TIVOLI, Utrecht

The first band to take the stage was the Dutch death-metal cult band Gorefest after a break of six years. Founder Jan-Chris De Koeyer turned out to be the driving force of this band. Although his raw and powerful, almost grunt-like vocals didn’t seem to please the audience, nearer to the end of the show more and more people began to respond to the efforts made by Jan-Chris, but it was totally different from After Forever!

xxxxxIt was after ten p.m. when the stage was set for Floor Jansen and by Jupiter she did well! An amazing performance by her and the band, leaving an impression of extreme coherence. Loose interactions between all of them and a setlist featuring their most recent album “Remagine”: “Enter”, “Come”, “Boundaries Are Open” and “Living Shields”.

The crowd (almost full house) responded very enthusiastically and AF went on with “My Pledge Of Allegiance” and “Beyond Me”, then again from “Remagine”: “Attendance”, “No Control”, “Strong” and “Free Of Doubt”. Again AF delivered proof of their maturity and that contracting Joost van den Broek was an excellent choice.

The band played really tight and the show continued with “Monolith Of Doubt” before going back to “Remagine” once more with “Being Everyone”. Actually the only track from their latest effort that wasn’t performed live was “Face Your Demons”! After just one hour the band said goodbye and of coarse they came back for more: “Digital Deceit”, “Forlorn Hope” and “Follow In The Cry” were the tracks they played as an encore.

Coming back for a second encore AF performed their version of Europe’s “Final Countdown”.

Great concert but way too short (not even one and a half hours) and for a prog-fan of my age a not so perfect combination with Gorefest’s death metal.