14.04.2018 Epica

1000. Epica Concert

013 Tilburg (Netherlands)

At 21:00 finally the time had come. The stage modifications as well as the sound check were finished, the lights went down and the first sounds of the intro “Eidola” could be heard. The 1000. concert of the band Epica began and inside the sold out large hall of the 013 in front of the stage the crowd is absolutely dazzled.
At the same place in 2002 they had their first gig as support act of Anathema and so they took their 1000. concert as reason to let it happen at the same place 16 years later. A long time and singer Simone Simons mentioned after being speechless in the beginning that none of the band members took part in all the 1000 shows. Of course, there was enough material to choose from but it were especially the classics like “Sensorium” that made the atmosphere rise extremely. The mood on and in front of the stage is excellent. There are as usual generously used sound, light and pyro effects and also the band members were using the stage completely by again and again changing their places and interacting with each other. Especially impressive to me was the keyboard stand construction of Coen Janssen with which he could ride from one end of the stage to the other, just like on a scooter.
The first climax was during the quite song “Storm Of Sorrow” where Lacuna Coil front woman Christina Scabbia sang a duet with Simone Simons. These two were terrifically complementing each other. Also the tracks of the last two albums “The Holographic Principle” and the EP “The Solace System” found their way into the set. Notably impressive was that the nearly 12 minutes lasting “The Holographic Principle – A Profund Understanding Of Reality” was within the set. It is not encouraging you to participate in front of the stage but it is a very outstanding and complex track of the band that in each case knows to entertain. During that nearly an accident happened when the hair of Simone was singed by sparks falling from the stage roof. “This song nearly set me on fire” was her short comment on that and directly afterwards the gig continued.
The show was full of energy and so it was quite impressive how easy guitarist and grunter/screamer Mark Jansen as well as drummer Arien van Weesenbeek were able to cope with it, at least they had played another gig in the afternoon already with MaYaN. But also for this Simone had a very lucid explanation: “Their secret? Beer!”. In the first encore they played a song in a version that they had never performed before: “Universal Death Squad” was shorthanded played in an acoustic version and renamed to “Universal Love Squad” during which the band was supported by Marcela Bovio on violin. In front of the second part normally keyboarder Coen is directing some words to the audience before it comes to the final sprint with the last three songs. Starting quietly with “Sancta Terra” during which Coen Janssen and Isaac Delahaye first jumped into the photo pit to start crowd surfing afterwards. At the usual last song “Consign To Oblivion” they were giving everything they got: Wall of death just like requested by Isaac Delahaye and circle pits.
A great evening that left nothing to be desired. The whole mini festival was perfect organized with outstanding atmosphere and also good numbers of spectators (it was of course sold out but the hall was already during the first bands half-filled what I did not experience very often). From show point of view, it was again cream of the crop and also the set compilation should not lead to any complaints. Due to that there is nothing more for me to do than to whish Epica all the best for the next 1000 concerts and to wait until our paths cross again.