It`s a pity they haven`t added something to it. The band is tight and they sure can play. But it`s too obvious they themselves hardly listen to anything else than stonerrock. I don`t mind clichés but you have to try to avoid playing too many. So, nice band but a bit too predictable.

Nebula
After a short intro Nebula blast of into Do It Now and immediately shows there`s more to rocking than just copying riffs. Songs with a head and a tail work better in the hard rock idiom as well as in any form of pop/rock music. The eager crowd is with the band from the beginning. With only three new songs on their new album it`s a kind of a best of gig for the fans. To The Center (with the best drum fills ever!), Giant, Rollin` My Way To Freedom, Elevation, they play a couple of songs from every album or EP. A bit disappointing that they didn`t play Smokin` Woman but what the hell. You can`t have everything.

The new songs go down really well. Nobody in the audience ever heard them before. And although two of them sound different from the regular Nebula stuff the crowd thoroughly enjoy them. Rocket has a riff that sounds suspiciously like AC/DC`s Whole Lotta Rosie.

At the end of the song singer/guitarist Eddie Glass says: `It`s a bit of a classic riff...`. Still there`s enough of Nebula in it to make it their own I think. In the middle of a slower song the band stops. Glass: `We`re putting you guys to sleep` and starts a fast rocking song. I don`t know if it`s part of the show but it works. The people in Holland seem to prefer faster stuff.

A pity I think because I like the slower songs as much as the fast ones. Anyway, most of the crowd agreed with the band. During the show people keep singing along, screaming for more and doing requests. The band clearly enjoys it too. At the end of the set drummer Ruben Romano sets fire to the gong behind him. Always a spectacular sight.

A tradition in the Vera club: when a band leaves the stage and they`ve done well people don`t do the usual `We want more` bit. They start banging on the stage with the backs of empty bottles of beer. Just like tonight. The band gets the message and returns for a good and long encore. One of the best live bands around.

(Review: Walter de Korver
Pics: Jan Geert Koops)