Progkampen:
Cartographer & Silhouette

April 18, 2015 - 't Ukien Kampen (NL)


Strangely enough most progressive rock concerts are held in the western part of the Netherlands. Or even every now and then fans of the genre can enjoy concerts held in the south of the Netherlands-however almost never in the eastern or northern parts. Therefore progressive rock magazine iO Pages, record store Blue Music and music venue 't Ukien decided to join forces to organize progressive rock events in this part of our country in the future. The place where it all should take place is Kampen and the bands that are the first musical fruits of this collaboration are the Dutch acts Silhouette and Cartographer! This all was presented under the banner of Progkampen, a progressive rock festival that should take place more often in the future and therefore without a very good initiative. Most of all, bands from our own country should get a chance to present themselves in front of a progressive rock audience!
 

Cartographer

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Cartographer on stage
Cartographer from Tilburg had the task of opening this series of concerts. I had already seen this outfit when they opened for Sean Filkins (see review) during the Dutch Exposure Project event in the Netherlands in 2012. So I already knew they have no less than three guitarists in their line-up and play their instrumental music without a keyboard player. At the time they mainly performed songs which came from their 2012 released eponymous EP. During their concert you could already hear that they were mostly inspired by bands such as Oceansize, Muse and Karnivool. Now three years later they could show me and the people who came to see them if they had grown as a band. With their first full-length album A Sea Of Sunshine in their baggage they
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Yoep de Ligt
climbed the rather small stage of the venue. It was a lot different compared to the venue where they had their release party for their debut. Last year they presented in a sold out 013 their first CD, which received rave reviews everywhere. But this time around they played mainly for people who are fans of the second band on the bill. So they were at first approached by them a little bit skeptical. The tracks they played were mainly from the newest album. But the more songs they played, the more the crowd liked them and moved along with their music. This music can be described as instrumental post-rock. Or 'post progressive rock' as they named their style themselves. The compositions they perform sometimes contain very relaxed, sparkling, clean and dreamy harmonies. Other times the same tracks almost explode with their heavy guitar sound. Sure their well-structured music is very cleverly done, but you can't deny that sometimes you get the feeling that most of the songs sound much the same. In a way you have heard it all before during their set. But I guess it's just a matter of taste if you dig this kind of instrumental music. But like three years ago, most people in the audience loved their music and that's just what matters once again! And yes I guess they certainly have grown as a band!
 

Silhouette

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Goodbye Gerrit-Jan
The band that entered the stage as the second act of the evening had already impressed me earlier this year. Their performance at CELEBRATE! 2015 (see review) was of a very high level. At Pop and Cultuurpodium P3 in Purmerend they managed to set the stage on fire. Moreover they were more or less responsible for the fact that those who were in front of it became overheated by their music. All in all, they could look back at a very successful performance. I guess for that reason it was in a way rather obvious that the same kind of show was done three months later. Meaning with the same images projected at the back of the stage and that almost the same musicians would play the same compositions, again with an extended line-up. Once again were Brian de Graeve (guitar and vocals), Erik Laan (keyboards and vocals), Rob van Nieuwenhuijzen (drums), Daniel van der Weijde (guitars) and Jurjen Bergsma (bass and vocals) accompanied on stage by Sophie Zaaijer (violin), Tamara van Koetsveld (clarinet) and Bart Laan (guitar). Unfortunately another guest, Mary O, had to withdraw at the very last moment due to health problems. However also without this fine musician the main set still included once again most of all of songs taken from their 2014 released 4th album, titled Beyond The Seventh Wave (see review). An album that was voted by
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The Award
the readers of iO Pages as the winner of the iO Pages Prog Award 2014 for Best CD created in 2014 by Dutch or Belgian bands. The award was presented to the band by Bert Treep during this show. So congratulations to the band for winning this award! Original bassist Gerrit-Jan Bloemink, who decided to depart from the band last year, was also present during this presentation for an album on which he for the last time could be heard as a band member. Furthermore, he got the chance to say farewell to his audience by playing on his instrument during Second Time Down from the bands second album Moods (2009, see review). It was probably a surprise to the audience that Unreal Meeting was done too, another track from the same album. This song proved that they already did write strong compositions at the start of their career. The other songs performed next to those of their latest release were taken from Across The Rubicon (2012, see review). Concert opener Grendel Memories, regular set ending tune Don't Stop This Movie and the second encore When Snow's Falling Down. During the last mentioned title the crowd was asked to sing along with lead singer de Graeve. However, this was something which was not done wholeheartedly as three months earlier in Purmerend. Well I guess not everybody in the audience wants to participate, even though the lyrics aren't that difficult to sing.

Besides some technical difficulties with Brian's strings on his twelve string acoustic guitar and a too early end tune from the mixing desk, not much went wrong during this excellent performance. Maybe the stage was a little too small to put all nine musicians on but it didn't prevent the band from entertaining everybody present with superb music and cool videos throughout the entire concert. What else do you need on a Saturday evening in April? Nothing more I guess!

Henri Strik (edited by Robert James Pashman)

Setlist Cartographer:


Intro
Anger
Revision
We've Come A Long Way
Satao's Bane
Here's To You
Depression
Bargaining
A Sea Of Sunshine, But None For You



Pictures Cartographer by Victor Peters (http://www.victorpeters.nl)

>>> Click here to view all pics on one page.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Cartographer:

(left to right)
Yoep de Ligt:
guitar
Marvin Roerdink:
guitar
Desmond Kuijk:
bass
Milan Roerdink:
guitar
Bart den Ouden:
drums
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Live video
recordings

   Henri & Roel Strik

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Web Of Lies (13:00)
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In Solitary (6:37)
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Wings to Fly (10:13)
More videos

Setlist Silhouette:

Grendel Memories
Web Of Lies: Part I - The Vow
Web Of Lies: Part II - The Plot
In Solitary
Escape
Unreal meeting
Wings To Fly
Lost Paradise
Betrayed Again
Devil's Island
Second Time Down
Don't Stop This Movie
Encores:
Beyond The Seventh Wave
When Snow's Falling Down




Pictures Silhouette by Victor Peters (http://www.victorpeters.nl)

>>> Click here to view all pics on one page.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

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Line up Silhouette:

(left to right)
Gerrit-Jan Bloemink:
bass on Second Time Down
Jurjen Bergsma:
bass and backing vocal
Daniel van der Weijde:
electric guitar
Brian de Graeve:
acoustic guitar, lead and backing vocals
Bart Laan:
electric guitars
Erik Laan:
keyboards, bass pedals, lead and backing vocals
Sophie Zaaijer:
violin
Tamara van Koetsveld:
clarinet
Rob van Nieuwenhuijzen:
drums
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