Well, unfortunately, the "sniffles" that Anneke had (as reported in the thread about the previous show) had apparently turned into full-fledged sickness; Anneke explained to the crowd that her voice was "fucked up" and that they would therefore do a "short but sweet" set...which turned out to be an opening of "Even the Spirits Are Afraid" and ended with "Black Light District." That was it; two songs (though one might argue that BLD is two or three songs in one, I suppose) and unfortunately Anneke was feeling so ill that she pretty much left immediately to go sleep (I managed to at least say a brief hello to her and also Rene and Frank as they were leaving). Of coruse I was disappointed by this, but these things happen. This was unfortunate for a number of reasons; of course because it sucks to be sick (get better soon, Anneke!); there was also the 5-hour drive to get to the place (of course I have no one to blame but myself) but that was not really as much of a big deal because I liked the other two opening bands and of course Lacuna Coil, so it's not like I didn't have a good time and enjoy some good music; but also I kind of felt like The Gathering, being sandwiched between Lacuna Coil and the two other openers (Stolen Babies and In This Moment) were starting to win over the predominantly metal-loving crowd with their heavier live version of "Spirits" - I heard a guy in front of me saying, prior to TG's set, "And now they're going to follow up
that (meaning In This Moment, a band featuring very heavy metal riffs and a gorgeous (and busty!
) blonde lead singer who utilizes some Otep-like growls and screams) with ambient music from The Gathering?" However, as soon as Rene blazed into the heavier riff on Spirits, this same guy yelled out in appreciation, threw the metal horns in the air and started smiling and rocking out, too. So it's kind of a shame, the timing and all, especially since I've seen them once before when they were
on (Last March in Toronto) and I know that they would have had the place rocking if they had been able to play a full set.
Oh well - such is life. Hopefully TG will come back around to this area again (come to Minneapolis! It's only an hour drive for me!
) and hopefully Anneke will make a quick recovery for the remaining shows.