On September 23, 2016 Serious Music Alphen reached a new milestone: their 50th live concert since the start in 2011. They celebrated it in an appropriate way by arranging a double concert of the bands that headlined at the first two Serious Music Events in 2011 and 2012: Mangrove and Knight Area. Without a doubt two of the best progressive rock bands in the Netherlands and for this reason the Background Magazine team made their way to the cosy Parktheater in Alphen a/d Rijn.
 

Mangrove

Roland van der Horst

Mangrove from the city of Apeldoorn opened this kind of double headliner event. They don't have a large group of fans like Knight Area and don't sell as many albums, which doesn't mean at all they are a lesser band. No way. Going to one of their concerts is always a feast. Dressed in white they always kick ass and entertain their audience, even though they had some technical problems right from the start. Some of the musicians could hardly hear themselves through the backline system during Fatal Sign. Did it effect the performed song? Oh no! Those present could enjoy a splendid live rendition of this excellent prog tune. The great solos by Chris Jonker on the synthesizer and Roland van der Horst on the electric guitar were just as amazing as always. Once again I thought about bands such as Camel and Genesis when I dreamed away during this great performed music! Van der Horst even stayed in the right mood when he mentioned the problems to the crew. And if it would take too long to fix the problems he wasn't afraid to start a comedy show and tell some jokes. Well, he left out the humorous parts and the band continued with Wizards Of Tunes, hoping the sound system would work. Luckily it did

Roland van der Horst and Remco Engels (front)

by the time the song was finished. During the next composition Roland walked amongst the audience and played his acoustic guitar. He climbed the stairs of the theatre while playing his guitar solo, but unfortunately he had to do his acoustic part in There Must Be Another Way on the same instrument. It turned out he had already broken four of his acoustic guitars and therefore could only play the mellow intermezzo on the electric guitar.

After this song it was time for a piece of music that can be found on the band's soon to be released new studio album. A Call To Arms was again well performed and showed the band has a lot of great music to offer, just like they did on their final two pieces Beyond Reality and Voyager. The last title had a very special guest on drums during the intro, namely Knight Area's Pieter van Hoorn. He did a short drum duet with Remco Engels. Later on I heard that Gerben Klazinga was offered the job as well, but refused. Knight Area's keyboard player could easily do this because he played drums on the band's debut The Sun Also Rises (2004).

The excellent climax at the end of Voyager ended a great Mangrove concert, leaving the audience speechless. A standing ovation was very well in place, even though they didn't do an encore. This was fine by me after an hour and a half of the best progressive rock music possible!
 

Knight Area

Mark Smit

It was obvious that most of the spectators had come to see Knight Area. A band that has its roots in Boskoop, but nowadays musicians from all over the country can be found in this great band. During the break I had a short chat with the band's leader and keyboard player, Gerben Klazinga, who revealed what the band would do during their performance, playing mainly brand new songs from their in February 2017 to be released next studio album. It turned out that Heaven And Beyond was already completely recorded and waiting to be released. A release party was set for early next year (February 11) and therefore the band was very anxious to play the new material even before this date. Furthermore only songs from their latest studio album Hyperdrive (2014, see review) would be on the setlist, plus the usual encore and show ending piece Mortal Brow.

Lead singer Mark Smit announced to the audience that they could hear the entire new album whom responded with a lot of happy cheering. Several times he asked the crowd how they liked the new material so far and again the response was very positive. All of the new songs gave me a good feeling. Most of all the title track, a song about death named The Reaper, and a song about split personalities named Twins Of Sins. Even

Peter Vink and Mark Bogert (r)

the more radio friendly sounding Starlight was a fine piece of music. Bassist Peter Vink and guitarist Mark Bogert consider to release it as a single. Both musicians were the ones who interacted with each other the most. They were also the ones to do excellent instrumental solos during the earlier mentioned classic Knight Area track Mortal Brow. Of course I have to mention Klazinga's excellent playing as well. His solos were a feast to my ears, just like Bogert's.

All in all the band showed they can still entertain an audience for almost two hours with only great songs, even though the sound has become a bit heavier since the arrival of a new guitar player and bassist a couple of years ago. The future certainly looks bright for them with an excellent new album on the horizon.

I could not end this review without complimenting the excellent sound and lighting on stage during both shows. So bravo to those who were responsible for this great work. Finally of course a show of hands for the people behind Serious Music Alphen. Congratulations are in order for bringing on 50 live concerts since the start in 2011. Thanks!

Henri Strik (edited by Astrid de Ronde)