Report by: Ada Firewoman Goudriaan

In a very good mood I left Rotterdam to see FIREWIND and support acts KIUAS and STORMWARRIOR in Tilburg at the 013 venue (013 is the telephone area-code from Tilburg). This beautiful big black building has 3 stages and tonight the bands would play in the kleine zaal. It has the capacity of 350 people, a balcony and - yes, very important - there is a bar. The stage is mobile so you can put it to any wall you want.

Curious as always to check out new bands (yes, I'm a woman), I looked forward to the support acts. KIUAS from Finland kicked off and they gave us a huge dose of solid Death Metal with clean vocals. Internet told me, they were formed in 2000 and released their third album The New Dark Age earlier this year. The atmosphere was relaxed and the vocalist mentioned that in Finland with this weather nobody rides a bicycle but in Tilburg he saw a lot of them. What do you mean with this weather? It was 10 degrees and we even had some sun and no rain, so according to the Dutch opinion the weather was great (to ride a bicycle), haha. The crowd responded very good during the 30-minute show and the band really started the fire tonight.

The next band on-stage was STORMWARRIOR. It seemed to me that the sounds-man was a little bit tired because I saw him yawning during the entire evening. Maybe that's the reason nobody could hear the vocalist. Fortunately he fixed that a little bit later on in the set and...oh boy...we heard him and they gave us 40 minutes of strong Power_Speed Metal. They played material from their new album, Heading Northe, that came out a few months ago. Thanks guys, you lit up the fire a little bit more.
A funny radio zap was the beginning of the band we were all waiting for. Mark played the intro of Into The Fire and that really started the jet flame, followed by Head Up High.

Apollo had a serious problem with his voice, so he asked if we all would sing with him and for him. A loud yeah! was the answer. According to Gus, he fucked up his voice earlier on tour. But, anyway, even with a painful throat he sounded great. So we all did our best to sing to Kill To Live from the beautiful Forged By Fire album, followed by Allegiance, then a switch back to the new album with Angels Forgive Me. Time to leave the stage for Mark's killer drum solo, followed by The Silent Code and Circle Of Life.

To give Apollo a break - trying to spare his voice - Gus asked the crowd if it's okay to send him backstage and if we want to hear an instrumental song. Hell yeah...and then the mighty The Fire And The Fury started. Overwhelming is the best description that comes to my mind, but it's still an understatement.

After this the band set the song My Loneliness in motion. There was no Apollo, so Gus pulled up his shoulders and looked to Petros and Bob with a face that said I don't know where that guy is but somebody must sing...so he did. After a few lines the lost vocalist came running on stage and took over. That song is so full of emotion that even when I'm writing this and only thinking of that song it gives me goose skin. During the show Apollo held the microphone many times above the crowd and we all did our best to sing along, except for when he put the microphone in front of my face I was so shocked that I stopped singing. The interaction between the band and the fans is so absofuckinglutely great.

It's so good to see that the band had a great time, just like the fans. Again, it was time to go back with Brother's Keeper from the Burning Earth album. At present again with Mercenary Man, back to Tyranny (Forged by Fire), Till The End Of Time (Allegiance), Between Heaven And Hell from the similar album. Way too soon the band played the last song, I Am The Anger, from Burning Earth. OK, it was time to wait and shout we want more! but we also needed time to cool down (the temperature was so bloody high).

The guys came back with Maniac. FIREWIND changed the original song of 1983 big time into a guitar-orientated song. The Premonition CD stayed a loooong time in my CD player so after hearing the song many times it's not so bad anymore but they really convinced me with the live implementation. Thanks guys. The last song tonight was Falling To Pieces. To our big surprise, Apollo came off the stage and tried to walk in the crowd. Needles to say, he didn't get far but is was very heroic of him to try. Don't worry, he survived it and got safely back on stage.

As the music faded away Bob turned the ventilator that stood between us around so the wind blew in my face and that felt sooooo goooooooood. Thanks Bob, I owe you xxx!

To make a long story short, the gig was great and the guys had a great time, according to the big smiles I saw during the show. Great enthusiasm, professionalism, a little improvisation and super interaction with the audience. You guys really know how to party!

P.S. 1: After the show Gus, Bob and Mark came out to talk to the fans and they told me that Apollo is communicating with them through notes. So the poor guy is writing notes all day, but I think he's pretty quiet on the tour bus. Get well soon Apollo!

P.S. 2: With a big smile on my face and a sough in my ears I drove back home with the company of Bob's new CD, Noemon. Thanks guys, see you again this Sunday in Kerkrade!

(photos by Ada Firewoman Goudriaan)

KIUAS

STORMWARRIOR

FIREWIND