The ‘Hottest Concert ever’

The day after the warmest day in the Netherlands it was still hot. The Bosuil (no Airco) had activated a heat plan; fresh tap water available for free and ‘open doors’ on the balcony. Despite the warmth a well filled venue was waiting for a great night of progressive music. For some not really metal, but at moments quite heavy with plenty great riffs. Anyway, good music is always a valid reason to cover the Riverside show.

Support, Dutch band Lesoir opened with a special line-up. The absence of Eleen Bartholomeus (guitar), being on honeymoon, was compensated by former bass player Ingo Jetten on guitar and Janneke Meessen (Maartje’s younger sister) for additional vocals. Lesoir, almost playing a home game, had no problem convincing the audience. Frontwoman. Maartje did sing very well. She also found a way to maneuver within the limited space on stage between front and the piano. At the front she played flute as well. The songs were high level with great guitar (Ingo Jetten and Ingo Dassen) and supported by good drums (Bob van Heumen) and a solid bass (Ruben Heijnsbroek). You knew they had a position as support, nevertheless their performance impressed and ended too soon.

Main act was Polish Riverside. They do have a good fan base in the Netherlands. Because of that a special Dutch weekend was added to the tour. The night before they played a sold-out show in de Boerderij (Zoetermeer). The show in the Bosuil was not sold-out but very well filled. Although “Wasteland” was released in 2018, the tour was still linked to that album. Mariusz Duda as head of the group (singer/bass player) indicated this show as the “hottest concert ever”. Officially Riverside is a trio. Piotr Kozieradzki on drums and Michal Lapaj (keys) are the other two. Marciej Meller (guitar) joins them live. The excellent musicians with more than sufficient experience knew how to ‘play with the audience. Referring to the mostly older people, a free quote of Marius : “Progrock is more for ‘old’ people, but after tonight’s concert you will be much younger”. That would be the case when the crowd should scream and sing louder. Maybe they would go back to 39 or so. Conclusion at the end, they were noted much younger than 39.
After starting with ‘Wasteland’, they played a nice mix of almost all albums: “Love, Fear and the Time Machine” came along just as “Anno Domini” and “Second Life Syndrome”. Not just the audience had a good time, the band enjoyed playing. The very warm environment was ignored, the music and ambiance helped to forget this.

All in all once again a great show of two excellent bands.
Additional photos: Riverside and Lesoir.