Pure Inc
The Pure Inc performance was totally what I had expected from it; four enthusiastic chaps, obviously enjoying their first Dutch gig in front of about seven or eight hundred people. The band seemed to be very comfortable. Front man Gianni Pontillo even dared to go into a conversation with the crowd in between songs. Quite remarkable for a support act. A somewhat hilarious moment was when someone in the crowd yelled that Gianni sounded like a Turk, referring to the appearance and the small accent of the born Italian. This accent only shined through during the in-between-songs conversations. During the songs ‘the throat’ sounded close to perfect.

One remarkable band member is guitarist Sandro Pellegrini. He definitely has what has been called the X-factor; great guitar play, fine looks and an excellent performance on stage. Watch the pictures and you’ll know what I mean. Pure Inc is one of the best support acts I’ve seen in years and by the reactions from the crowd I wasn’t the only one that was impressed by these rockers from Switzerland.

Michael Schenker Group
Then it was time for Michael Schenker and band to take the stage. Tonight’s gig must have been one of the worst in Michael Schenker’s history. Not only did the band have to cope with serious technical problems - there were almost no vocal microphones working during the first couple of songs - Michael himself wasn’t looking too good either. The man just stood there on the left side of the stage only having eyes for his instrument. I even heard people shout: ‘Michael, show yourself!’ The very cool appearance of the man declined every minute he played. What a static performance!

After I had decided not to stay until the end of this show (I had witnessed about 45 minutes), I ran into some of the guys from Pure Inc who told me that Michael was feeling sick but didn’t want to call of the show on such small notice. In a way this could be considered a respectful call not to let your fans travel to Tilburg for nothing. On the other hand I don’t think that there was one single Schenker fan that enjoyed this evening’s show.

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)