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PostPosted: 12 Apr 2007, 01:06 
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Second sunrise
Second sunrise

Joined: 06 Feb 2004, 07:58
Posts: 10
Location: Santiago de Chile
Review featured on http://www.gathering.cl

104 decibels. The noise you can hear when a chainsaw is cutting something a meter away from you. The noise you can hear when a jackhammer is hammering the ground. The noise you can hear in a disco, or from a jet taking off, in an airport. A noise so severe that it can, at certain frequencies, make cement vibrate. Concrete, and asphalt. And, a noise so severe that, when it mixes its own intensity with the subsonic frequencies of the synchronized jumping, the highs of the chanting crowd, the mediums of the Caupolican Theater's speakers, and the distortion of The Gathering's guitars, can generate a sublime effect. 104 decibels. That's what Hans Rutten heard from us before turning on his gear. When the music began, the chaos began with it.

The power release was delayed, but the will was strong, and, when at 6:30 pm CLST, the gates of the Caupolican Theater were opened, the crowd began to explode. All of them went to their encounter with destiny, to that gathering of feelings, gathering of passions, that was calling them for a third time. This time, the definite one.

That showdown with destiny had its history. 4 years before, in a warm December, The Gathering announced his visit to Chilean lands, to play in Providencia Theater, on February 25th, 2004. The place wasn't a huge one. After all, it was thought, The Gathering was a relatively unknown band here. To reaffirm the latter, thinking in a possible "Dutch culture promotion", the Embassy of Netherlands sponsored the concert. Terrible mistake. All was sold in a matter of weeks. The band couldn't believe it. They programmed a new concert in the same place on 24th. All was sold. And, except for a small fan crew who was repeating itself the pleasure, The Gathering was being heard by 2,800 people. When "Eléanor" came, Anneke van Giersbergen couldn't foresee the demise of her on-stage speakers, silenced by a louder crowd. She couldn't sing, because the beast was singing louder, producing a noise, beautiful and severe, missed by The Gathering in years to come. That "Underneath the mask you've buried yourself into, it is coal-black" would resound in every band member's memory.

2 years later, the band tried to repeat the sucess in an encounter, a magical one, but signed by tragedy. The place was this time the Caupolican Theater, a bigger place that was expected to resist the gatherer power better than a clearly insufficient Providencia Theater. The band was anxious. But Anneke's pharinx would say no. We saw how Anneke tried to justify herself. We forgave her everything. She sang beautifully. But the Chilean beast couldn't forgive The Gathering for such a short show. The Gathering had a great debt with Chile.

"Home" arrived to stores with a desperate and sad song, with a strange name: "A Noise Severe". A name that gave extra dimensions not only to the beautiful and sad lyrics of the song itself, but also gave extra dimensions to the Dutch band, coming from "a sound relief", the exact opposite of noise. It was clear that The Gathering wanted to make the opposite side. They needed to make a contrast. They wanted to make that dream. And they chose Chile as the place. They needed to pay its debt. They needed to hear again that noise, to mix it with their playing to create the true noise severe that they needed.

The evening, with a beautifully decorated Caupolican Theater, began with the opening act, the prog-rockers Crisálida (Crysallid) in an heroic act. With vague Symphony X influences, no Gathering-like sound, and facing an heterogeneous crowd, the performance of a band like this was a Pandora's Box. But they made it. They made it, opening the crysallid with the powerful flapping of their (Wings) "Alas", astonishing the gatherer crowd and earning his respect and his applause. Songs like "Sinfonía V" showcased the true essence of a progressive-rock band, the instrumental power of their members, and showcased also the real maturity of the prog-rock Chilean scene.

Even with all its power, Crisálida couldn't stop the crowd's showdown with destiny. Neither time could. Crisálida ended, and the wait began.

The wait would be eternal.

The wait. It would last until the stage lights were turned on, the lights were dimmed, and a never seen before image appeared. It was The Gathering's leafy sea dragon, but, this time, in a metallic version, crossed by three metallic red-centered spheres, with the text "anoisesevere". We knew what was happening. And everything, suddenly, became clear. Our hurry was retributed by the distorted chords of "Shortest Day". And, suddenly, the shortest day became the longest evening. Because The Gathering was giving everything. A supreme sound, a connection between Anneke and the Chilean beast only interrupted by the mental barriers of the DVD recording, an awesome Frank, with his laptop giving us that lovely stream of samples, a charming Marjolein, a never seen before Hans, who left definitely his businessman like pose, and an impressed René, who felt his guitar every moment.

