After seeing the Italian progressive rock band RanestRane at the Pul in Uden December 2015 (see review), I definitely wanted to see them more often on a Dutch stage. The way they played along with the images of well known movies impressed me a lot. So, when the news arrived that they were booked by Serious Music Alphen, to do a concert at their excellent venue, a big smile appeared on my face. This performance at the Parktheater in Alphen aan de Rijn was one of the concerts during their third European tour. During the so called Cinematic Shows 2017 the band would be playing in Sweden, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Denmark and Italy. As a support the Dutch act Profuna Ocean was asked to get the Dutch audience in the mood for the headliners.
 

Profuna Ocean

Raoul Potters

The opening band was given one whole hour to show the seated audience what they were capable of. For me they had no real surprises in store having seen them several times in the past I certainly knew what to expect music wise. However, their not too complex progressive rock seemed to impress a certain spectator who appeared to have seen them for the very first time. In between the songs he made clear towards the band, with a loud voice, that he was totally blown away by their performance. It made lead singer and guitarist Raoul Potters blush on stage.

Arjan and René Visser (r)

The band did not really knew how to handle this unexpected surprise. Sure, their set was a steady one and the musical highlights were the last two songs Beautiful Sunrise and Waiting For The Fall. And also their brand new piece Black Train showed that they are a rather talented band from the Netherlands. But compared to the headliners from Italy they still have a lot to learn. Don't get me wrong! The band is a very professional sounding unit who can certainly entertain a crowd. But like in football, one team is always better than another. And as always, it is of course also a matter of musical taste!
 

RanestRane

After the stage was rearranged it was finally time for the fab four from Rome. While the musicians settled themselves on stage an instrumental piece of music on tape had started. A piece of music which sounded as if I was attending

Daniele Pomo: lead vocals and drums

a church service. A lot of female and male vocal parts could be heard. It was taken from The Falcon And The Snowman soundtrack and has the title Psalm 121/Flight Of The Falcon. After this grand opening, the band started their first set with a large part taken from their second album. For those who are not familiar with the back catalogue of the band I'll have to make clear that the music on Shining (2011) was inspired by the well known movie The Shining. An in 1980 released British-American psychological horror film produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The band perfectly played along with the images of the movie which were projected behind them. Once again the most impressive part of the movie was when Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrance tried to enter the room of his wife Wendy Torrance played by Shelley Duvall. The way drummer and lead singer Daniele Pomo responded to the images on the screen when Jack tried to open the door with an axe were again outstanding. At the same time when Jack did hit his axe in the door you could see how Danny was hitting his drums with a lot of power. Also the music that followed after this scene gave me shivers down my spine. The images of the escape from this lunatic has such melodramatic music that you feel sorry for the ones who had to run for their lives!

Projections on the background screen

After this almost half an hour long part of amazing music it was time for the second part of the first set. This was reserved for the music taken from the first two parts of the A Space Odyssey trilogy. For this trilogy the band got inspired by 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is a 1968 epic science-fiction film once again produced and directed by the earlier mentioned Stanley Kubrick. First up were two compositions taken from A Space Odyssey Part I Monolith (2013). Namely Materna Luna and Il Monolito Di Tycho. Again, with magnificent images from the movie behind the musicians, they recreated their excellent progressive rock music in a perfect way. Also during the large section taken from the second part of the trilogy titled A Space Odyssey Part Two H.A.L. , the audience must have been blown away! The spell binding fine guitar parts of Massimo Pomo along with the stunning keyboard parts done by Riccardo Romano, strongly accompanied by an excellent rhythm section consisting of the earlier mentioned Daniele Pomo on drums and Maurizio Meo on bass and double bass.

The final and second set started with a 25 minutes preview of their in 2018 to be released final part of the A Space Odyssey trilogy. Everybody who has already heard this selection taken from A Space Odyssey Part Three Starchild must agree that our Italian friends might have surpassed the first two parts of the trilogy with what they have come up with so far. The music was certainly in line with the two previous parts and therefore very recognizable as RanestRane music and again with musical influences taken from bands such as Marillion

The vampyre bite

and Pink Floyd. Too bad it had to end after I enjoyed almost half an hour of amazing progressive rock music. After that Daniele spoke about their plans for a RanestRane weekend in Rome, Italy in 2018. Everybody was of course invited. Shortly after this great news he introduced the final part of the second set. An almost half hour long part of Nosferatu Il Vampire (2006) could be enjoyed. I guess I don't have to mention that the music taken from their debut got a perfect live rendition as well. The music for this double album was inspired by Nosferatu The Vampyre, a West German art house vampire horror film written and directed by Werner Herzog and released in 1979. The images of this movie were of course shown on the screen behind the band on stage. After this musical section was completed the musicians of RanestRane got a well deserved standing ovation. Once again they proved to be one of the best Italian live bands around. Finally Daniele introduced his fellow band members, mentioned the names of the people who were responsible for getting everything so well organized by Music Events Alphen and invited everybody to come to the merchandise stand.

All I can do is follow the kind words of RanestRane's fine drummer and vocalist. Thank the wonderful people of Music Events Alphen for organizing perfectly a three hours long impressive progressive rock evening which ended after midnight. Thanks!!!

Henri Strik (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen)