Rock4 - Rock4 in Concert
March 26th 2010 - Theater de Kappen, Haaksbergen
Because spontaneous, last-minute plans are always the best, I call the theater on Friday to ask if there are still tickets available for Rock4 that night. Luckily there are! So suddenly I am driving to Haaksbergen in the evening, accompanied by my mother-in-law because Martin is too busy singing himself.
Rock4 in Concert is a jubilee concert. Ten years Rock4! Pity though, that the original group doesn't exist in its original formation anymore. Last year, Lukas Blommers took Peter Weltens place and shortly after that, Luc Nelissen left the group as well and got replaced by former U-Bahn Kontrollöre singer Harry Bannoehr from Germany. New voices, bringing a new sound to old (and new!) songs tonight.
Unprepared and pretty much without any expectations whatsoever because of the planning on such short notice, I sit down and enjoy the concert from start till end. I love the choice of repertoire tonight. Because it's like a "best of Rock4" concert, it's very varied and a lot of my favorite songs are sung, such as Desert Rose and Uninvited. From the new songs I absolutely love Viva La Vida!
Harry, the new guy, the German, the Beast, is fitting in very well. He's got the
perfect looks to be part of Rock4 as well. It takes a few songs before I get the
chance to hear him singing a lead voice, and I like it. He doesn't use
as much vocal percussion as Luc Nelissen did, but I don't miss it at all.
He could improve his intonation during some parts, for instance it draws my
attention during the intro of Desert Rose, which sounds a bit untidy.
I love Enjoy the Silence, which happens to be a song I'd love to sing myself with
my choir one day. Without telling the song title, Harry points out that if we
would know the song title, we'd know what to do when the song ends. Or actually, we'd
know what we shouldn't do! Unfortunately, most people in the audience don't know the song
title and start applauding at the end of the song...
The Beast Harry only shows himself at the end of the show during Mama.
I'd like to see more of that in the next show...
Lucas, the classical man, is the most introverted man in the group. Even his voice is soft and I wonder if they shouldn't raise his volume a little bit. Or does that ruin the harmony? It probably does, I completely trust the sound engineer to do his job right. Nevertheless, I'd like to hear a little bit more of Lucas next time. Maybe they can add one lead for Lucas? I'd be happy :) I'm glad that, compared to last year when I saw Lucas for the first time singing with Rock4, his posture and performance on stage are a lot more self confident now.
Nico, the best looking man from Limburg (southern part of the Netherlands), and
probably the best looking man outside Limburg as well, according to Luc... Nico
doesn't only have a deep voice and therefor sings the bass, he is the bass with
his complete body. I just love to watch him singing his "doom-da-dooms".
Rock4 is very stubborn and when people tell them they shouldn't sing a song (because it's
too difficult, has too little text, or is too well-known and should not be touched),
they like to sing that song. Private Investigations is such a song... It's
also the only song when Nico finally has some lyrics. It's not one of my favorites though, I think
I prefer his "doom-da-dooms".
Luc, the lead singer - what should I write about him? I think he's funny. When
I'm speaking with him afterwards, he's got a sweet, high, soft voice. What a
difference on stage, where he's got the greatest voice of all, with an enormous range
and huge lungs to fill with air to hold notes so long it would leave me completely
breathless. I'm always amazed to hear him sing and am fascinated by his voice.
Just as I am thinking during the show, that Luc always seems to hit the notes
completely straight, he lets me down when they sing Hallelujah. Or maybe
it's because ever since I know (and sing) Vocal Line's version of the song (arrangement
by Jens Johansen), I don't like any other arrangement anymore? But still, there are
some out of tune notes. Luckily it's the only song I dislike tonight. All his other
lead vocals are fantastic (Be my sculpture shouldn't be unmentioned!)
What else is new? The stage setting is different. Seven drapes are hanging in the back and the four singers can stand in between them and have their shadows projected on the clothes. For the rest there are four cubes to sit on. The lighting is often very colorfull and I like that. Speaking of lighting, during Paranoid Android the lighting is absolutely great. Steady lighting during the calm parts, and chaotic, turning lights during the freaky parts.
Another new thing I notice is the use of vocals on tape, like a beat or some slight vocal percussion. It's like a hidden fifth member during some songs. I don't like it when I hear a sound and see nobody producing it. According to me Rock4 should stick to four voices and if they need a fifth voice they should add a group member or change the arrangement. I don't mind if they double or add voices on a studio album, but during a live performance I prefer 100% live singing. Different are the kind of sounds they play e.g. during School. There you hear the sound of kids on a playground. Those are adding something extra and obviously can't be produced live on stage.
Rock4 in Concert is a perfect show for people who are unfamiliar with the group, because there are so many different kind of songs in it. In between Luc loosely tells us things about the songs ("If you don't understand what we sing, we've probably sang something wrong"), about the group members ("Harry is really cool! Even though he is German"), about their hometown ("We're from Maastricht. Sorry... we can't help it"), and about touring ("We're always a bit nervous when we travel to the east of the Netherlands..."). His often insignificant comments add a bit of humor to the show. Harry is being teased quite a lot, but he seems to enjoy it. He's assigned to say something in Dutch every time they do a show in the Netherlands and by doing so he succeeds in making the audience laugh as well - not because of his bad pronunciation, but because he's got a lovely sense of humor just as Luc does. All in all, I really enjoy hearing Rock4 again and I'm glad I like new formation.
Tonight's set list:
- Breathe (Pink Floyd)
- Viva La Vida (Coldplay)
- Into Temptation (Crowded House)
- Desert Rose (Sting)
- In The Material World (The Police)
- Paranoid Android (Radiohead)
- Enjoy the Silence (Depeche Mode)
- Hallelujah (Leonard Cohen)
- School (Supertramp)
- Private Investigations (Dire Straights)
- Because (The Beatles) - sung by Luc, Harry and Lucas
- While My Guitar Gently Wheeps (The Beatles) - sung by Luc and Nico
- Killer Queen (Queen)
- Under Pressure (Queen/Bowie)
- Be My Sculpture (SilQ)
- Mama (Genesis)
- Bring on the Night (The Police)
- Uninvited (Alanis Morissette)