The spell continued when The Gathering, in strict order, continued with "In Between", instantly, as if that song was in between of the "Home" follow-up and the real noise severe. The crowd rose, but not fell. And no chance in between. The crowd was growing in power. The noise multiplied. The effervescence. The double voiced ending by Marjolein and Anneke didn't lose its charm, even after it lost its surprise.

The Gathering was increasing his power too. It was time to pull out the first gun of their heavy-weight arsenal. It was time to ring the "Liberty Bell". Absolute chaos. It was evident, by that time, why Chile really was the place where the noise severe that The Gathering needed was. The flying camera captured the crowd, omitting his curses, capturing his light. It flew, like the crowd, showing its first synchronized jumping session to the world.

The "Liberty Bell" wasn't enough. The beast needed more to awake. Speed, The Gathering thought. And, suddenly, the crowd was running with "Probably Built in the '50s". It couldn't run so much, but at least the emotion was there. The atmosphere in the field was unbreathable. In the sits, things were better, but sits themselves were useless. Everybody was on their feet, while The Gathering was speeding his probably built in the fifties car to the infinitum.

The giant screen made its debut with "Even the spirits are afraid". And it didn't matter. Why that Buddha image? Nobody was looking at that. Everyone was watching Anneke's performance, her march, Frank Boeijen's definite standing up, and an even more unrecognizable and inspired Hans.

That would be forged on the songs to come, with fire and ice. A powerful "Saturnine", with everybody singing in the last part, gave way for a slower "Monsters" and an even more slower and delirious "Alone", with a video of a ball. People heard, in an exthasis, how keyboard textures were intertwining themselves with a bone-chilling bass guitar, joining a perfectly equalized drumming session by Hans, and making a perfect instrumental performance. By the way, Anneke was a show of her own. But that wasn't her best moment.

We saw an insinuation of that moment, when the song that gave sense to the evening, "A Noise Severe", was played. A beautiful and depressive song, a song that made the Caupolican Theater ask himself "What will become of me? This higher power knows". But not the power of some divine entity. The power of The Gathering. Anneke was making us feel that way. And this time the keyboards and drums were perfect, unlike 2006, under a grey sky background.

The first part of the show would end with a soft "Broken Glass", this time, in Black Light District version. The aiming sensation was kept, but, while an inspired Anneke reached the deepest domains of our hearts with her voice, perfect also this time, the instrumentation was reduced to a minimum. This was the end of the show. This would be the beginning, of the noise severe.

The power was unleashed...

When the screen began to show moving leaves, we knew that we were going to experiment the chaos, brought to us by "Leaves", the first Mandylion song of the evening.

Wasn't it too soon, I thought. And I told myself no, this is the most powerful face of The Gathering, this is going to be the most powerful DVD, and the power has to be unleashed.

Unleashed? Certainly. The gatherer beast was awoken. Without control. Leaves were falling, but not attendants.

With "Leaves" the beast awoke. With the next song, it would come destruction upon us. Anneke, in one of her few speeches to the crowd, shouted "This one is for you, Chile!" We didn't have time to process her words: with its characteristic chord, "Eléanor", the Chilean gatherers' favorite song, the most powerful song of the Anneke era of The Gathering, was beginning. This time, on-stage speakers were better. This time, everything was supposed to work. Frank's textures were the real ones. Guitar? Supreme. Even making for a phantom second guitar. But those on-stage speakers, brought from the Netherlands, had to fight with a bigger, badder, and more gatherer than ever beast. The sits, the surface and even the premium tribune were one in the synchronized jumping and shouting sea. Crowd's shouting rivaled the central speakers in an epic battle, a battle of those who compose the noise most severe. The Gathering wanted that, for sure.

3 songs of Mandylion in a row is an attack against mental sanity. But The Gathering was reaching that mark, keeping the motion of the unleashed beast with "In Motion #1". The doom guitars complemented themselves with the precise intervention of an inspired Frank, who could replicate exactly every texture displayed on Mandylion 12 years before. This noise was extreme, the noise of a demolished Caupolican Theater, shouting with the last remnants of his throat "Make me cry in vain, leave one tear, touch my face with your sigh!... Leave me against the stream, one hundred worlds will see me passing by!..."

