Review Summary: I wish you knew your music was to stay forever…
It was on a warm April night before the turning of the previous century when I was about to attend the greatest concert in my lifetime. Contrary to what I was used to at the time, The Gathering weren’t into extended jams and improvisations and certainly didn’t increase the bpm’s of their songs. Nevertheless, what made that concert so special were the directness, openness and honesty I felt from the band’s side. Mind you, it was long before the band decided to experiment further with their sound, as the live was part of their
How to Measure a Planet? tour. Additionally, the guys (and girl) were nice enough to converse with the fans after the concert’s completion, sign whatever the people gave them and waved from their tour bus until they were lost in distance. The fact that there weren’t more than 10-15 fans who waited outside the venue made the experience even more special.
What can easily become obvious from the very first minutes of
TG25: Live at Doornroosje, is that honesty I felt 17 years ago; Anneke welcoming the fans with a “thank you for joining us guys” sounds sincere and Silje singing “because of you I'm still afraid today” feels even more emotional than on the studio version of “Meltdown”. And this is where the success of the album lies; it’s a celebration of a group of friends’ career, in the company of friends. The setlist covers almost the totality of The Gathering’s discography with the exception of
Almost a Dance and
The West Pole, while every single member participates besides former vocalist Niels Duffhues.
The band’s performance is such that there’s no sign that some songs haven’t been played for an extended period of time. One can check “The Mirror Waters” or “King for a Day” that feature brutal vocals by Bart Smits and a haunting performance by Marike Groot. However, as on every concert by the band, the spotlight is bound to be on Anneke van Giersbergen; her delivery on material from
Mandylion and
Nighttime Birds is as powerful as it was almost 20 years ago and during the closing minutes of “Travel” she’s simply breathtaking. Nevertheless, the lack of any other songs from the colossal
How to Measure a Planet? is bound to leave a sour taste on the mouths of some fans.
TG25: Live at Doornroosje is not only The Gathering’s most complete live recording, but has a sentimental value that derives from the participation of almost every member that has played in the band. If one wants to compare it to their older live LPs,
Superheat was too focused on
How to Measure a Planet?,
Sleepy Buildings is an “unplugged” and
A Noise Severe suffered from a somewhat uneven performance by Anneke.
The question at this point, is where do the guys go from here? It’s obvious that on stage, there’s chemistry but will this translate to a studio release? The band indicated that they’re on hiatus but anyone who listened to
Afterwords knew that they were on mechanical support. I sincerely hope the spark is still there and the night this album was recorded wasn’t just a fling.
