage. Really the only dissonant to my knowledge was not sticking to the timetable of the appearing artists: victims of circumstance were the guys in Lacrimas Profundere who were sent off the stage after just half an hour. Both band and crowd were disappointed. So, after seeing the soundcheck by the backing band of headliner Tarja Turunen, about two hours later than scheduled there were Die Piraten a joyful bunch dressed like pirates and presenting a number of folkloristic songs in a rock version, such as My Bonny Is Over The Ocean. Cheerful and uplifting but they had no real ‘body’ in their music. Next on stage were Esha Ness with a nice combination of folk, pop and rock with a singer-songwriter twist.

At the end of the afternoon time for some heavier music: Adivarius, with a mix between folk and metal, greatly appreciated by the audience. Next in line, mixing synthi-pop with metal, it was the turn of the British singer Lahannya.

What can be more pleasant than walking through the beautiful gardens of Arcen Castle, enjoying good music and to see all those people dressed like elves, wizards or movie creatures? Right, nothing! So, I undertook the long journey to the south part of our Low Lands very near the border with Germany. The organizing committee (both Dutch and German) was lucky with such a nice sunny day but everything else was well organized and there were lots of stalls with medieval weapons, dresses, jewelry, music etcetera and of course lots of different foods. There were shows of Nazgul, the dark riders on horseback, a Star Trek spectacle, movies, workshops and demonstrations of birds of prey and medieval dances. In the castle displays of artworks, books and so on, often presented by the creators themselves. To cut a long story short: an amazing variety of things to see and lots of things to do. Imagine you are wandering through gardens and you see Gandalf or Dark Vader in an unexpected corner near a waterfall…..

My main interest, how else could it be, were the bands appearing on the big stage. Really the only dissonant to my knowledge was not sticking to the timetable of the appearing artists: victims of circumstance were the guys in Lacrimas Profundere who were sent off the stage after just half an hour. Both band and crowd were disappointed. So, after seeing the soundcheck by the backing band of headliner Tarja Turunen, about two hours later than scheduled there were Die Piraten a joyful bunch dressed like pirates and presenting a bunch of folkloristic songs in a rock version, such as My Bonny Is Over The Ocean. Cheerful and uplifting but no real ‘body’ in their music. Next on stage were Esha Ness, a nice combination of folk, pop and rock with a singer-songwriter twist. At the end of the afternoon there was some time for heavier music wit Adivarius, with a mixture of folk and metal, which was greatly appreciated by the audience.

Next in line, mixing synthi-pop with metal, it was the turn of the British singer Lahannya. Dressed in a rubber-like outfit, all kinds of artificial dreadlocks in her hair, mostly blue: she was an extraordinary stage personality. The riffs were nice and the electronics coming from a backing tape sounded quite good, but her vocal abilities were not impressive in my opinion. It was already shimmering light when Lacrimas Profundere hit the stage: low lights, dark music but a good combination of heavy metal with a gothic touch, heavy, gloomy, but melodic. As said they were just on their way to building up a climax when they were asked to leave the stage. It was dark and the audience were now hundreds of people when former NIghtwish singer Tarja Turunen appeared and the response of all spectators was overwhelming, no doubt whatsoever about her popularity! With a mixture of songs from her debut album and some Nightwish songs, she played the audience with such an ease she certainly wasn’t able to do in her first years with NIghtwish! She even did a new song accompanying herself on the keyboard.

The band of Tarje Turunen consisted of: Mike Terrana (drums, Masterplan, Savage Circus, ex-Rage, ex-Malmsteen), Christian Kretschmar (keyboards, Schiller), Oliver Holzwarth (bass, Blind Guardian, ex-Sieges Even), Alex Scholpp (guitar, ex-Farmer Boys), Max Lilja (cello, Hevein, ex-Apocalyptica).

With this experienced outfit it was a feast for both eye and ear, although every spotlight seemed to be pointed at Tarja during almost the whole show. Clearly one of the reasons why Thomas Holopianen wanted another singer, was Tarja’s desire to use solely her soprano voice. Although I still think a soprano matches the music of Nightwish perfectly, I can imagine a bit of variation would be welcome. During this show it was a display of her trained soprano voice which didn’t do justice to the songs of Nightwish, but having said that as my personal view, it was her interpretation of those songs that night and she has every right to sing them her way. The charming lady on stage was in great form though, and the show ended after one hout and a half of good music, which should have lasted at least half an hour more, according to all enthusiastic reactions from the audience. I really hope there will come a day that Nightwish and Tarja Turunen join forces again, because this combination works much better for me. A perfect day had come to an end and the only show of Turunen in the Netherlands was over, and it felt a bit like 'I Walk Alone', when I made my way to my car and drove back to my hometown Almelo.

The fair however was held on the Sunday too. Main act on this day was Qntal, a German trio with vocalist Syrah, mingling medieval music, a classically trained vocalist and electronics, most certainly of interest to a lot of our readers.

Setlist Tarja Turunen: Enough, My Little Phoenix, She Is My Sin, The Seer, Minor Heaven, I Walk Alone, Ciaran’s Well, Tired Of Being Alone, Lost Northern Star, Poison
Wisdom/Boy/Divide/Grace, If You Believe, Nemo, Sing For Me, Oasis, Deep Silent Complete, Die Alive.