It’s been a while since I wrote about the masters of drive and female vocals, one of my favourites, Stream of Passion. They’re still there and have even recently toured in Moscow and Saint Petersburg, which they posted about on their Facebook page.
Just before those, very special for both sides, events I’ve visited two performances happened with an interval of one week.
Winter in Eden in P60
The first one happened on September 6th in the club P60 of Amstelveen, where I have been many times already. I’ve also seen Stream of Passion there for the first time.
The supporting act was for the British progressive metal band Winter in Eden, which I never heard about.
Just like the headliners, it’s a female-fronted band (I have a strong impression that rock ladies prefer to stick together) with Vicky Johnson on vocals.
Sam Cull on guitars, wearing a funny tail-coat:
Ian Heddle on the bass, his fingernails painted black:
There are also Steve Johnson (somehow related to Vicky?) on keyboards and Steve Hauxwell, buried deeply behind the drums. I liked their music, and I think there is potential which needs to be realised. It would be interesting to see them in a few years.
I’ve taken a couple of videos:
Stream of Passion in P60
There was a stir on the stage during the break that followed. Curious how many people support a band of just five members.
On the contrary, the audience was not that crowded. And this is what I love about P60.
I’ve made a sneak photo of the setlist pinned by a monitor:
It’s not as straightforward as one might think. Quite a few songs are in Drop D, and Broken is played on seven strings.
After the break (and a couple of beers) the show started again. Here’s the opening act, The Scarlet Mark:
The band played as brilliantly as ever, even though there was nothing new on the setlist. Below are some photos:
And some “bird’s eye” photography (except for a couple of photographers, the balcony was almost empty):
The end. Everyone’s tired but happy (especially the ones with Heineken, and myself):
That’s because Eric Hazebroek dropped a few picks into the auditorium, and I was fortunate to find one, using my mobile as a torch. So that’s my unique haul:
The pick is very handy by the way. Small and sharp, just like Petrucci’s Dunlop Jazz III.
Here’s all my footage of Passion:
Special Acoustic Evening with Stream of Passion
The second event, happened exactly a week later, on September 13th, in Tivoli Spiegelbar of Utrecht was the “Special Acoustic Evening with Stream of Passion”. Spiegelbar (“mirror bar” in Dutch, apparently named after numerous mirror balls hanging there) is a sibling of another Tivoli venue, De Helling, where I spent the “Winter Evening” with the same crowd.
What can I say, I was blown away! Marcela’s voice sounds fantastic in acoustic, more colourful and touching in my opinion.
She started off with a piece by Mozart:
The audience looked puzzled. However then more conventional songs followed, mainly by Stream of Passion, most of which Marcela performed accompanied by Jeffrey Revet on keyboards:
She has also sung a new track called The Curse from the not yet released album and the Mexican folk song La Llorona (“The Weeping Woman”) in Spanish.
For a couple of songs she was joined by the Greek Maxi Nil from the Austrian band Visions of Atlantis (fully international setting, yes).
Although making photos was allowed, there were warnings prohibiting video recordings hanging all around in the club. But I couldn’t help it. No, seriously, that was so special and exquisite that I’ve blanantly recorded six videos (I was sitting somewhere in the middle, so apologies for some extra heads in the footage):
- The Curse
- Run Away
- La Llorona
- Open Your Eyes (featuring Maxi Nil)
- Street Spirit (featuring Maxi Nil)
- In the End
No exaggeration, the acclaim was massive! After the last item, when the band hid behind the scenes, there was a standing ovation, with ever growing intensity. After ten minutes of wild cheering the musicians had to show their faces again.
Marcela looked quite ashamed and admitted they weren’t prepared for that. And that they had absolutely no clue what they could play more. The audience suggested some other’s songs, and Stephan even started Losing My Religion on his mandolin, but then dropped it, saying he didn’t know it in full.
Eventually they’ve repeated that same The Curse from the unreleased album, then the public let them go.
Afterword
A bit more on the subject. A while ago Stream of Passion have announced a crowdfunding campaign at IndieGoGo to raise funds for recording a new full-length studio album. Anyone could donate any amount from one euro to a few thousands (for example, € 760 for Marcela’s dress, € 800 to become a band member for a day or € 2000 for a house party gig). The goal of 25 thousand euro was achieved quite soon, and the campaign ended with € 43.881 raised. For which Marcela thanks contributors on each gig.
Now the band has started the studio recording, and their Facebook page gives regular updates on the progress and publishes videos.
I’ve also donated a few euros, so that I’m now entitled to a digital download of the new album before the official release date.
Update. I’ve just seen a CD Release Party announcement, which is to happen on April 18th, 2014 in Dordrecht (Holland). Tickets are only € 14.50, for € 25.50 you also get a CD. ■
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