Anneke Van Giersbergen is a beautiful Dutch
vocalist accompanying Within Temptation on their
short UK tour with her band. This young lady is
no stranger to success and playing to large crowds
having fronted the band The Gathering for 13 years
previous to this solo career being launched she
can be considered quite a veteran. Having said
that it’s quite obvious the second she strides
out on stage in front of 3000 beaming eyes has
rendered her slightly nervous; she doesn’t
seem to engage in much crowd interaction, the
stuff she does say seems to be the more awkward
small talk usually associated with waking up after
drinking with an unknown person in your bed. Nonetheless
she’s got her vocals on top form and people
seem to be thoroughly enjoying themselves, it
may not have been the world’s greatest performance
but it’s a respectable performance.
 Within Temptation provide a powerful theatrical
performance which had carved a fond memory in
my mind which will last for the foreseeable future.
It’s one thing to pick a formidable set
list and to perform it well but when you add the
huge screen as a backdrop playing appropriate
clips to accompany each song alongside the ludicrous
amount of lights and strobes you’ve got
yourself a show. That’s where I would like
to start, a massive shout out to whoever was in
control of those lights; not only did they have
the standard show lights to enhance the atmosphere,
they also had rigs with lights that produced much
finer  streams of light almost like lasers, these
lights and the sheer amount of them add an unreal
ambience that lasts the duration of the set. Now
after that it is quite clear what the star attractions
are here; the enormous screen backdrop and lead
vocalist Sharon den Adel. That woman is a natural
performer and it’s obvious that she’s
loving every blessed moment she’s out on
that stage; top grade vocal work, oozing with
confidence and handling herself in a really professional
manor. The screen too provides us with some creepy
yet appropriate videos to build up to the bands
entrance and accompany certain songs which are
matched by the light colours and themes of the
song. I recommend anybody who gets a chance to
see this band does so because I feel this band
has a lot to offer and a damn lot of people could
learn a lot from them.
Anneke Van Giersbergen – 3/5
Within Temptation – 4.5/5
Review By James Webb |
