In the past weeks we announced a bunch of great festivals for 2016! Today we added a Dutch one to it, on May 27th we're playing in Pesse (Muziekweekend). We will also be performing at M'era Luna, Hellfest and Alcatraz amongst others, so check out our tourpage for all the details! Check our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram pages for exclusive photos and previews of our upcoming shows!See you soon!
Black X-mas & new festivals announced!Dear Dragons,The time has come for Black X-mas!This weekend Black X-mas will take place at the 013, in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Not only fans from Holland are attending, amongst others also dragons from Chile, France, Belgium, England, USA, Greece, Latvia, Italy, Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Scotland and Sweden! We couldn't be happier!As you know the first night on the 20th sold out in a heartbeat, but luckily we were able to add 1 night on the 21st, for which you can still buy tickets here.Ghosts, skeletons, zombies, witches and other dark creatures are better examples of this unusual Christmas show and we want you to be a part of it! Get your tickets, dress up as a “Dark Creature†and join us to celebrate the Christmas holidays WT-style! We have a special photobooth where you can create your own memories to the evening, we have new merch available and you might run into strange people in the corridors... See you this weekend, ho, ho, ho!
Within Temptation does agree with the weather forecasters, because accordig to them we will not get a white Christmas. So, under the dominator of ´Black X-mas´, this symphonic metal formatiom will perform two special shows at the 013 venue in Tilburg. Providing these dark days before Christmas with some proper music relief. After the first concert was sold out within a few days, this band, centred around singer Sharon den Adel, decided to throw in a second show the next evening. Fans are already waiting for hours in a quite cosy queue. Despite that winter has almost begun, it´s pleasant to be there with record temperatures over 10 degrees. Everyone is excited and wonder what these concerts will be like. Not only is it going to be a remarkable gig because of the suspected ´dark´ elements of the show, but there is a dresscode as well. WT asked for a ´Dark Creatures´ kind of dressing from their fans. And looking around the queue, the fans have responded with great enthousiasme to this request. All kind of weird and scary creatures are walking around: zombies, elfs, witches, skeletons, a group of friends with black Christmas hats, a Santa wearing a death mask and there is Papa Emiritus look-a-like as well.Despite the long queue, once the doors are open, the very international fans (even fans from Zambia) are streaming inside, also possible because there is no checking. There are details for the theme outside as well as inside: outside a carriage rides along the queue, inside there are zombies, a grave and a green dressed elf serving absinth from a stall. The photobooth is another well thought out feature.Once inside, the venue is very crowded and it´s not easy to find a good spot. Also the balconies are sold out. One of the better options for die-hard fans who don´t want to miss anything are the wide stairs at the back of this 013 venue. This Black X-mas concert starts with a an intro where a short story is told:A girl asks her mother: ´Who is that mommy?´, pointing at a picture at the wall.The mother replies: ´That was your great-great-great-grandmother. She used to be a very good singer´.The girl then asks: ´Can I hear one of her songs?´.The mother plays some music on which Sharon sings. Sitting next to the Christmas tree, the girl wonders: ´I wish she was still here!´. Next, all of the band members enter the podium to start off ´The Dance´ (the oldest, but one, song of this gig-1998). It´s a very well chosen song for this dark concert concept. There´s so much going on and you need more than one pair of eyes to see what everybody´s wearing and what masks they have. Their visagists have done really an outstanding job!On both sides of the podium, there are musicians playing tenordrums. For ´The Heart Of Everything´, a violinist and a cellist play along. They wear make-up as well and gorgeous costumes. There is a lot of attention to details. For example the head of the cello has been changed into a skull´s head mask. At the start the soundmixer is still looking for the right set-up. During ´The Dance´ the sound doesn´t match that nice with the grunts of Robert Westerholt. And Sharon makes quite a few gestures with her hand behind her back to adapt the the volume to the right standard. Though the sound engineers have to improve the sound quite a lot, they do succeed pretty fast in doing that. The drums and guitars get more volume, but it is apparently