LEAVES EYES + STREAM OF PASSION
THE UNDERWORLD LONDON - 21/10/11
When the news came that Visions Of Atlantis had cancelled this tour and that Stream Of Passion had taken there place it felt like my birthday. In fact it was so this was a nice present, especially sweet as Stream Of Passion had only managed to visit here once before playing a packed Borderline with their at the time muse Arjen Lucassen around the time of their excellent debut Embrace The Storm. Of course we remember being disappointed at them failing to get into the country last time they were scheduled to play due to Visa problems. With two of the highlights of this weekend’s Female Voices Festival in Belgium popping over to London for this show, people had actually decided to stay closer to home and it was perhaps no surprise to learn that pre sales were over 400 in advance with the show virtually guaranteed to sell out on the door.
The silly opening time due to club afterwards meant that we unfortunately missed first band Awake By Design completely and there was a certain amount of expectation in the venue which was boiling over by the time the Dutch band with Mexican singer bombastically powered their way onto the stage and launched into ‘Lost’ the opening track from new album ‘Darker Days.’ They instantly had us by the balls! The fact that one of the group was wearing a man skirt and the singer is a wee lass did not mean that the music was anything but chunky, tempestuous, fiery, bombastic and well… passionate in the extreme. This did not send shivers just down my spine but had them filtering all through my central nervous system and the music well and truly had me in its clutch. Marcela Bovio may have been without sister Diana this time around but she handled the vocals for old number ‘Passion’ with huge gravitas and commanded the stage front beaming down at the delirious audience who were by now lapping it up. I felt slightly sorry for guitarist Eric sporting a Fields Of The Nephilim shirt knowing he was not going to be about tomorrow to witness their show, mind you neither was I. He had his side of the stage and the right saw bassist Johan’s dreadlocks whipping around making the others practically have to duck for cover. The group crammed as much as possible into the set time and it was really like witnessing a headlining act. Marcela at time got the electric violin out but and classically trained vocals were stupendous. The words “We Can Live For Ever’ hit the rafters and the end of the world foretold by some silly old American bible-thumping codger seemed never further away. The Radiohead cover (I only found out today that it was, ta Luci) ‘Street Spirit’ sounded glorious and every part of this show had a real spark about it. Unfortunately for them The Endless Night was not endless and they had to eventually go off, but from the reaction Stream Of Passion got surely they will be back soon. (PW)
I have only ever managed to catch Leaves’ Eyes once back in 2007 at the Prog Power UK festival and I seriously had no idea how popular this band have become. The show tonight was at the very least very close to a sell-out; great for the bands but frankly most uncomfortable for some of us in the crowd. It was very interesting tonight to see what a different crowd this was to the usual extreme metal gigs I would frequent at the Underworld, an unusually high proportion of females were present, lots of straight-looking folk who looked like they were dressed for the office party and a handful of the die-hard metallers while the rest were probably dwelling in darkness down at the WITTR show, also tonight.
While I had been very much looking forward to watching tonight’s headliners, they were left in a tricky position following such a blinding set from Stream Of Passion and for me they just weren’t up to the job. It is not an entirely fair comparison as I find it really hard to enjoy live bands in such a crowded environment as tonight and being completely unable to see the band for most of the set I want to point out it is not entirely the band that were at fault here and perhaps those with a better view or who were down in the pit found them far more exciting. The band treated an eager crowd to a lengthy set which was completely tight and the saccharine vocals of Liv Kristine were faultless. The moments I could actually see her I couldn’t help be charmed by her feminine fragility and innocence that comes across in her onstage demeanour as much as her voice. Hubby Alex bounds his way onto the stage to join in and contribute some deathly growls on ‘Ocean’s Way’ which has a real infectious battle-sway to its chorus and the sweetness is contrasted by a crushing rhythm section on this number.
Tracks like ‘Farewell Proud Men’ and ‘Elegy’ from the fabulous Vinland Saga album manage to captivate the crowd as does the catchy ‘Devil In Me’. The tracks I wasn’t so familiar with were kind of lost on me, with ‘Empty Horizon’ coming across as a bit on the feeble side, and ‘My Destiny’ in all its twee-ness leaves me feeling destined for the bar. It’s no surprise why the masses seem to have clung to this band as they have the melodies and a very accessible sound and they can certainly cut it live. However, on this occasion I have to say Stream Of Passion blew them off the stage and the Dutch ones have in me a new convert. (LH)
Review & Photos © Luci Herbert & Pete Woods
LEAVES EYES
LEAVES EYES
LEAVES EYES
LEAVES EYES
LEAVES EYES
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
STREAM OF PASSION
MTUK HOME
