LIVE REVIEW: VUUR @ The Asylum, Birmingham
Taking over The Asylum in Birmingham for a progressive rock filled night is Dutch band VUUR on their first headline tour and British support EXPLORING BIRDSONG. VUUR is the heavy outlet of Anneke van Giersbergen, who has made a name for herself across the musical world and performed in THE GATHERING, THE GENTLE STORM, and under her own name, as well as collaborating with a number of musicians including DEVIN TOWNSEND. VUUR was born as the destination of Anneke’s new, heavy and progressive material, as opposed to her solo material which is often of a softer nature.
Liverpool based EXPLORING BIRDSONG are the first to grace the stage, they describe themselves as piano-driven progressive rock. Musically, EXPLORING BIRDSONG have put together an interesting live line-up of two female and one male vocalists, two keyboards and one bass guitar, and a drum kit that creates an captivating dynamic. The gentler female vocals added a nice comparison to the heavier drums and guitars. Whilst youth is definitely on their side, their stage manner is professional and crowd interactions casual. The set ends with a gentler song, opening with a piano, and has no guitar at all for the first half, vocals from Lynsey Ward are almost hauntingly beautiful. She is not to be underestimated. The song grows, vocals becoming more powerful and backed up by Jonny Knight on guitar, absolutely nailing the dramatic exit and commanding showmanship. Despite only having a short set, they fill every second with passion and great music.
Rating: 7/10
VUUR, Anneke‘s heavy progressive outlet, take over The Asylum venue in Birmingham with rolling riffs and aggressive drum beats. Despite Anneke’s experience and her reputation preceding her, she is very humble on stage, genuinely thrilled by the crowd’s enthusiasm. The stage is physically very low, and the venue quite intimate, meaning there’s no great separation between band and audience that creates a nice relaxed feeling. This is increased by the conversation going on between Anneke and the crowd, jokes shared. The set list is made up of songs from Anneke’s entire repertoire, including numbers from THE GATHERING and THE GENTLE STORM, and VUUR‘s debut album In This Moment We Are Free – Cities is naturally well represented. Despite only coming out in late last year, it was well known by the audience who sang along. Also included was an acoustic version of Like A Stone by AUDIOSLAVE, dedicated to the late Chris Cornell performed solely by Anneke, and showed off her incredible vocals in a different way to her own songs, and a cover of AYREON’s Valley Of The Queens, this time accompanied by Ferry Duijsens on acoustic guitar. The varied set shows off their combined skill and experience from years of playing and performing. There is a clear love of performing, they’re enjoying being on the stage. The set draws to a close with Paris, from the new album, a song about reuniting and coming together, cue warm, fuzzy feeling.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in Birmingham from Dean Martin here:
