Dutch Exposure Final: May 4, 2013, Xinix, Nieuwendijk (NL)
By means of a contest FREIA Music started in 2012 a
search for new progressive rock talent in the Netherlands. More than thirty
bands signed up and finally eight bands were selected to record about ten
minutes of music in order to deliver the full length album Dutch Exposure
(see review). Three of these participants, chosen by
voting, would compete during a festival. The winner of this competition gains a record deal with FREIA Music. On the 4th of May, after a false start at another venue, the finale of this competition took place at venue Xinix in
Nieuwendijk. The finalists were Incidense, Trip Trigger
and Profuna Ocean. As special guests PBII
were invited to perform the band version of their symphonic rock opera 1000Wishes
(see review).
Incidence
Trip Trigger Next band were Trip Trigger, again a band blending prog rock and metal. During their performance I clearly heard references of bands like Rush, Tool, Incubus, Porcupine Tree and Muse. The combination of pounding rhythms, soft melodies and compelling lyrics appealed to many people in the audience. Obviously they also played News Feed and Wave Away, their contributions to Dutch Exposure. Both tunes got descent live versions mainly due to lead singer Joost Kralt who had no problems at all to copy the original studio versions live on stage. As far as I'm concerned their opening piece Trial & Error was the highlight. During this track the sound of the keyboards played by Erik van Ittersum, was quite similar to a space rock band like Hawkwind. All in all Trip Trigger delivered a strong performance.Profuna Ocean Profuna Ocean, the final contestants, played a kind of home game since most musicians live rather close to the venue in which they had played more than once. The band already surprised me with
After these three performances it was time for the jury to decide which band would win the contest. They had skipped the idea of letting the audience vote because they were afraid that the band that have gathered the most fans at the venue would win. However, before the jury announced the results it was time for the evening's highlight! PBII We've already written a lot on this website about PBII and their rock opera 1000Wishes. The past two years and a half, the band worked hard to write and record the CD based on the book Eric And The Land Of
Just like the orchestrated version, the band version of this rock opera was a real treat. They had left out the narrative parts of the story, but instead lead singer Ruud Slakhorst had the task to tell the story between
Dutch Exposure Final Profuna Ocean appeared to be the winners of the contest, but to me that wasn't a big surprise. Of course the other bands had tried to achieve something special during their performances, but they have to face the fact that the best band wins, so my congratulations go to Profuna Ocean, but also to Peter Lindenbergh of FREIA Music, who came up with the idea of this Dutch Exposure contest.Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen) |
Setlist Trip Trigger: Trial & ErrorMirrored News Feed Wave Away Trade Of Tears Becky Overflow |
Pictures Trip Trigger by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge. |
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Line up Trip Trigger: (left to right)Erik van Ittersum: keyboards Paul Hoogervorst: drums Joost Kralt: lead vocals Kevin Hoogervorst: guitar Bjorn van der Ploeg: bass |
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Setlist Profuna Ocean: Thousand Yard StareLosing Ground S.C.I.T.S Waiting For The Fall Hanging In The Balance |
Pictures Profuna Ocean by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge. |
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Line up Profuna Ocean: (left to right)René Visser: keyboards Fred den Hartog: drums Raoul Potters: guitar, vocals Arjan Visser: bass |
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Pictures Dutch Exposure Final by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge. |
Setlist PBII: Perfect DayNever Old Evil Weed White Lorian Land Of Thousand Wishes Into The Light Parental Thoughts Encore: Grand Finale |
Pictures PBII by Arthur Haggenburg Click on the picture to enlarge. |
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Line up PBII: (left to right)Tom van der Meulen: drums Alex van Elswijk: bass guitar, bass pedals, keyboard Nathalie Mees: soprano vocals, backing vocals Ruud Slakhorst: lead vocals Ronald Brautigam: guitar Michel van Wassem: keyboards, backing vocals |
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