Marathon by ENorm

June 7, 2013, DRU Cultuurfabriek, Ulft (NL)


Since September 2011 I follow the Dutch band ENorm. During the 'Nazomer Open Air' concert (see review) in Enschede, a city in the eastern part of the Netherlands, they performed the music of their former band Marathon. Apart from doing material from the two Marathon albums and songs from their current band, they also
Eric ten Bos and Liejondo Nijhuis (r)
played some stuff from their favourite bands like Saga, Marillion, Rush, The Alan Parsons Project and Genesis. It was a fantastic event with some great music and also a meeting of old friends. A year later they performed the 'ENorm's Marathon Revival Show' (see review) at Cultuurpodium Boerderij in Zoetermeer. This was an even bigger success than the previous show. The songs performed were almost the same only now they included some music of U2 as well.

This successful formula of Marathon music interspersed with songs of their favourite bands worked very well, so it was obvious that in 2013 a similar event would take place. This time they called it 'Marathon by ENorm' performed at the DRU Cultuurfabriek in Ulft, another venue in the eastern part of our country. This venue is familiar to the band members because in 2012 they had supported The Watch (see review) in Ulft. I wondered if they would play the same prog rock tunes interspersed with songs recorded by ENorm as during the above-mentioned shows. If they did the audience could look forward to a fantastic evening.

Well, after almost three hours of an amazing performance of the well-oiled machine that ENorm is, I could only conclude that they'd broadly stuck to their repertoire of the last couple of years. This means that they also played songs from ENorm's latest album Finding My Way (2012, see review). Tracks like Horizon, High Above The Ground and Zoe
Attractive screen projections
got great live versions and suited perfectly on the set list that was dominated by progressive rock music. Once again I could enjoy the classic Marathon tunes as Patters Of The Landscape, Ozone Layer, I'll Be There, Medicine Man, Casanovas and the final encore Beyond The Veil. During the latter track they did the usual beer shower. Both sets contained covers of their favourite bands like the two Saga tunes Humble Stance and On The Loose, and Easter, Kayleigh and Lavender by Marillion. The musicians had planned to play Incommunicado as well, but they finally cancelled this piece. Obviously a Rush-medley was performed since the band had seen them only a couple of days earlier in Amsterdam (see review). The way they performed Tom Sawyer, The Spirit Of Radio and La Villa Strangiato came even closer to the versions Rush would have done live on stage. These songs were a real showcase for Martin Platenkamp (keyboards), Ronald ten Bos (guitars), Ferry Bult (drums) and Liejondo Nijhuis (bass). Old And Wise, the first song of a medley of The Alan Parsons Project, once was the introduction to progressive rock music for lead singer and entertainer Eric ten Bos.

Of course not everything was similar to the concerts they previously performed, although the way they opened the second set reminded me of their last year's tribute to U2. Once more only Eric and Ronald ten Bos shared the stage doing a great acoustic guitar version of Love Of My Life. This was the start of an amazing Queen- medley containing excerpts from Bohemian Rhapsody, Under Pressure, One Vision, Tie Your Mother Down, Another One Bites The Dust, I Want To Break Free, Radio Ga Ga and We Will Rock You. The band managed to do this perfectly; on this year's Queen's Day they played the same medley that Marathon already had performed in 1997.

Karin Hertsenberg
During this version of 'Marathon by Enorm' the vocal duets, which Eric ten Bos did together with soprano singer Karin Hertsenberg, were new and they certainly belonged to the many highlights of this evening. The way they performed Time To Say Goodbye and Barcelona together with the band was just breathtaking and is surely something to keep on the set list, although a number of songs they performed from their favourite bands could have been removed from the set list. Maybe it would be a wise decision to perform other tracks instead of the ones they played in recent years. Don't get me wrong; I still love to see these musicians playing those great prog rock tunes, but it might be better for them as well as for their audience to perform some other material in the future.

People who attended this concert could look back at a very entertaining evening. Maybe it could have been a bit more crowded, but that didn't prevent these excellent musicians from doing their utmost to treat us to very good music!

Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)

Setlist Enorm:

Set 1:
Horizon
High Above The Ground
The Widow
Humble Stance
On The Loose
Easter
Old And Wise
Eye In The Sky
Impossible Love
Beauty Of Silence
Patterns Of The Landscape
Time To Say Goodbye (with Karin Hertsenberg)

Set 2:
Queen Medley
Medicine Man
Kayleigh
Lavender
Barcelona (with Karin Hertsenberg)
Casanovas
Tom Sawyer
The Spirit of Radio
La Villa Strangiato
Zoe
I'll Be There
Ozone Layer
Answers

Encores:
Mama
Beyond The Veil




Pictures Enorm by Arthur Haggenburg

Click on the picture to enlarge.

Line up Enorm:

(left to right)
Martin Platenkamp:
keyboards
Ronald ten Bos:
guitars, backing vocals
Eric ten Bos:
lead vocals
Ferry Bult:
drums
Liejondo Nijhuis:
bass
Leon Westenberg:
guitar

Special guest:
Karin Hertsenberg:
soprano vocals









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