Devoted, like they were, the almost 5,000 people filling the Caupolican Theater were unable to resist the next song, "Waking Hour", from "Home", a small relief before the power return. An inspired Anneke was reaching every tone, while all of us were hearing, fascinated, how Anneke declared to the beast exactly everything she was feeling in that moment: "I can see it. I can feel it. This is my waking hour. This is my place. I can hear it. I feel the power in my heart. And is my moment. It is right there. And it's staring me in the face". Certainly, it was right there. It was the power of 5,000 people, staring in Anneke and The Gathering's face.

Power. It would increase even more, with a freezing "On Most Surfaces" and a burning "Strange Machines". While The Gathering was reaching the 4 Mandylion songs mark, the crowd exploded, and it was only one jump, asking for more, more and more. Was this the end? No. It was a continuum of emotion. The Gathering didn't wait so much to return.

What could be more powerful than "Eléanor" and "Strange Machines" together? The answer was, or a brand new song, or something completely unscheduled. And we didn't know the answer with a sublime "Great Ocean Road", played by René with all his implements. We knew the answer when we saw two absolutely unscheduled songs: "Adrenaline", a Mandylion B-Side relegated to an EP, and "Third Chance", the most powerful song of Nighttime Birds, a song rivaling in raw power every song of Mandylion, but never played in Chile. It was the perfect mix to make Chilean people burn in happiness. We all appreciated how The Gathering was using the maximum power. We were waiting for it. For our entire lives.

The Gathering was hiding for a second time. This time, they would be slower to reappear.

They played "Black Light District", and everybody's heart was suddenly filled with sadness. We knew that this would be the end. It didn't matter how hard René Rutten was trying to enlarge our feelings with the Theremin. His spectacular fall with Anneke didn't matter. All band member's efforts were rendering useless against us. We knew that there would be a wish and will for the end to see the bright light, the end of the black light district. But we also knew, that that bright light would bring us also the end of the magical evening. We simply didn't want it to end.

That... didn't happen.

"Shrink", the original ending for "A Noise Severe", would remain only for history and for trivia, because The Gathering changed his mind, facing a shocking banner saying simply "Your music will stay forever..." Yes. The Gathering was changing his mind because of a love act, made by Chilean fans. And, instead of "Shrink", The Gathering gave us the incredible travel to the truest meaning of music, known simply as "Travel". Of course, the running verse was sung by all the theater. And, with a touching "I wish you knew, your music was to stay forever, and I hope...", that dreamy evening, that magic moment, those 2 hours and 30 minutes of concert, that immense amount of decibels emitted, joining for the noise most severe ever conceived, were reaching their end. And we now know, that noise will be recorded in immortality, and in every mortality of us.

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Gathering love. Gathering friends. Gathering passion. Gathering force. Gathering moments.
Alejandro Nova. Enjoying The Gathering.


Last edited by Alejandro Nova on 16 Apr 2007, 06:20, edited 6 times in total.

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PostPosted: 12 Apr 2007, 01:33 
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King for a day
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Joined: 04 Dec 2002, 07:04
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Hey, this has to be in 'links, intv & pix' forum.

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PostPosted: 12 Apr 2007, 05:03 
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Second sunrise
Second sunrise

Joined: 06 Feb 2004, 07:58
Posts: 10
Location: Santiago de Chile
Please, can you move it? ;)

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Gathering love. Gathering friends. Gathering passion. Gathering force. Gathering moments.
Alejandro Nova. Enjoying The Gathering.


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PostPosted: 12 Apr 2007, 13:45 
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By the way this review is the best fan review I have read for this show, congratulations and thanks for share.

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PostPosted: 13 Apr 2007, 18:23 
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Third chance
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Joined: 30 Mar 2007, 02:46
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I agree, great review! Congrats.


NP: Depeche Mode - But not tonight

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PostPosted: 13 Apr 2007, 20:01 
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Third chance
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Joined: 12 Dec 2004, 09:22
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Location: Minnesota, USA
This DVD cannot get here soon enough! I want!!


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PostPosted: 13 Apr 2007, 23:44 
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This is a very touching text. :flower:

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PostPosted: 19 Apr 2007, 19:42 
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Joined: 21 Jul 2005, 22:11
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pass

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PostPosted: 24 Apr 2007, 14:43 
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Third chance
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Joined: 03 Jun 2002, 01:00
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thanks for the review! very touching.


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