Tonight I mainly traveled to Tilburg to take some pictures. I’m one of those whiners that feel that Within Temptation is heading into a commercial direction a little bit too much. I did give the The Silent Force album a try, but the songs just sounded too much alike for my personal taste. It was therefore not the music that made this show one of the most impressive I’ve seen this year. There’s only one word I could think of to describe this concert: respect! The sold out gig was as professional as can be, without the lost of spontaneity or atmosphere. The lights, the fire works, the outfits (there even was a dress change), all was taken care of in detail. The band completed the picture by giving a compassionate performance, more than obviously showing that they have the utmost respect for each other and the crowd. Within Temptation is with out a doubt one of the best – possibly the best – bands in The Netherlands, after tonight I’m one hundred percent sure about that (no matter what I think of The Silent Force).

(Review & Pics: Geert Oldenmenger)