difficult to get the sound for the cello and violin right, apart for the quieter parts where they sound beautiful.Although there was already some enthousiastic clapping during ´The Dance´, the atmosphere increases to a pleasant level when ´The Heart Of Everything´ and ´Covered By Roses´ are played. These energetic songs get a lot of approval, not only from the front fans, but from all stands, including the balconies where a couple of foreign fanclubs are seated, including flags.During ´Covered By Roses´, Sharon takes off her headgear, Ruud Jolie plays a solo and an orchestra in hologrammes appears behind the podium on a platform This projection will be well known to people who visited WT´s Theater-On-Fire-tour, earlier this year. It´s a pity that the percussionists don´t have a good timing and sometimes play something else than is heard On their own, the dimensional projections are very beautiful, especially the way musicians appear and disappear in clouds of smoke. During ´The Truth Beneath The Rose´there is also a nice projection of dimensional images. After ´Covered By Roses´, the band play a few more relaxed songs with ´Caged´ and ´Candles´ (the only song from Enter). The piano playing part of the last song is especially wondeful. ´Jillian´ is the start of a very convincing part with a lot more use of the lighting. Also part of this part are ´Paradise´ (with video projection and pyro´s) and ´Stand My Ground´.Sharon stands on a higher platform during some songs. She appears to have a little cold, because her voice sounds a little hoarse now and then, but apart from a few little mistakes, it´s no problem to enjoy her singing at all. Proof of that she delivers while singing the high note at the end of ´Jillian´, and the same goes for ´Angels´ and ´Forgiven´. She´s pretty active as usual, encourages fans to participate and receives flowers and even a painting while singing. After ´And We Run´ (with Xzibit on the screen) it´s time for a big surprise. Fans wonder what song it is when ´Black Sabbath´ is started. Not everyone knows this song, but WT´s rendition of Black Sabbath´s classic is very impressive! The sound is brilliant (the cello and keyboard parts are well mixed) and the presentation with the burning crosses improve the atmosphere even more. Within Temptation can be very proud of their epic rendition. These magical moments are followed by a funny moment when ´Hand Of Sorrow´ is stopped after 5 seconds, due to technical problems. Sharon wonders ´What´s up?´, but the problem is quickly solved. There are two surprises with two covers of ´The Power Of Love´ (Frankis Goes To Hollywood) and Michael Jackson´s ´Thriller´. Both songs receive mixed reactions from the fans. For me, the quiet part and refrain of the first song were strong, while ´Thriller´ was better presented than the musical arrangement was. During the last song a full moon was shown on a screen, skeletons were dancing and zombies appear on the podium. The same zombies that freaked out some fans at the entrance!! ´Mother Earth´ is the very convincing closing song of the regular setlist and after those last notes all band members disappear from the podium for a couple of minutes, only to return for the encores. The first ´added´ song is ´Somewhere´, in which Anneke appears as a hologram on the first floor. A pity, because the real Anneke is not that far away, recording her duet with Petter Carlsen. The crowd sings softly along with this ballad, but this totally changes with ´Ice Queen´.Everybody sings and screams their lungs out of their body. A perfect end it is, or isn´t it? No, there is one more surprise: the merry ´Gothic Christmas´ with Ivar de Graaf on guitar and vocals. Ivar was WT´s drummer from 1996 till 2002 , then left and founded his own band Kingfisher Sky. He also played at the Java-Island and the Elements concerts and had just returned from playing in Finland. It was a very nice evening with a lot of attention for details and show elements. The dresscode also increased the general atmosphere a lot and Sharon thanked everybody for doing it. Despite the sound not being great at the start, most fans went home very satisfied. There were surprises in the setlist (covers and ´Gothic Christmas´ played live for the first time), so in my opinion it was a succesful and atmospheric event to start the Christmas holidays. Setlist: Swan Song IntroThe DanceThe Heart Of EverythingCovered By RosesCagedCandlesJillianParadiseStand My GroundAnd We RunBlack Sabbath - cover of Black SabbathHand Of SorrowWhat Have You DoneThe Power Of Love - cover from Frankie Goes To HollywoodThe Truth Beneath The RoseForgivenThriller - cover from Michael JacksonMother Earth encores: SomewhereIce QueenGothic Christmas
Germany, another festival was just announced! On May 7th, we will be performing at the Mí¤xival festival in Inzell!
