It's time for a celebration, or you could also say it's party time. Why? Well the core members of the Dutch progressive rock act PBII, who are Ronald Brautigam (electric guitars), Tom van der Meulen (drums) and Michel van Wassem (keyboards), are forty years in the music business. In 1977 they started with lead singer Kees Bik and bassist Albert de Keijzer the amazing act Plackband. A band which in those days many times was compared to Genesis. Since those days a lot has happened. Line-up changes, break ups, comebacks and new progressive rock acts were formed such as November and the earlier mentioned PBII. So time to look at all those events in the musicians careers during the 'PBII 40th Anniversary Surprise Party'. But also a great way to launch the new PBII album ROCKET - The Dreams Of Wubbo Ockels (see review). How things would turn out on a hot Sunday afternoon at Cultuurpodium Boerderij in Zoetermeer was a real surprise for fans, friends, acquaintances and lovers of progressive rock in general.
 

PBII

Extended PBII line up for "Rocket'

First up was the current line up of PBII. Before they could present their latest release ROCKET - The Dreams Of Wubbo Ockels in front of a live audience for the very first time, a few words were said by Wubbo Ockels's

Jan Hendrik Ockels

brother, Jan Hendrik Ockels. To perform the sometimes complex music of this new release the band had added some extra musicians to their line up. So you certainly could say the stage was packed to reproduce the strong compositions from this third PBII album. Next to the core members mentioned earlier PBII normally consists of Nathalie Mees (soprano vocals, lead and backing vocals), Ruud Slakhorst (lead vocals and backing vocals) and Alex van Elswijk (bass guitar, bass pedals, keyboard). The extra guest musicians were Diana Byazarti (first violin), Laura Rafecas (second violin), Lieke Daniels (alt violin), Evita van Dam (cello) and Ignas Tewiel (percussion). The latest mentioned already had worked with Brautigam and van Wassem during their November days.

The 'Rocket' guitar

Of course was I curious how well they could copy the music of this outstanding album. It certainly showed that they must have done a lot of rehearsals, because to me they pulled it off to come up with perfect renditions of the well recorded studio tracks. I can only say bravo to the musicians on stage to reproduce almost the entire new album in a perfect way. Only left out were the songs Nothing Is Real and the song which is one of the most important ones on the album lyric wise, namely Happy Energy. However the last title was put on hold for the final of the second set. It was obvious that only the first set was reserved for the music of ROCKET - The Dreams Of Wubbo Ockels. Many times in between the performed songs Slakhorst and Brautigam told something about this special project. Other times videos were shown on the two screens next to the stage. An introduction by Ockels' widow Joos and also a video trailer of the upcoming ROCKET theatre shows renamed into FUTURE | Wubbo Ockels. Also a video of the Plastic Soup Foundation to get more awareness for our planet. Because mother nature is crying for help. All in all could be said that the whole first part was rather entertaining and certainly made me feel more eager for the theatre shows held in 2018. Or even hoping to see this line up in more concerts hall this year.

Previous text by Henri Strik
Following text by Erik Neuteboom

---

Jan Vrolijk

After the impressive presentation of ROCKET by PBII, there was a break and then we could enjoy a trip down memory lane (1977-2017): first the early years when the band was called Plackband, then November and eventually PBII, in different line-ups. The storytelling on stage was by number one fan Jan Vrolijk, in fluent The Hague accent (made famous in The Netherlands by the duo Jacobse & Van Es), what a joy!

---

 

Plackband

When the Plackband started to play, I was carried away, to the second half of the seventies (around 1977). Because in those days a school friend named Paul De Keijzer invited me to join a concert by Plackband, his brother Albert

Albert de Keijzer

was the bass player. I was absolutely blown away by the wonderful, ubiquitous 73-77 Genesis inspired sound (volume pedal guitar, ARP Pro Solist synthesizer, Moog Taurus bass pedals) and great symphonic rock friendly atmosphere, due to the yelling and clapping of die-hard fans! I attended many Plackband concerts, including the famous gig in Steenwijk, broadcasted by the Dutch VARA radio. And now, 40 years later, I was watching Plackband again, in the

Kees Bik	Koos Sekrève

original line-up, backed by female singer Nathalie Mees. Plackband played two songs, the epic and alternating See The Dwarf and the catchy 'stage favorite' Seventy Warriors (in fact similar to neo-prog, avant-la-lettre!). The songs were visually embellished with many early years pictures on the two projection screens. How funny to notice that the members on stage often looked at those nostalgic pictures, with smiles (so many good memories). In between those two Plackband compositions, there was a short acapella interlude named Shadows Of The Sun by singer Kees Bik, appreciated by the crowd. A very special moment, was the appearance of singer Koos Sekrève, he played with Plackband during the track L'Enfant Du 92eme Siècle, wow, impressive French vocals and emotional climate.

 

Ed Wernke

November

Then the November line-up teamed up, on the two screens appeared a salute to the late singer Karel Messemaker ('November- Plackband Memory, Karel Messemaker: 1951-2014'). The members were clearly moved during the November songs Africa Where Are You, Memory and With You, all featuring original drummer Edwin Wernke (known for his work in For Absent Friends). Michel van Wassem replaced the vocals which Karel Messemaker provided on the studio recordings!


 

PBII (Plastic Soup & 1000 Wishes)

Harry den Hartog

Halfway through the time machine trip the PBII line-up entered the stage again. This time with the line-up which released Plastic Soup (see review) in 2010. The album featured the very talented Harry den Hartog on bass. Next to his bass guitar he teamed up with a Roland bass synthesizer ('my magic box' as he explained later to me). PBII performed very inspired and professional the tracks Plastic Soup and Fata Morgana. During Fata Morgana Harry was backed by current PBII member Alex Van Elswijk on bass. After that the ROCKET line-up again entered the stage. First up was Perfect Day taken from the critically acclaimed 1000 Wishes album (2013, see review) with again singer Ruud Slakhorst behind the microphone.


The final song Happy Energy featured again classically trained singer Nathalie Mees. Again taken from the brand new ROCKET album. In the end you could tell the crowd and the band members enjoyed the very pleasant atmosphere of the whole event.

Text by Erik Neuteboom