{"id":8776,"date":"2022-10-21T20:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-21T18:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/?p=8776"},"modified":"2022-10-22T14:00:16","modified_gmt":"2022-10-22T12:00:16","slug":"arena-provided-a-string-of-beautiful-moments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kessel-tamerus.nl\/Esthers_Blog\/live-recensie\/arena-provided-a-string-of-beautiful-moments\/","title":{"rendered":"Arena provided a string of beautiful moments"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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About two years ago vocalist Paul Manzi left British prog rock band Arena, Damian Wilson took his place. On Tuesday, Oct. 18, De Bosuil (Weert) was quite full. Even before the concert started, Damian walked into the concert room and greeted some fans, some even got a hug. A little later, Arena came on stage in the dark. The first song they played was ‘Time Capsule’ from their new album ‘The Theory of Molecular Inheritance’. It seemed like Damian’s voice had to “warm up” first. Because the first power outbursts were still a bit cautious. But soon it was as fans are used to: full of power and flawless. This new song has quite a few tempo and volume changes, which were played very well. Keyboardist Clive Nolan and bassist Kylan Amos did the backing vocals. Kylan played wire-less, which suits this energetic man just fine. Mick Pointer was almost hidden behind his drum kit, he was barely visible. On the base drum the album cover of the new album could be seen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How Did It Come To This?<\/strong>
As always, Damian used a lot of expression, which added an extra dimension. In ‘Bedlam Fayre’, he briefly stood side by side with guitarist John Mitchell, who sang a part here. A little later Damian stood on the drum stage, singing along with Clive. You could tell that this quintet enjoys being on stage together. Moreover, these men are attuned to each other. The non-verbal communication was subtle, but well understood. In between some songs, Damian made contact with the audience in a pleasant way, responding nicely to compliments or jokes from the audience. During an instrumental piece in ‘How Did It Come to This?’ John played another fantastic solo, partly with his eyes closed. Damian visibly enjoyed this, non verbally asking the audience for applause. In a subdued part Kylan played beautifully gently, in these moments he was quiet in his performance. ‘The Butterfly Man’ started with a solo on the keys. The green light and the slower vocals gave a nice “spooky” atmosphere. Again his story-telling way of performing stood out, in addition his vocal outbursts remained very good. For those who have seen Damian before, also this night was impressive. For the few who had never seen him live, it was perhaps even mind blowing. In the subdued played parts, Mick hold his drumsticks still. In the strongly played parts he made himself heard well. Vocals and music were well balanced. During the subdued parts, vocals and music and music sometimes caused goosebumps.The audience was mainly quiet, so these pieces came out in its own.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Theory of Molecular Inheritance<\/strong>
Of course Damian mentioned the new album. He did this in his own way, first responding to a joke from the audience. Then he “accidentally” misstated the album title, to which Clive corrected him. ‘The Theory of Molecular Inheritance’ is not an easy title either. From this album, they played ‘The Equation (The Science of Magic)’. The start was modest; the audience listened with breathless anticipation. The beamer showed vintage images of a laboratory, among other things. This new song also had several (complex) twist and turns. Mick showed the pitch differences of his drums in the strongly played parts. Damian effortlessly rose above it with his power voice. But when his microphone failed just before the end, he was less audible. This did not cause him any stress, because afterwards he asked smilingly : “Did I break it?”. Fortunately it was solved in no time and, after a few jokes, the show could continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The lighting matched the music, which added value to the show. The solos were well lit. The same was true for the characteristic parts Mick played, beyond that he was sometimes a little too much in the darkness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n