After a performance on Prog Power Europe a few years ago,
Verbal Delirium came back to Holland for a concert
in the always lovely 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel. The venue was packed with progressive rock lovers and the expectations were high. And they were not disappointed,
Verbal Delirium delivered big time!
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| Jargon |
The band had to fly from Athens (Greece) and they could only bring their guitars so they had to use the equipment
of 't Blok and extra gear provided by Ton Vermeij and Mr Bowler music agency. It all worked out nicely and after
a soundcheck the band was ready to rock. I saw the band earlier in 2017 in London where they blew the other bands
of stage but after that gig, in fact two weeks before they would come to Holland, the keyboard player left. No
problem because singer
Jargon took over the keys and old band member
Nikitas Kissonas (of
Methexis
fame - his wonderful solo project) joined on guitar.
From the first bars of
Ervelet/ So Close & Yet So Far Away the crowd could hear that this worked fantastically.
The band sounded great (thanks to sound engineer Richard Baas) and in my humble opinion better than when I saw
them in England. More dynamic and even more intense. The two guitar players (Big)
George Kyriakidis (7
string guitar) and the earlier mentioned Nikitas Kissonas complemented each other as if they had been doing this
for many years. Drummer
Will Bow and bassist
George Pagidas laid down a foundation on which the
band could shine. Singer Jargon did an amazing job switching between piano and other keyboards and still giving
his lyrics the emotion he is known for. The backing vocals by Nikkitas gave the songs an extra dimension. Just
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| Nikitas Kissonas |
before the break the band played two songs from Nikitas solo project Methexis. On that album the vocals were done
by one of the best voices in prog. Namely
Joe Payne, the former
The Enid front man. Nikitas
did it on his own way and what a great performance he did.
After the break Verbal Delirium came back with another 5 lengthy songs and again from the first seconds the crowd
was totally in it! At the end of this set the band played
Fear and that is absolutely one of the most favorite
songs of their fans. The audience applauded and cheered loudly after each song, but this one was even welcomed
by cheering. Of course the band had to do an encore and one of the songs -
The Sorrowed Man - was a tribute
to singer
Warren Dale (
Nevermore) who recently died.
The crowd kept cheering and applauding after the gig and were happy to have their hands in the air when photos
were taken from the stage. Of course all the band members were very willing to talk to their fans and signing
albums. Good for them, they sold a lot of merchandise! Their fantastic manager Christine Maragou was very busy
selling all the stuff with the help of Will Bow's lovely wife. This was an amazing gig by an amazing band. They
deserve much bigger venues, but again the great guys of 't Blok got them already. Can't wait to see them in Holland
again as soon as possible.
Arne van Os van den Abeelen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen)
