by Arta Gailuma
— Photojournalist —
February 10, 2018 at The Asylum in Birmingham, U.K. —
A great little venue for Brum’s alternative crowd The Asylum was hosting tonight the wonderful VUUR, the Dutch Progressive Metal band led by singer, lyricist, ex-The Gathering vocalist Anneke van Giersbergen. The group are on their first tour after releasing debut album In This Moment We Are Free – Cities in the fall of 2017.
To everyone’s surprise, the show was held in the small room of the venue and the artists were only a few feet away from the photo pit. First on stage came Exploring Birdsong, Prog Rock band from Liverpool. Even though the Kate Bush-inspired vocals were at times slightly insecure, and overpowered by the instruments, the group’s piano-driven sound set a great mood for the start of the evening. Having only launched in September 2017, the band did a brilliant job supporting VUUR.
The talented musician, with an amazing vocal range and radiant smile Anneke van Giersbergen, has been involved in many musical projects and collaborated with many artists over the years before creating her own band VUUR.
This evening set consisted of cover-pieces from Anneke’s previous collaborations as well as tracks from the new album which have been written based on touring experiences in different cities.
The audience experienced beautiful melodies; energetic, heavy guitars mixed with Prog rhythms and Anneke’s heavenly voice which kept the crowd captivated for the whole evening.
After the show a long queue (pretty much everyone from the crowd) gathered to meet the artist. While guys were clearing the stage, Anneke patiently was taking selfies with the fans and signing the memorabilia.
The challenge of photographing in extremely low light was all worth the effort, what an amazing night!
VUUR with Exploring Birdsong Concert Photo Gallery
Band:
Anneke van Giersbergen – vocals
Ed Warby – drums
Jord Otto – guitars
Ferry Duijsens – guitars
Johan van Stratum – bass
Setlist:
Time- Rotterdam
My Champion- Berlin
On Most Surfaces ( The Gathering cover)
The Martyr And The Saint- Beirut
The Storm (The Gentle Storm cover)- Anneke solo
Like A Stone (Audioslave cover)- Anneke and Ferry Duijsens
Valley Of The Queens (Ayreon cover)
Freedom- Rio
Days Go By- London
Your Glorious Light Will Shine- Helsinki
Strange Machines ( The Gathering cover)
Fallout (Devin Townsend Project cover)
Reunite!- Paris
Websites:
www.vuur.band
www.facebook.com/vuurband/
www.facebook.com/ExploringBirdsong/
