Sleep calling me and my dreams are wondrous

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Anneke van Giersbergen & Árstíðir – Junushoff, Wageningen; March 8th, 2016

It had been exactly a week since the first concert of the ‘Verloren Verleden’ tour and my last one. I was excited about hearing these beautiful songs again and curious as to how they might have evolved over the past few concerts. So much in fact, that I could not wait until Friday as previously planned, but just had to go to the Netherlands again on a Tuesday afternoon to see one more concert. 😀 It was well worth the trip.

Once I realized that Wageningen is near Arnhem and thus easy to reach, it didn’t take long for me to book the trip. It all happened right after I returned from den Bosch. I even scored a front row ticket, if all the way to the right (and not my usual spot on the left). Thus, I had a great view of Karl and Guillaume that night. 🙂

Walking in I had noticed several people carrying presents and two guys wearing “Happy Birthday Anneke” T-Shirts so it wasn’t hard to guess that it was a special day. Someone placed a bottle of liquor and a box of chocolates on stage in front of her microphone too. 🙂 Now we only needed to wait until the lights went down and the band walked out in the dark.

First, the spotlight was only on Karl as he started playing ‘Solveig’s Song’, then Guillaume was added, followed by Daníel and Gunnar, then Anneke, who started singing and last Ragnar. It was rather nice, focusing everyone’s attention on wherever the spotlight was. This first song gave us a taste of what the whole evening would be: beautiful music, performed by six amazing musicians where each one of them got moments to shine, but with all of them playing and singing together the whole became more than the sum of its parts. Before I even had a chance to fully digest the first song, they continued with a killer version of Anathema’s ‘Everwake’ that sent shivers down my spine.

For ‘Het Dorp’ she told us a long story about the origins of the song. I’m not entirely sure I understood it correctly, but I believe she said it was the village her husband’s grandma lived in. It was lovely. 🙂 Soon we got another Icelandic lesson too and while some of the words had stayed the same as during the first concert, others changed. This caused a lot of laughter once again and people did their best to repeat everything. In-between so many serious songs this fits perfectly well to brighten the mood.

Eventually, Anneke took note of the presents in front of her and thanked the people who brought them. The audience shouted hoorays and birthday wishes for her. Then, before singing ‘Þér ég unni’, the guys sang Happy Birthday in Icelandic. <3 Much to soon Anneke walked on stage to let Árstíðir sing ‘Shades’ together and then had the stage to herself for a while to sing ‘Circles’. Quite unexpectedly, that song brought me close to tears. :’)

For one song introduction, she talked about all the music she listened to in her youth and no matter what she mentioned, one of the guys played a few notes or chords something. For “Rolling Stones” Ragnar played ‘Satisfaction’ on the piano, for “Beatles” it was ‘Here comes the sun’ played by Daníel on guitar. “Prince” and Gunnar and Karl tried ‘Kiss’ and for “Queen” it was Ragnar again with ‘The Show must go on”. Anneke concluded that “They can play anything” and with their diverse musical backgrounds she is right too. 🙂

While the setlist stayed the same since the first time around, many little details had changed. Everyone seemed more laid back and less nervous about the performance, looking comfortable in their respective spots. Of course the jokes and stories had changed a little, but also the playing and singing has kicked up a notch. It was already amazing the first time around and got better since, most notably the backing vocals. ‘When I am laid in earth’ gave me goose-bumps once again and ‘Lost in you’ worked much better this time. I loved all the other songs too and did not want them to stop. Sadly, they did and after ‘Pavane’ it was over. With a deep sigh and a happy smile on my face I walked out.

Some people waited to congratulate Anneke and give her birthday presents, others to get autographs. I had nice long conversations with Ragnar and Karl, not only about my impressions of the show, but a few others things as well. Eventually they had to pack up and I needed to catch a bus. It was a wonderful evening, I can hardly wait for Friday to come.

