On September 30 Riverside kicked off the second leg of their Tenth Anniversary tour in venue De Pul in Uden. Before our Polish friends entered the stage, the audience got the chance to watch A Liquid Landscape, a new band hailing from the north of The Netherlands, who were finalist in the prestigious contest 'De Grote Prijs'. They already shared the stage with bands like Anathema and Karnivool. Now they got the opportunity to warm up the audience that had gathered for a wonderful musical evening.

A Liquid Landscape

Fons Herder

With a forthcoming debut album and only a two-track mini CD available, A Liquid Landscape didn't make it easy on themselves since the majority of the audience wasn't familiar with the band. Hardly anybody had listened to the music of these guys before, but right from the start the band had the audience on their side. They did an enthusiastic stage performance with good interaction which was appreciated by the people in the audience. The band's musical style can be best described as a blend of post rock, alternative rock and progressive metal. They call it post-progressive rock themselves.

A Liquid Landscape

Vocalist Fons Herder has a great voice that sometimes reminded me of Kevin Martin (Candlebox); guitarist Niels van Dam used a number of special effects to create a warm atmosphere. All in all, A Liquid Landscape was the perfect support-act for Riverside and for the audience a great opportunity to get to know this young and promising band. While writing this review, I was listening to the two-track mini-CD and I can tell you this: if the remainder of the forthcoming album is just as strong as these two tracks then the album is something to look out for. Watch the video www.aliquidlandscape.nl.

Riverside

Mariusz Duda

After a short break the main course was served. Vocalist Mariusz Duda slowly walked to the microphone, adjusting his bass guitar while thanking the audience for being around and for supporting the band in the last decade. He mentioned the fact that Riverside's success in Western Europe started in The Netherlands. When the band started to play, I first got the idea that Duda's microphone had some technical problems, but after a few songs the sound got better and we could enjoy some fantastic versions of classic Riverside songs. 02 Panic Room, Lucid Dream IV, Reality Dream III, Conceiving You, Egoist Hedonist, The Curtain Falls, Schizophrenic Prayer and Parasomnia are just some random titles of songs that were performed. I must confess that I forgot to write down all the songs they played, but they all were performed perfectly.

Riverside

During the concert I noticed that in general the audience were not familiar with the songs of the new EP Memories In My Head (see review) either. I wonder how they'll response at the end of the tour when these songs have become well-known. Frontman Mariusz Duda repeatedly talked to the audience, encouraging them to sing along which they eventually did. On stage the band members of Riverside don't jump around like many other prog metal bands. Some people even call them a static band, but I think when guitarist Piotr Grudziński is playing his fabulous riffs and fine melody lines, you don't want to see anyone jumping up and down before you. He's a master on his instrument and he doesn't have to show off with jumping around the stage. Thank goodness, no, I'd rather close my eyes to let the music carry me away. When Grudziński plays his guitar I got goosebumps and that's evidence enough I guess. I had again a wonderful evening visiting a Riverside-concert and watching them play all my favourite songs. Thanks for the first ten years and I hope for great new music in the next decade. See you next time.