Ok, it is true; after THE GATHERING, Anneke chose a different path from her musical career that has little to do with Heavy Metal. The two AGUA DE ANNIQUE albums have almost Pop (I hate this term) finishing touches and definitely slow and mellow tempos. But due to her honest and extremely warm on-stage presence Anneke has managed to keep a loyal fan base that finds good in her new discographic direction. Nevertheless, Anneke returned to Greece for three gigs but this time she was not alone. The rest of the AGUA DE ANNIQUE band followed giving a promise for a 'plugged' performance.
Greece is a place where THE GATHERING have met something more than a warm welcome and it was not strange to me that An Club was almost full (not packed) with a mixture of audience spanning for Metal to non-Metal figures. Actually, the club is very good in hosting this kind of concerts that don't have the space and sound requirements for energetic Heavy Metal music.
When I arrived at the venue I found out that another band was already on-stage. In fact it was not a full scale band but three musicians surrounding Maxi Nil. Maxi was a known figure to me by her guest appearance in the latest MOONSPELL concert in Athens, Greece. This was her first solo live appearance where she performed tracks that are about to consist her debut album. Although, the band did well the slow tempo almost acoustic set did not appeal to me. Maxi has a great voice but the music is too 'soft' and way not Metal for my ears. So, I sat quietly and waited patiently for the end of their performance. The audience seemed to enjoy this supporting act that left the stage after 30 minutes.
After half an hour the tiny stage was ready for the second Athenian appearance of Anneke and co.

An electronic looped sample was the intro that brought the band on the stage.

The first song they did was a total surprise since it was a cover on Devin Townsend's Hyperdrive from the Ziltoid the Omniscient album. I (and I believe all in the club) was caught off guard by the powerful intro that had little to do with the previous unplugged performance.

Despite the Rock (almost Pop) looks AGUA DE ANNIQUE members entered with a hell-of-a-high mood that immediately drove the audience to an party-like feeling. Hell, I even saw a couple of guys headbang... (ok I am exaggerating a little). Anneke was excited to be here in Greece and for another time she confessed that she loved to move here (are you crazy girl??). It is amazing to watch her performing live; she sings not only with her vocals but also with her body.

The first songs from the AGUA DE ANNIQUE era came with Ice Water and Trail Of Grief. I have to admit that these tracks gain some power when performed live mainly due to the artist's on-stage energetic presence. Joris Dirks on the guitar and Jacques de Haard on the bass managed to move around the tiny stage without hitting relentless Anneke who was jumping up and down genuinely enjoying her time.

To my (second) surprise the audience knew all her solo album songs and actually were singing along at least the chorus lines. This reaction boosted even more the band that did well during the 70 minutes set. Ok, the time duration was the best value for money (26 euros) taking also into consideration the hosting venue.

The anticipation was high and Anneke did not disappoint us and did two THE GATHERING songs Alone from Home and the excellent My Electricity from How To Measure A Planet?.

Anneke performed the latter song without the rest of the band accompanying her voice with an acoustic guitar. Here something magical took place; the sound problems cut the power to her guitar amp during the first song moments but the Greek audience pushed Anneke to sing a capela; and she did it sending shivers down our spine for almost two minutes. Then the power returned and My electricity electrified all of us!

MOONSPELL's Scorpion Flower and FAITH NO MORE's Digging The Grave were two more surprises that night.

Especially, in the first one -that I realized from the crowds reaction was expected- the band did well even though the guitar parts were not that precise... During the preamble to Scorpion Flower Anneke said that they were going to play something from Nana Mouskouri or even Demis Roussos from my Greek past, as she told us.
So, after 70 minutes and songs AGUA DE ANNIQUE left the stage and renewed the rendezvous with the Greek audience that eventually forgot (at least for a while) the high price and the tiny venue.

AGUA DE ANNIQUE 2009 setlist:
01. Hyperdrive
02. Ice Water
03. Trail Of Grief
04. My Town
05. Beautiful One
06. Alone
07. Day After Yesterday
08. Sunken Soldiers Ball
09. Make It All New
10. My Girl
11. Scorpion Flower
12. Witnesses
13. Lost And Found
14. Digging The Grave
15. My Electricity
16. You Are Nice

(photos by who knows?)

Maxi Nil

AGUA DE ANNIQUE