Setlist (out of order)

Solveig’s Song
Everwake
Russian Lullaby
Het Dorp
A Simple Song
Þér ég unni
Shades
Circles
Four years
When I am laid in earth
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
Lost in you
one of Anneke’s songs
Bist Du bei mir

Heyr, Himna Smiður
Pavane

Verloren, Verleden tour: 2 concerts down, 10 to go. Next stop: Tilburg

Breathtaking music, Dutch stories and lessons in Icelandic

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Anneke van Giersbergen & Árstíðir – Verkadefabrik, den Bosch; March 1st, 2016

First concerts of a new tour are always special and this one was no exception. I know I am repeating myself, but there is nothing else to say about seeing Árstíðir kick of their tour with Anneke van Giersbergen. Even with the wide variety of music these artists play, it was something new and unusual. Classical and traditional pieces reworked to fit their musical style. Not being a big fan of classical music and therefore unable to relate to it the same way I do to Pop or Rock I was as scared of this as I was curious. There was absolutely no need to worry though. The concert was incredibly beautiful and left me with goose bumps all over. 🙂

The tour kicked off with leaving work early and making my way to den Bosch. It isn’t that far from where I live really, but somehow train connections in the Netherlands always make you go the long way around. Everything was on time though and I made it to my hotel around 6 in the evening where I met with my friend P. We had an hour to catch up before we made our way to the venue. Luckily it was one of those multi venue complexes where you can wait inside. Said hello to Daníel, met A., chatted, waited. We had great seats on the left and a good overview of the stage. The hall was not huge, but sold out and we were all looking down at the stage where instruments and microphones were set up, waiting for their owners.

Accidentally, A. had ended up in the seat next to me. We were in the middle of talking when the lights went out and everyone walked on stage. Anneke told us that half her family was there and asked them for a show of hands before they started. Surprisingly, I understood a lot of Dutch that night.

With the first song I already knew it had been a good decision. Everything was spot on and brought a big smile to my face. With the second song I already had goose bumps everywhere and they kept coming back during the course of the night. Anneke’s singing, the arrangements, the playing, Gunnar’s backing vocals, the harmonies – everything was perfect. They mixed the songs from their album ‘Verloren Verleden’ with their own stuff and threw in a few stories here and there. Anneke told us how they had met on the tour with Pain of Salvation where they were playing together and how she fell in love with them “…and the music too”. She also introduced the guys as “three Icelanders, One American Icelander and one Frenchman who lives in Belgium”.

‘Þér ég unni’ was a highlight for me as expected. The song has always been close to my heart and I love the arrangement and Anneke’s voice there. However, I was must impressed with the very classical pieces. They moved me a lot more than I thought they would. Not only Anneke’s singing was amazing, but so was everyone’s playing. All the rehearsals sure paid off. The audience was great too, attentive, quiet and giving everyone a warm reception.

Before the show we had wondered which songs they’d use to fill the gaps between those of the current album. They didn’t only use songs though, but we were in for lots of laughter when they gave us a lesson in Icelandic. Anneke was telling us how the word for “Help” is so difficult, it would be impossible to pronounce while you were hanging off the side of a tall building. Karl joked the police would come by and correct you then. Ragnar taught us to say “Ejafjallajökull”, Daníel settled for “umferðaröngþveiti” (traffic jam) as the most difficult one, Karl explained how he had trouble with saying Tuesday (Þriðjudagur) , Guillaume talked about the Golden circle with “Gullfoss” and “Þingvellir” and in the end Gunnar put all those words into one sentence (and I won’t even try to repeat that one). 😀

As for songs we heard ‘Shades’ from Árstíðir alone, Anneke did ‘Four years and a day’ on her own and they did ‘Circles’, another one of Anneke’s songs, and ‘Lost in you’ together. Except for ‘Lost in you’ they all worked well for me. It is one of my favorite songs, but I love the original so much I cannot deal with such a vastly different version. We’ll see if it grows on me. I’m not complaining though. The song selection was perfect and left me in awe, wanting more.

It was over too soon – they left the stage to standing ovations after ‘Bist Du bei mir’. Anneke did well on the pronunciation and I felt pride, knowing I had helped with it. The audience just remained standing, clapping and cheering until they returned with ‘Heyr, Himna Smiður’ and did not sit down again until that was over. This night it worked especially well. One last song before they left us. It was a perfectly good start to the new tour and makes me look forward to the next concert.

Afterwards we stayed for conversations with the guys. I told them how much I’d liked it, spending quite some time on details with Gunnar and Guillaume. It felt great to see them again and they all seemed a lot more relaxed and happy than they had been the last time I saw them. With final hugs we said goodbye, already counting down the days until we’ll meet again.

Setlist (out of order)

Solveig’s Song
Russian Lullaby
Het Dorp
A Simple Song
Þér ég unni
Shades
Circles
Four years
When I am laid in earth
Londonderry Air (Danny Boy)
Lost in you
one of Anneke’s songs
Bist Du bei mir

Heyr, Himna Smiður
Pavane

Verloren, Verleden tour: 1 concert down, 10 to go. Next stop: Tilburg