Intro by: K. J. Keller
‘A Night To Remember’ was a special show that was performed at the Park Theater in a quaint village called, Alphen aan den Rijn in the Netherlands. It is not a secret that this music journalist has been a huge fan of the magic that Kristoffer Gildenlöw brings to the stage. However, on this magical night to remember, it was time to put on another hat, as it was my first theater show to organize as this amazing artist’s personal manager.
Resourceful journalists always have a ‘Plan B’. As fate would have it, the winner of my Kat’s Korner radio show contest, Esther ‘Tiger’ Kessel-Tamerus, just so happened to be a music journalist. So, I asked her if she would like to write a review about her experience at the show. Happily she agreed, but unfortunately the deadline had passed for submission to her usual Dutch press outlets. So, I asked if she would like to publish her review here on my blog, in English. She replied with an enthousiastic, YES! So, join me in welcoming to my blog, my new music journalist friend, Ms. Kessel-Tamerus!
Kristoffer Gildenlöw – ‘A Night To Remember’
by, Esther Kessel-Tamerus
Kristoffer Gildenlöw was born in Sweden, late ’70’s. As child he studied piano. At the age of 13 he changed over to drums and bass guitar. He went on to study electric bass, classical vocals, double bass and music design. He is best known as bass player from Pain of Salvation in 1995 -2006. In 2003 he moved to The Netherlands, where he still lives. Kristoffer has been working as a session musician since 2005, recording and touring with bands and artists such as: Neal Morse (US), Epysode (BE), Bert Heerink (NL) and many more. He is a multi instrumentalist, he also plays electric and acoustic guitar, synthesizer, cello and mandolin. In 2012 Kristoffer released his debut solo album ‘Rust’ and he received many positive reviews.
An exclusive theatre show called ‘A Night To Remember’ took place on November 21, 2015 at Park Theater in Alphen aan den Rijn, The Netherlands. This show was filmed for an upcoming DVD and it will feature the fans who visited this exclusive show as they were asked to sing on one of the songs. As always great band members joined Kristoffer on stage: David Gutierrez Rojas, keyboard and vocals. Paul Coenradie, guitar and vocals. Daniel Huijben, bass and vocals. Rick Snel, drums and last but not least, Anne Bakker, violin and vocals.
When we entered the Theatre Hall there was a lovely smell of autumn. There were real autumn leaves on the stage. It was very special to smell the autumn in a theatre. There were also wooden tree trunk decorations on stage, which created a cosy atmosphere. Because of the old-fashioned telephone that was center-stage on the floor I expected the song ‘Call out’. And that is exactly how the show started; with a phone call. Within a few seconds Kristoffer hooked the audience with this breathtaking song. He almost spoke some of the words. Kristoffer, David, Paul and Daniel sang; amazing to hear those vocals together in perfect harmony.
Kristoffer Gildenlöw • het Park Theater 03-12-2015 • © Peter Snel
In ‘Believe’ you only hear bass, guitar, and Kristoffer’s voice. Kristoffer played and sang so gently. He touched our hearts with his voice and his bass guitar. The audience was captured, they were focused on Kristoffer and lead guitarist, Paul. Piano and Kristoffer’s voice… and once again he touched our hearts with ‘Overwinter’. A perfect match with the low sound of the bass, by Daniel. Anne completed this song with her gentle touch on violin. ‘Take me home’ is a bonus track from his wonderful album ‘Rust’. It starts with a beautiful piano solo. There are some rests in this song, and during these few seconds, there was a complete silence in the Theatre Hall, these were impressive moments. Paul played his guitar riffs with passion. Goosebumps appeared when Kristoffer whispered his lyrics.
We were lucky to hear some songs of Kristoffer’s upcoming 2016 album that have never been heard before this night. Of course I can’t tell you much about these songs, but I can tell you that I’m really looking forward to this upcoming album. These new songs are fantastic. One of these new songs is called ‘She’ and another is called, ‘In The Evening’. Kristoffer asked the audience to join him singing that one. Before he began this song, we started with a brief rehearsal. It wasn’t very complicated for the audience to learn, so soon Krisftoffer and band started to play. David turned out to be a perfect choir master. Just by waving his hands we all knew exactly when to sing our ‘Lala’ notes. Because of this choir master, the audience turned out to be a lovely choir. It really was very cheerful. You could see Kristoffer and the band loved it as well. The joy on their faces was obvious.
Kristoffer treated the crowd to an encore. This started with ‘Living soil’. The second song was the title track ‘Rust’. We all waited for this song. A perfect last song. This was one of the most modest and humble concerts I’ve ever seen. After the show there was a meet and great in the cafe. with snacks and drinks. Kristoffer and band had lovely chats with their fans. They took time for photo’s and to sign CD or LP. It really was ‘A Night To Remember’.
Photo credits: Special thanks to the only professional photographer allowed, Peter Snel!
Kristoffer and Esther Kathy and Esther
On a final note:
Thank you Esther for this lovely review and reminder of what a special evening it was. It was an honor to have had even a small part in bringing this show to the public.
So many people go into making a show a success. On behalf of me personally and on behalf of Kristoffer’s management team at My Music Matters Management Team,
a special thank you to Kristoffer Gildenlöw & Band Members: Paul Coenradie, Anne Bakker, Rick Snel, David Gutierrez Rojas, Daniël Huijben.
Bianca de Ruiter & Film Crew; Jan Prummel-Live Demo Sound Engineer; Sophie Conin Merchandise guru
Cindy, Steven & Staff at Park Theater
Music journalists: Angelo Hulshout, Iris Hidding, Pedro Bekkers, Esther Kessel-Tamerus
and of course the AWESOME public! xKat