Two years ago I had the pleasure to be reunited with the wonderful musicians of Also Eden. After thirteen years they came back in the almost original line up to be the headliner at the 2022 edition of the Northern Prog Festival (see review) in the Netherlands. And they came back with a BIG BANG!!! At the time I wrote that this comeback concert will be another performance to be remembered for a very very long time. Well to be honest I didn't expect to see them back again on a Dutch stage again so fast. But you can't hear me complaining because seeing

Huw Lloyd-Jones (►more photos)

them perform songs from About Time (2006, see review) and It's Kind Of You To Ask (2008, see review) isn't a punishment at all. This time around the venue was a rather well known one. A venue the band also visited the day after the earlier mentioned Northern Prog Festival. So well known soil for them again after first one concert in Belgium and one in Germany.

As soon as we arrived it was nice to see the band doing a soundcheck. Behind the drums I could see a new face. The Dutch drummer Dave Roelofs is unfortunately not in the band anymore. Mainly due to brexit it became very difficult for him to cross the channel to join the other band members. Therefore, since February this year the rhythm section of the band consists of drummer Guy Monk and bassist Graham Lane. Lane was already in the band when Also Eden played another concert on Dutch soil with a different line up in 2015. The three remaining musicians in the band Simon Rogers (electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals), Huw Lloyd-Jones (lead vocals) and Ian Hodson (keyboards, backing vocals) could be seen as the founding members of the band. They all played on the earlier mentioned albums. After the soundcheck the welcome was again as warm as always and we could bring up some old fond memories and talk about the future of the band. And yes the good news is that a new studio album is on its way. Because some new songs are already written and on the setlist.

Simon Rogers and Graham Lane (r) (►more photos)

As for the concert, the band first intended to do a 90 minutes long set. However later on they decided to do two sets of 45 minutes long. Due to fact that the band did not have enough songs rehearsed an encore was not available this time around. But I guess if you play two amazing sets of fantastic progressive rock music I can live with the fact they didn't do an encore. Even if they did not include Outside In and Star (which were on the Northern Prog Festival setlist) I can still say this was an amazing performance. But what did they play instead you might ask yourself?

Of course, most of the songs were the same as they played two years ago, opening very strongly with Between The lines. But also, the other fan favourites For Bumble, Together Alone, Skimming Stones and Photographs. And the for me ultimate personal band favourite A Widow's Eyes has to be done every time I witness one of their concerts. And indeed it was there as the closing song of the second set. Ending a fantastic concert as was mentioned earlier. But I also have to mention the two great cover tunes they included. Namely Here Comes The Flood a song written by Peter Gabriel and already done many times. The other cover was new for me. Titled Song To The Siren and is a cover version of a Tim Buckley song. Both covers were brilliantly done just like the two new pieces of music Scented Candle Corridors and Seven Up (working title).

It was easy to say that the band were once again at the top of their game on this Sunday afternoon at 't Blok. Therefore, another performance to be remembered for a very very long time can be added to my list of concerts by this amazing band from Wales. So once again well done guys and for being there!

Henri Strik (edited by Dave Smith)