Ayreon, Live beneath the waves, 17.09.2023, 013 Poppodium Tilburg
Posted on: September 26, 2023 at 5:50 pm
OH.MY.GOD! It happened! It finally happened. Seeing Ayreon’s 01011001 live was a once in a lifetime moment and I was freaking there. Still can’t believe it.
I wished so much for this, not only because an Ayreon live show is a rare event as it’s a logistical nightmare and Arjen doesn’t really like going out of his lair, but also because 01011001 is one of my all time favourite albums, from one of my all time favourite bands, featuring some of my all time favourite artists. And I definitely wasn’t the only one dying to be there, because when the tickets went on sale in October all 3 shows were sold out in literally 5 minutes. And then when the disappointment and consequent uproar from the fans went sky high, Arjen, always the sweetheart, organised a 4th concert and the ticket sale for it in a matter of an hour or so, and a 5th one was added a day later. So they ended up playing 5 live shows in 3 days, which is quite impressive considering how long and taxing the performance was, and I have the greatest respect for everyone involved, Arjen Lucassen in the first place, but also for Lori and Joost who had a huge role in making all these amazing moments happen.
If you’re not familiar with my undying love for 01011001, you can read about it in detail here. Seeing how the show was different from the previous ones in that it didn’t entail “acting” the story out, and it just focused simply on the music and delivering the best performance of a complex and demanding album, there is little to say about the music and story that I haven’t already mentioned in my review. Instead I will just focus on how I experienced the show and how stupidly excited I was to see all these amazingly talented people in one place.
After queuing for what seemed like an eternity because it was raining and I didn’t have anyone to talk with to pass the time (remember the crazy ticket sale? Yeah, well, I only got my hands on one ticket and it was a good thing too, because the show would’ve been too much for our son and since we traveled far to see it – 12 hours, to be more precise, plane delay and all – leaving him at home and going with just my husband was out of the question for us), I got myself really close to the front row. Found some nice Dutch people to chat with and to save my spot while I went to the bathroom, a fellow overly-excited dude that travelled all the way from Brazil for this and looked like he was about to die of happiness to be there and 3000 other enthusiastic metalheads. Yes, the atmosphere was amazing. At least where I was staying, people were singing all the lyrics (Arjen even joked at one point that we know the lyrics better than anyone on stage) and everyone had huge grins on their faces. You could just feel the joy and delight from the crowd. I think we all knew we were witnessing something unique and were incredibly excited to be a part of it (can’t wait for the live DVD, by the way, it will be a great way to relive all those wonderful moments).
The show was around 3 hours long and featured 18 and a half singers (I don’t know if I can fully count PX, who delivered an appropriately creepy performance from the screen) and 8 instrument players spread on a two-level stage. After 01011001 was played in its entirety and Arjen gave one of his infamous speeches, we were also treated with a few of the newer songs, including a Star one track and the 13 minutes The day that the world breaks down. Like I said, it was long and complex, and generally amazing. Just gathering all those artists there, when all of them have their own bands and additional projects, was impressive enough. People mentioned minor slip ups due to not having enough time to rehearse, but honestly I didn’t notice it. Maybe I was too happy to be there to pay attention to such things, but I rather focused on the little details like the strong wave of cold air moving towards the audience at key times, how nicely they all shared the spotlight and made sure every person involved in the concert had their “moment of glory”, or the fact that everyone was wearing black except for the lovely Anneke dressed in sparkling gold and the gorgeous Simone in silver.
Although I had the time of my life throughout the entire show and 01011001 is incredible from start to finish (yes, even Web of lies was good live), there were some parts that had me beaming with excitement. The fifth and sixth extinctions were absolutely epic, River of time was contagiously joyful and Beneath the waves was pure bliss. Hearing and seeing live the bridge of Beneath the waves, the ALIIIIIVE from The fifth extinction or the “We gave them dreams and what did they dream?” cry were moments that I will always remember. And it was cute to see how the people in the crowd resonated with pretty much the same instants, I loved how in the middle of a wordy and full of pathos The sixth extinction, everyone in the crowd suddenly yelled together with Mike “the meaning of life is to give life meaning”.
It was also adorable how encouraging the audience was of Arjen. Of course he’s the mastermind and the reason everyone was there, so it was obvious he would be received very warmly, but I think it was more than that. I mean most of us know how much he hates live settings and you could tell he was very nervous (Joost joked that he sang even worse than usual and they will have a lot of editing to do for the DVD) and I could sense the support that was coming from the crowd while he was singing, it felt like we were singing along a bit more intently, cheering a bit louder, clapping a bit harder. Again, awesome atmosphere, even though I often found myself lost in my own world simply living the moment. By the way, I have the worst photo for this review partially because Mike encouraged us to put the phones away, but mostly because I was never going to be able to stop being my regular tiny ball of over-hyped energy and stand still long enough to take a proper picture during the concert (ok, maybe because of the “tiny” part as well).
But I think the best thing for me was seeing so many of my favourite singers gathered together. Daniel from Pain of Salvation was of course intense and amazing as always. My beloved Hansi was beyond cool and triumphant and seemed to enjoy himself so much even though his voice sadly wasn’t at his best. Anneke is absolutely lovely, a class act, with an incredible voice and a beam of light in the darkness (literally with her outfit, and metaphorically with her presence). I actually liked Simone Simons, she was so playful and charismatic and made The human equation very fun with her theatrical performance. Magali Luyten was just badass with her raspy voice and commanding stage presence, animated the crowd and did a kick-ass job taking over some of the male parts. And speaking of replacements, all four of them were top notch. The show’s revelation was of course Brittney Slayes, who impressed everyone by filling Floor Jansens’ gianormous shoes and generated a never-ending stream of “Brittney slayed” puns. Damian Wilson is love, the man is beyond talented and charismatic and kind and he was absolutely great in everything that he did, from singing Comatose with Anneke to saying “hi” to all the people queuing before the show. Mike Mills is so much fun, not only he has a great versatile voice, but his excitement is so contagious. And of course Arjen is Arjen, a genius and such a sweetheart and adorable in his good-natured goofyness and self-deprecation. He exudes warmth and… yeah, I love the guy. He is just brilliant and I have so much respect and admiration for him.
I don’t know if I missed anything, I might go back and edit because I want to remember as much of this as possible. Like I said, it was a once in a lifetime event and it was amazing to witness it. It was beautiful and intense and memorable and yes, once again, amazing, from start to finish. I am extremely lucky to have been there and starting to repeat myself, but I can’t contain myself. Almost two weeks later and I still get giddy and emotional when I think of it. Awesome awesome show.
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