It was a most excellent show. I and a friend positioned ourselves right at the barricade (which was
maybe two feet out from the stage) between what would be Rene and Anneke. Rene was slightly to my left, and Hans was pretty much directly in front of me, just further back.
During set up, there seemed to be loads of problems getting Frank's keys/samples to work properly, and eventually they figured they had it, so they began.
At this moment, I leaned over to my friend and said "They'll likely open with Shortest Day." I figured that since Home was the current release, we'd get two or three from that album. Little did I know about The Gathering's penchant for changing the setlist on a nightly basis (drastically, I hear). A few seconds later, Analog Park started. I was silenced.
It was grand. I was seeing The Gathering...live...finally! Then came the first main keyboard section in Analog Park. Frank hit some keys, and...noise. Loud, horrible, ear-piercing noise. Roadies ran rampant, but the band soldiered on. Once the problem was supposedly taken care of, Frank got the sign to go again...noise, again! Still though, the band soldiered on, despite some looks of disappointment. A minute later, go for Frank again, and...success!!! From then on, the set was picture perfect.
Through Spirits and Prob. I stood pretty much in awe, trying to sing along (I stress the word "trying" because singing along with Anneke just doesn't really work, you know). When the heavy bit in Prob. approached, I counted down in my mind and then did some slow headbanging along to the song.
Saturnine was next, and Anneke totally caught me singing the opening lines with her, and thankfully, she gave me an approving smile (she must not have heard my voice,
).
Alone and Travel followed to close the set, and I swear both had extended outro jams, as there was no way the studio versions went that long. I totally loved it though, and ate up every second the band was on stage.
When thte set ended, I gave Hans a big thumbs up for all his excellent work on the outro to Travel, which he returned in thanks. Then I turned to Rene and asked him if I could have the setlist that was laying beside his floor equipment. He gladly handed it to me with a smile and thanks, which I returned.
On the whole, The Gathering's set was nearly 35 minutes of musical perfection, which I found to be very short for a direct support band, but I'll still take it.
I picked up a Gathering t-shirt at the start of the night, and then grabbed the vinyl releases of Home (clear vinyl limited run one) and Souvenirs (which says it has an extra song!). Some other guy was thinking of buying Home on vinyl, but he didn't have a record player to play it on. I asked him if he was nuts..."a limited 300 print on clear vinyl, and you want to
play it? You don't play these. You display them."
Wonderful night. The place was packed, and while there wasn't much movement for The Gathering, the crowd seemed very quiet and attentive throughout the set, as if in a trance.
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