Manchester Academy 1, 9 November 2011

A couple of years ago I received an album from a Dutch band I had not even heard of. The band was Within Temptation and the album was a live acoustic recording of some of the band’s best songs. I loved it and proceeded to play several of its tracks on our radio shows. I would describe the band’s music as symphonic gothic rock as rock instruments intertwine with orchestral ones for results that are often epic and always hugely melodic. Heading the band is Sharon den Adel who possesses a deceptively powerful voice loaded with expression. Alongside her is guitarist Robert Westerholt who, with den Adel, founded the band back in 1996.

Supporting Within Temptation was Anneke van Giersbergen, the former lead singer of the Dutch progressive/alternative rock band The Gathering which she left in August 2007. Since then, she has been involved in a solo project called Agua de Annique which also included her husband and drummer of the band, Rob Snidjers. She now performs under her own name Anneke van Gierbergen with her husband and other members. She has also worked with Lawn, Farmer Boys, Ayreon, Napalm Death, Novembers Doom, Moonspell, Globus, Arjen Anthony Lucassen, Giant Squid, Devin Townsend, Anathema and Within Temptation.

It’s pretty usual for the support acts to front a much smaller crowd than the primary act, and this sold-out show was no different. However, Anneke and her band received a rapturous welcome from the half-filled auditorium (still over 1,000 punters…) which didn’t let up during the seven-song set. For me, Anneke seemed like a scaled-down model of Sharon den Adel both vocally and song-wise. That said, her performance improved as the audience provided maximum encouragement literally from the word go. The other thing that struck me was that this was a sincere, heartfelt performance from a lady with immense experience and knowledge.

Set-List: Intro, Fury, Satunine, My Girl, Circles, Feel Alive, You Want To Be Free, Witnesses.