Silhouette and Mangrove belong without any doubts to best progressive rock bands in the Netherlands. Therefore it wasn't so strange that a lot of people wanted to see both acts on another Sunday afternoon event organised by the people of ProgFrog. So 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel was rather well filled with fans of both bands. They didn't care it was very hot in and outside the venue. You do have to know that the temperature outside the venue was near the 30 degrees Celsius. Inside even hotter on and off stage. Strangely enough both bands seemed to be fine with the difficult circumstances and gave the spectators an excellent show. Something which the people in front of them appreciated very much!
 

Mangrove

Roland van der Horst and Pieter Drost (r)

Mangrove kicked off the concert afternoon with a set which lasted almost one hour and a half. During that period the crowd could enjoy for the very first time the bands brand new drummer Lex Bekkernens. He managed very well playing the sometimes complex compositions. With Lex behind the drum kit I could enjoy during the opening of their performance excellent versions of the classic Mangrove tracks Fatal Sign and Wizards Of Tunes. Both taken from their second release Touch Wood (2004). Songs on which keyboard player Chris Jonker and guitarist Roland van der Horst could show their talents on their instruments all the way. After a perfect rendition of Reality Fades it was time for a piece of music which I hadn't heard for a very long time during one of their concerts. It was great to hear them doing I Fear The Day once again. They must have practiced it a lot because to my ears it sounded perfect! Perfect was also the in two parts divided Time Will Tell. Something which most of the people present didn't realise and gave a show of hands before the band

Lex Bekkernens

started the second part. That the band didn't play only old pieces was something I liked a lot. During the bands last two concerts I witnessed at 't Blok December 14, 2014 (see review) and at the Parktheater, September 23, 2016 (see review) they already did do A Call To Arms. This time around I could enjoy Reflexion. A great typical Mangrove piece with all the musical ingredients which makes their music so fantastic. Musical ingredients which you can enjoy also on There Must Be Another Way. Which was the final performed tracks from the setlist. This one of course featured the great acoustic guitar part done by van der Horst. And as usual he was walking amongst the people in the audience while playing the guitar. However he did it only for a couple of minutes and soon returned on the stage to join his fellow band members.
It was too bad the crowd didn't ask them back for an encore. Otherwise I would have heard an awesome version of Beyond Reality without any doubt. But also without this tune I had a terrific time during the bands excellent performance! Again it was a real feast to see and hear Mangrove once again!
 

Silhouette

Silhouette hadn't done any concerts for more than a year. They didn't have the chance to perform the songs from their latest album The World Is Flat (And Other Alternative Facts) (2017, see review) due to personal circumstances in the band. But now it was finally time to show the world (not the flat world, but the real round world) if they

Brian de Graeve

were capable to do perfect renditions of the new album tunes. It has to be said that the start of the concert was a bit chaotic. You could tell that the six musicians on stage hadn't played together for a very long time. Or was it that the three new tunes (March Of Peace, The Flow and Six Feet Underground) from their latest release had to be done more often? Because they were performed for the very first time on a stage in front of an audience. I guess it mused have been that they were way too long away from a stage! Anyway the songs still sounded good enough to enjoy and later on in the set the band got everything in control and went on as if nothing ever had happened. As could be heard during perfect renditions of Lost Paradise, Second Time Down and When Snow Is Falling Down. The last title seemed to bit out of place because it was terrible hot on stage. Therefore four of the band members were walking on bare feet. Only drummer Rob van Nieuwenhuijzen and lead singer Brian de Graeve hadn't taken off their shoes. But as the set continued again bad luck came up on the band when a new track was performed. Halfway during Symphony For A Perfect Moment keyboard player Erik Laan had some problems with his equipment. De Graeve very well knew that the crowd wanted to be entertained while the problem still wasn't fixed. Therefore he took his twelve string acoustic guitar and did on his own an acoustic version of Far Away. That it was only a small part of the song didn't really matter.

Jurjen Bergsma and Daniel van der Weijde (r)

What did matter that is was very well done and rather entertaining. Rather entertaining was also the encore. Web Of Lies is always a feast for the ears. Also this time around. Most of all thanks to the earlier mentioned de Graeve could guitarist Daniel van der Weijde continue playing excellent solos on his instrument. Because earlier on the show he got a battery which did ran out of power unexpectedly. Thank God Brian had a spare one and therefore in away saved the show from another disaster. All in all had I a very good feeling about this first concert of Silhouette since a year. Even with the not perfect start they managed to send me home with a smile on my face again. Like they usually do!

Later on in the year both acts will also do a double headliner concert for the people of Serious Music Alphen. I think you already might have guest who will be present there. Of course I want to see them again perform some amazing music for me like they did for the people of ProgFrog. Hopefully a lot of people will join me like they did on this sunny but hot Sunday afternoon!

Henri Strik