---

Anneke Van Giersgergen

Sometimes, it takes years to accomplish something.

I have been a fan of self-proclaimed “trip-hop” band The Gathering since 1995. The year they released Mandylion, the first with singer Anneke (pronounced Ahn-eck-ah) Van Giersbergen, The Gathering (also consisting at that time of guitarists Rene Rutten and Jelmer Wiersma; keyboardist Frank Boeijen; bassist Hugo Prinsen Geerligs; and drummer Hans Rutten) effectively blended heavy music with atmosphere and depth, helped in no small part to Anneke’s extremely melodic, crystal clear and defiantly unique voice.

Being a relatively unknown band from Holland on a relatively unknown label at the time (Century Media), chances were I wouldn’t see The Gathering cross the pond for a tour of the United States for a while. But, I didn’t think I’d wait 11 years!

To the band’s credit, their recent six-show U.S. jaunt (with special guests and The End Records label mates’ Giant Squid and Unexpect) has been their third here; I just hadn’t been able to get out to see them until now. But, to pull out a crusty old cliché: all good things come to those who wait.

To say that The Gathering’s concert was the best I’ve been to would be a bit of an overstatement. They did put on a very good show. The music was well up to standard, they seemed quite into it (at least Anneke, Rene and new bassist Marjolein Kooijman did – the stage at The Knitting Factory is so small you couldn’t even see Frank and Hans depending on where you were) and the overall vibe in the room was one of genuine excitement, both from the fans and the band.

Frank Boeijen

“This is so fucking cool!!!” exploded one particularly happy and inebriated fan behind me, who said he too had been a fan for years but had yet to see them live.

In terms of whole packages, the night was stellar. Dw. and I arrived around 4:30pm, with some of the hardcore fans chilling outside, talking about the previous show at Jaxx in Virginia and about music in general. At 5pm, the connected bar opened up, with happy hour running until 7pm (whoo hoo! Glasses of wine for $3 in NYC!) and I got to meet several people from both Unexpect and Giant Squid, nice people all. Talking shop with them, making jokes and the overall congenial vibe present put a very pleasant sheen on the whole thing and lasted throughout the evening.

Following an insane and relatively well-received performance by Unexpect (completely out-of-place when side-by-side with the other two bands on this ticket but definitely one fans of more extreme music should seriously check out), Giant Squid came on stage and gave a downbeat, somewhat minimalist performance that stood in stark contrast to Unexpect’s crazy hair, funky outfits and 9-string bass guitars. While fans of Strapping Young Lad might get a kick out of the first band, those with a yen for the more recent work of the UK’s Anathema would be wise to check out the latter. Both were surprisingly good performances.

Then it was onto The Gathering, who opened up with “Liberty Bell,” their kickoff single from How to Measure A Planet? (1998), the album that would mark the band’s sure departure from metal into the genre they would dub “trip rock.” Fans were also treated to a couple tracks from Home, the new album due April 18. “In Between,” already a great song, was much beefier live than on a CD that, while very good, could certainly shock a fan who hasn’t listened to the band since the mid-1990s.

Rene Rutten

Though, thankfully, the band hasn’t decided to disregard the past completely – it is, after all, what made me and many of the 250 people in attendance that night such fans (so much so that some had traveled Grateful Dead-style across the country during the 6-show jaunt. There were even people from Mexico and England in attendance!).

Following the 90 minute set that included a number of songs from across their catalog (omitting the band’s first two albums prior to Anneke joining), the band came back out for the obligatory encore, busting into two tracks from Mandylion, “Eleanor” and “In Motion #1,” arguably the band’s most well recognized and most requested song. As Frank began tapping the opening notes and when Anneke broke into that song’s emotionally charged chorus, you could feel the whole room simultaneously lift. There’s a reason why it’s requested.

Likewise, when they followed it up with “Eleanor,” featuring rare double bass (a residual leftover from their earlier, death metal days), The Knitting Factory saw something most uncommon for a Gathering show these days – a mosh pit. It actually made me giggle in its surreal out-of-placeness.

The night concluded with the 15-plus minute “Black Light District,” off the EP of the same name, which came out in the interim between if_then_else and Souvenirs. One of the best moments of the night, Rene and Anneke – flanked with an electric guitar, went into a nearly five minute riff-off I guess you could call it, which was both amusing and inspiring. You’ve got to think their arms were silly putty after that!

But, getting back to my earlier note, this was not the best concert I’ve been to, at least when looking at it solely from The Gathering’s performance. While the music was great, it was clear the band was not in their element.

Marjolein Kooijman

Take a look at where they performed on their A Sound Relief live DVD. The large music halls, the lights – that’s where The Gathering is at their best. In the United States, they’re cramped onto tiny stages and going from show to show with very little time to catch their breaths. As Hans said to Dw. and I during our interview (which will be available soon!), the band was very, very tired. Unfortunately, for a proper show, we might just have to head somewhere else. Holland perhaps?

The band didn’t interact with the audience all that much either. This could be from a desire to pack as much music in as they can, to get it done and get going because they’re exhausted, or because that’s simply how they perform. When they did, it was enjoyable, like when Anneke made what she perhaps considered an off-color comment about their cramped quarters, only to apologize afterward.

“Seriously, I’m just joking,” she said. “But, we are all very tired so we get a little bit of a high from all the driving and…”

Nothing else? one audience member quipped.

“No, nothing else! We are Dutch but we don’t, uh, eh,” Anneke responded while making a gesture with her fingers toward her lips.

“And not in New York, you get arrested,” she added.

Two things that are very evident after seeing The Gathering live for the first time: even when the band is mind-numbingly tired, even when they’re forced to play on a stage that, at this point in their career is really way too small, they pull it off for their fans. This could be seen in the fact the band would perform songs from Mandylion when, in reality, they’re not really that band anymore.

Which brings me to the second thing: some new fans might be a little surprised, maybe even disappointed when they pop in Souvenirs or Home, only to hear that The Gathering of today is in many ways a lot different in the studio than they are live. Newer material is beefed up on stage and fans went gaga over the older stuff. Though I am still a big fan (and have really enjoyed the forthcoming Home release, FYI), after seeing them live, as Dw. and I headed for our train, I wasn’t compelled to listen to the new albums – I wanted to hear those that made me a fan lo’ so many years ago. I’m not really sure if that’s what they had in mind.

Hans Rutten

---