But years have passed and when I got the opportunity to go and see Parsons at the 013 in Tilburg my curiosity conquered my previous promise. I had heard and read some quite negative reactions to the new Alan Parsons album, Valid Path, which was released this month; so things weren’t looking good for this evening. If tonight was going to be the same deception as previously, Alan Parsons was over and out.

When I entered the venue I was surprised by the cosy atmosphere, which was created by the chairs that were put in. Usually 013 strikes me as a little bit sterile environment and I fear that without the chairs some empty places would have become obvious in the audience. But now the place was nicely packed, even the balcony was accessible.

The band came on and kicked off with thirty to forty minutes of best of tracks like “I Robot”, “Don’t Answer Me”, “Time” and personal live favorite “What Goes Up”. I was pleased to see that the atmosphere on stage was entirely different than during the Nijmegen gig. This six piece made a very relaxed impression and was clearly enjoying playing together. The rhythm section in particular made a strong impression especially during the incredible “Psychobabble”, sung by drummer Steve Murphy.

Halfway through the set it was time to tell the audience about the new album. Three songs of the album were played, “Return To Tunguska” a long instrumental track with dominant drumming and bass, “More Lost Without You”, with a catchy, some kind of a Brit-Pop chorus and “We Play The Game”. I can imagine that these songs won’t make such a good impression when you hear them for the first time on cd, but the songs proved to be live killers.

The encores of the show were no surprise: “Old & Wise” and “Games People Play”. I won’t have to tell you that by the end of the show almost every chair in the hall was vacant. The crowd loved the show and so did I. The only question that remains is ‘What the hell went wrong in Nijmegen?’

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)