Serious Music Alphen presented the concert of the British band Albion at the Parkvilla Theater in Alphen aan den Rijn as a special scoop. Because for the band it was their first performance outside their country. Here in the Netherlands (and the rest of the world) the band is announced as Albion UK, because they don't want to be confused with the band from Poland with the same name. Their music has many influences taken from progressive rock, rock, metal and most of all folk music. Therefore the people from the organization thought about one band in particular when they had to find an act that would be opening for them. Flamborough Head who have already climbed the stage of Parkvilla in 2014. This band plays also progressive rock with many folk influences. Furthermore this Dutch outfit of course would also attract people that are not so well known to the main act.
 

Flamborough Head

Hans Spitzen (►more photos)

The last time I saw this fantastic band from the northern parts of the Netherlands was March 26 in 2023. I enjoyed an excellent concert at 't Blok in Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel (see review). At the time I wrote that I was hoping that the band could be seen more often on a stage doing perfect concerts as they just did! Because during the bands performance it became clear that they sounded very fresh and modern with the two new musicians in the band. The new blood in the band gave energy to come up with a very strong performance. Most of all the playing of Peter Stel on bass was very impressive. He played as if he had been in the band for many years. Also the crystal clear guitar sound of Hans Spitzen was a delight to hear. So I don't really need to explain how happy I was to see this band again. And luckily they didn't disappoint me this time either with a set that was almost the same as last year. So again dominated by songs taken from their latest album Jumping The Milestone (2022, see review). With the only difference that they played the title track of their penultimate album Lost

Peter Stel (►more photos)

In Time (2013, see review) and left out a few songs. This was because they only played for an hour. Off course it was great to see them doing Lost In Time. With band leader Edo Spanninga playing on the electric piano in the vein of Supertramp. Of course I would have loved if they had played Walls Of Words / Signs Misread and the two older pieces of music Maureen and Garden Of Dreams. But without them the band again impressed me very much. Seeing lead singer Margriet Boomsma doing a fine performance and playing on three different recorders and a flute is always a delight. Drummer and founding member Koen Roozen was on fire again just as the other musicians mentioned earlier. And that's want you want to see during a concert. A concert that will be remembered a very long time!

 

Albion

A concert that will be remembered for a very long time also for the performance of the headliner. Also this band did not disappoint at all and made the people in front of them very enthusiastic. The band that is led by former Jethro Tull guitarist Joe Parrish-James gave the audience a great show on which they mixed songs from both of their studio releases with several covers. His strong flute playing and vocal parts, sometimes reminding me of Mariusz Duda (Riverside), fitted perfectly to the playing of his fellow band members.

Joe Parrish-James & Jack Clarke (►more photos)

Also on stage the singing guitarist Jack Clarke. Strangely enough he also plays in Jethro Tull nowadays. First replacing bassist David Goodier when he had to undergo surgery and is now the replacement for the earlier mentioned Joe Parrish-James. Peter Szypulski was the tallest guy on stage and always jumping around while playing on his bass. Finally at the back of the stage with the band name in big letters behind him the new drummer Ollie Medlow.
The band started their performance with my favourite of the band's latest album Lakesongs Of Elbid (2024, see review). Namely Arthurian Overture . A beautiful instrumental piece with nice twin guitar parts. It was followed by another track from the same album. Namely The Dream Of Rhonabwy. After that it was time for the first cover. Bottle Of Smoke a song originally written by The Pogues. A totally different song compared to the music of Albion. An up-tempo sing a long tune with a mix of punk and Celtic traditional music. Often labelled as Celtic punk. After that it was time to play some songs from their debut EP Pryderi (2021, see review). The two songs Second Branch (Brân And Branwen)and Third Branch (Kin, Enchantment) were perfectly done. After that it was time to go back to the cover songs. First the Type O Negative cover Wolf Moon. The band gave this gothic/doom metal song a nice own version. Just as they also did with the next cover. Probably the most well known cover of the evening. The Iron Maiden song To Tame A Land. The song of this heavy metal band is written by bassist and founder-member Steve Harris and based on the novel Dune. Written by the American Sci Fi writer Frank Herbert (1920- 1986). When the band asked Herbert for permission to name the song Dune, Herbert declined with a terse and combative statement. He'd sue them and stop the album coming out, and all kinds of very unpleasant things. Musically however, it is for a lot of people a brilliant masterpiece that begins slowly, breaks into a powerful driving rhythm, and ends with a long and interesting instrumental section inspired by the famous classical piece Asturias by Spanish composer Isaak Albeniz (1860- 1909), and which slowly retreats back to the original opening softness.

Peter Szypulski (►more photos)

Next up Barrett's Privateers - A Tribute To Stan Rogers, an original tune again. However the song is a tribute as the title already indicates. Stanley Allison Rogers (1949 - 1983) was a Canadian folk musician and songwriter. Rogers was noted for his traditional-sounding songs which were frequently inspired by Canadian history and the daily lives of working people, especially those from the fishing villages of the Maritime provinces and, later, the farms of the Canadian prairies and Great Lakes. Rogers died in a fire aboard Air Canada Flight 797 on the ground at the Greater Cincinnati Airport at the age of 33. Also the final song of the set, Pagan Spirit, is again written by the band themselves. The song started with wonderful playing on the guitar and flute before the rest of the band joined in a rather heavy way. After this was done a well deserve applause was given to the band. Because it was too hot in the dressing room they preferred not to leave the stage to do their encore. Before they did this encore Joe asked the audience if anyone of them knew the band Planxty. Because they would end this first European concert with one of the recorded songs of this Irish folk music band which was formed in January 1972. This song in particular, The Raggle Taggle Gypsy is a traditional folk song that originated as a Scottish border ballad, and has been popular throughout Britain, Ireland and North America. It concerns a rich lady who runs off to join the gypsies. It was the perfect ending of a perfect concert done by four musicians who made their European stage debut a success. And according to the final applause I wasn't the only one who thought that way.

All in all a very successful concert evening by two bands that really entertained the people present all the way. Therefore I'll have to thank Serious Music Alphen for bringing Albion UK and their support Flamborough Head to their stage for this one-off special European show. Well done guys and everybody else who made this possible. They know who they are!

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