Christmas Metal Symphony – Again next year?

Tonight we have come together to finally experience what the master composer and keyboardist Joost van den Broek has in store for us. A variety of artists is drawn out of the closet for this Christmas and New Year party. Among them are a wide range of vocalists, for instance Mats Life of Therion, Marcella Bovio of Stream Of Passion, Ian Parry of Consortium Project and former Elegy, Doro Pesch, Floor Jansen of After Forever, George Oosthoek of Orphanage, Chuck Billy of Testament, Johan Edlund of Tiamat and Russel Allen from Symphony X. These leaders are accompanied by a 30-man classical orchestra who all share a big passion for rock and metal music. For his band he has choosen top artists in metal land consisting of Johan Van Stratum (bass) and Jeffrey Revet (keyboard) of Stream Of Passion, Koen Fall (drums) of Epica, Marcel Koenen (guitar) Sun Caged, Frank Schiphorst (guitar) of Control Human Delete and let’s not forget the overall leadership of Joost van den Broek (keyboards) of After Forever.

The stage is immersed in a real Christmas atmosphere complete with Gothic church windows in the background. On each side next to the stage hang large projection screens on which Christmas images and videos are shown. From these screens, we are addressed by a figure who could have easily been taken from the movie "A Christmas Carol".

The story begins as a Christmas story about Jonathan and his passion for metal music. This will be the common thread throughout the show. Jonathan likes all aspects of metal music. He wants to let the audience experience his passion in a large variety of metal music in terms of a typical set of songs. He’s talking about happiness, strength, anger and dark forces, patience and creativity.

Mats and Marcela kick off tonight and the baton will be passed on to another again and again throughout the evening. The opening is well chosen, the voices of Marcela and Mats fit well together. The entire set is super-tight overall, the musicians are really daring each other and the light show and sound are also more than okay. The icing on the cake is carefully searched. Even the songs of Stream Of Passion sound again as they should, with the oh-so-necessary bombastic elements.

Ian is full of joy when he enters the stage and the cover of Metallica is well-performed by him. He has literally and figuratively all metals pulled out of the closet. He let’s the audience know that he feels very much at home with the quote ‘Ik ken ze allemaal’ (‘I know’em all’). When Doro has her duet with him they match perfectly. Ian leaves the stage and Doro sings All We Are together with Floor. This is a small foretaste of what we can expect from Floor this evening. When Doro’s set is over, she takes a short moment to say goodbye to her loyal fans.

Then things go a bit slow when Chuck begins. After his lackluster duet with Mats it is up to George to boost up the atmosphere again. That works nicely in their duet More Than Meets The Eye. After Chuck has disappeared from stage Arise from Sepultura is played. I've never seen such a rigid interpretation! The band know how to play the typical Sepultura rhythm so brilliantly that I am flabbergasted. Combined with the overwhelming grunt of George is this picture complete. They crash into the same pace with a number of Orphanage where Floor has a leading roll.

After a very heavy set the real dark and sinister metal takes its role. Performed by Johan Edlund: a bit strange but well-taken. Not because of the vocal talents of Edlund, it’s his performance and spooky atmosphere that makes this part special. Then Floor enters the stage. She said that she has missed performing live very much and this is clearly shown. She really enjoys being on stage again.

Joost picked up his keytar and joins her in this enthusiasm. Last but not least, it is Russell’s turn. Before he started he thanked the orchestra, Joost and everyone for this great evening. He performed a great set but the sensation of the evening is his duet with Floor in The Phantom Of The Opera. Many years ago I saw this musical, I wished they would have been the artists then. In one word overwhelming. All in all, a real big party and a successful evening, and I can speak both for myself as the public. It has a bigger taste to it. Joost next year again?

Setlist
01. Blood Of Kingu (Therion) (feat. Mats Leven, Marcela Bovio)
02. Victim Of Changes (Judas Priest) (feat. Mats Leven)
03. Son Of The Staves Of Time (Therion) (feat. Mats Leven, Marcela Bovio)
04. Passion (STREAM OF PASSION) (feat. Marcela Bovio)
05. Out In The Real World (STREAM OF PASSION) (feat. Marcela Bovio)
06. Enter Sandman (Metallica) (feat. Ian Parry)
07. Paranoid (BLACK SABBATH) (feat. Ian Parry)
08. Breaking The Law (Judas Priest) (feat. Doro Pesch, Ian Parry)
09. All We Are (WARLOCK) (feat. Doro Pesch, Floor Jansen)
10. I Rule The Ruins (WARLOCK) (feat. Doro)
11. Souls Of Black (TESTAMENT) (feat. Chuck Billy)
12. Return To Serenity (TESTAMENT) (feat. Chuck Billy, Mats Life)
13. More Than Meets The Eye (TESTAMENT) (feat. Chuck Billy, George Oosthoek)
14. Arise (SEPULTURA) (feat. George Oosthoek)
15. Mountains Of Madness (Orphanage) (feat. George Oosthoek, Floor Jansen)
16. A New Level (PANTERA) (feat. George Oosthoek)
17. Cain (Tiamat) (feat. Johan Edlund)
18. Brighter Than The Sun (Tiamat) (feat. Johan Edlund, Marcela Bovio)
19. When The Smoke Is Going Down (SCORPIONS) (feat. Johan Edlund)
20. No. My Pledge Of Allegiance. 1 (AFTER FOREVER) (feat. George Oosthoek, Floor Jansen)
21. Equally Destructive (AFTER FOREVER) (feat. Floor Jansen)
22. The Evil That Man Do (IRON MAIDEN) (feat. Floor Jansen)
23. Intro Based on "The Odyssey" (SYMPHONY X) (orchestra only)
24. Evolution (The Grand Design) (SYMPHONY X) (feat. Russell Allen)
25. Paradise Lost (SYMPHONY X) (feat. Russell Allen)
26. Dawn Of A Million Souls (Ayreon) (feat. Russell Allen)
27. Phantom Of The Opera (Nightwish version) (feat. Russell Allen, Floor Jansen)

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