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| Arena | Boerderij-Zoetermeer | Apr 04, 2003 |
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Arena just seems to gain more and more popularity. The latest studio album from the English symphonic rock band even made it into the Dutch top 100 chart. The expectation was that the first show in Holland, at De Boerderij in Zoetermeer, was going to be attended by a lot of fans. The fact that the venue had to turn people down at the door was way beyond expectations. Arena shows average 400 to 500 people a night. De Boerderij was packed with 800 fans. Pendragon The support act consisted of two Pendragon members, Nick Barrett and Peter Gee playing an acoustic set. Despite the fact that most Arena fans are huge Pendragon fans, both men on guitar couldn’t really impress. The Pendragon songs just seem to be losing too much power when stripped down this way. The only songs that connected were the tracks from the latest Pendragon album Not Of This World and the Beatles cover “All You Need Is Love”, with guitar technician Benny on bass. Peter Gee closed the set with the words: "Next time we hope to see you with the whole band". I got the feeling this was the audiences’ desire as well. It was very clear for whom the fans came to Zoetermeer: Arena. Arena John Mitchell later declared that certain (parts of the) songs were skipped because they would have taken the tempo out of the live performance. This was for example the main reason why the beautiful “Mea Culpa” wasn`t played until the first encore. Clive Nolan dedicated the song to his mother who was attending the concert. I`ve never seen Clive play with such pride! The live performance of the Contagion songs was great. The album gained a certain sharp edge, an edge that the studio recordings at times lack. It became obvious that Contagion is one of those typical albums that seem to grow when performed live on stage (and those are the best albums). No one will deny the fact that Arena lost a lot of visual expression when front man Rob Sowdon replaced Paul Wrighton in 1999. Sowdon is without a doubt a much better singer than his predecessor and is giving his best to put on a good performance but he just lacks that real front man charisma. Luckily the band handles this problem well with the help of great visual effects and the high quality of guitarist Mitchell, who really got the crowd going. The set had a couple of real highlights. Next to - of course - “Solomon” and “Jericho”, the acoustic songs from Contagion were great. Remarkable, because this is the first concert I`ve been to where I enjoyed the instrumental tracks. Usually as soon as instrumental songs are played, my attention slips. The instrumental Arena songs nevertheless were most impressing. In conclusion one must admit that Arena has matured. It is no longer a hobby project of Clive Nolan and Mick Pointer, supplemented with a few session musicians. Band members Ian Salmon (bass) and John Mitchell clearly made their mark in the new sound of this real band! No pics. Remember, last chance to see Arena in Holland will be at the Paradiso in Amsterdam, April 27th! (Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger) |
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