October 1st A Storynight with Enorm at de Bond, Oldenzaal.
After three years without concerts, you know why, I would experience my first concert again on October 7th. Arena in the Metropool in Hengelo. But fate decreed otherwise.
I was quite surprised that we received an invitation for a concert by the Twentse band Enorm. I knew guitarist Ronald ten Bosch from the past when he and his brother Eric formed the basis of the prog rock band Marathon. In the early nineties they were, in my opinion, the best Dutch representatives of the music movement to which I have pledged my heart to this day. Together with friends we went to almost all concerts in all corners of the country. That was a really great time.
In 1994 the first album, The first Run, was released on CD and the realease party was unforgettable. In fact, this CD was made possible by a forerunner of today's crowdfunding and this band deserves the credit that according to the Guinness Book of Records belongs to Marillion. By paying in advance for the future CD, the financial resources were pooled through so-called bond holders for the realization of the album. To this day I consider The first Run to be one of the best Dutch productions ever.
After two studio albums, The first Run and Norm, and a live album, the band members decided to split up and not much later, Enorm became the new band of the ten Bosch brothers. However, they no longer played prog rock but a more commercial form of pop rock with shorter songs and little room for musical escapades. A pity because Ronald is an extremely good guitarist, as can be seen from the fact that he is the pivot in the very successful and great Rush cover band the Rushians. This gave singer Eric more opportunities to showcase his beautiful voice. His lyrics are often of a very personal nature and he can put a lot of emotion in his voice. I lost track of them but occasionally still read about the ups and downs of Enorm.
It became clear to us that the concert will be the last for the time being due to Eric's health and therefore would have a very emotional charge. Good luck Eric, stay positive!
Well, this is quite a long introduction.
The beautiful photo's were taken by Guus Buitink ( thank you for letting me use them)
Given the theater character of the hall with a few hundred seats, a lighter sound was chosen and that suited the chosen songs. Eric showed, that he was still able to convey the lyrics with great feeling with his beautiful voice. The beginning of the concert was nothing short of impressive. All friends, family and other attendees gave Eric the support he will need in the coming time. Goosebumps.
Since I am not really familiar with the music of Enorm all songs were new to me. Since they are a lot of short songs, a lot of them passed by and I had some trouble telling them apart. This is partly because no solos were actually played and there was little room for instrumental excursions. What did become apparent is the ability to entertain. Eric connected the songs with very personal stories. The sound was also excellent and well adapted to the relatively small space.
After the break it all got a bit more lively and at the end some Marathon numbers passed by. The Beauty of Silence, Norm and of course the most beautiful Patterns of a Landscape. Finally Ronald could show how great a guitarplayer he is and played some fantastic solo's. It may be just me, but I had the impression that the response was very enthusiastic. As an encore they played Beyond the Veil and as always it was sung along loudly, which is nice.
Thanks guys for a very nice evening. In the next few days I'm going to play The first Run a few times again.