November 17th, Mystery at Hedon Zwolle
I've been waiting for this concert for a long time and let me say right away, it was fantastic (again). These incredibly sympathetic Canadians have once again managed to put on one of the most memorable concerts of my life.
It was, within this tour, the third concert in the Netherlands and apparently the band had been a bit worried whether there would be enough support for three concerts in our small country but Hedon was wonderfully full which made for a great atmosphere. Together with good friend Erno, we decided to go to the front and this turned out not to be the best choice, despite the fact that the hard core fans invariably choose to be on pole position. Since we had both already visited several performances of Mystery, we were happy that it was soon clear that the latest album Redemption would get a very prominent place in the setlist, not all that crazy if you call it the Redemption 2024 tour. To date, this is my favourite album ever. (okay, together with The Visitor from Arena) For me personally, it was almost the perfect setlist and you don't get to experience that very often. (maybe never?)
Since we are on a small holiday and I had travelled from our holiday address, with many thanks to Erno and Dianne, I had listened to my self-made Mystery playlist again the day before and it almost completely corresponds to the songs played. What are the odds?
The beginning was impressive with Jean Pageau singing alone in front of the curtain (Among the Living), and the band coming in with full force after the curtain opened. As a sound freak, I have to say that the sound where we were standing was not quite right. That could hardly be otherwise when you look at the fixed speaker setup of the venue. The keyboards were barely audible and Sylvain Moineau's guitar was way too far back in the mix while the drums of "Animal" Jean Sebastien Goyette were way too prominent. This slowly got better but after the break we went to the back, close to the PA, and there the sound was much better, well we should have done that earlier.
All that does not take away from the fact that the men once again showed that they are one of the very best live bands in our genre. How good they are and what a joy and passion comes from the stage into the hall and that resonates to the audience. Admittedly, in the back it was considerably less, but that will always be the case, although you sometimes wonder if people like it, so motionless and not clapping or cheering.
Especially the chosen mix of shorter songs with the often very long epics provided a perfect balance and with Another Day they brought out my favorite track from The World is a Game and of course Shadow of the lake was not missing again, remains beautiful and of course another role for superfan Ada. Actually, all songs from Redemption were played except for two, The Beauty and the Least and that's a shame because that's a really great song and My Inspiration and I think that's the least song of the best Mystery album so far.
By playing without a support act, very sensibly, a small break was necessary to catch our breath, both the band and us. After this it went full steam ahead again and because of the already explained choice we could enjoy even more the class of all musicians but of course Michel St-Pere in particular because that man can play the guitar like no other. For me the perfect mix between technique and feeling, what an emotion he puts into his playing, beautiful. Of course we should not forget Jean, because what a singer he is. Flawless from start to finish and what a stage personality this man has, that's how you want to see a frontman. And Francois Fournier made it clear once again that a bass player can talk and has the necessary dose of humor. This man is not only a wonderful bass player but also the tour manager of the band and if you listen carefully you can hear how well he can play. We've already talked about the drummer and he's not called "Animal" for nothing, because boy, what a powerful foundation he provides. Second guitarist Sylvain Moineau has a bit of a thankless task but regularly shows that he is also a great guitarist and every now and then he picks up a nice solo and without him the overall sound would not be complete.
It is not often that St-Pere himself takes the floor, but in this case he did and for good reason. The truly beautiful song Pearls and Fire is based on the story of the Canadian soldier Leo Major who played a role in the liberation of our country and Zwolle, in particular. There is even a street named after this hero. And as Michel indicated, there are enough concerns about the tense situation in the world so let's work together to ensure that we do not end up in the position of the 1940s again. Whether that works, I'm holding my breath.
The regular set closes with my favourite Mystery song Is this how the Story ends? and that's just under twenty minutes of enjoying everything that makes this band so good.
Two encores followed and of course the first to be played was A Song for You, which is actually an ode to the audience all over the world. Here Pageau was allowed to indulge himself on the keys for a while, because regular keyboard player Antoine Michaud likes to leave this part to him. Michaud always has a modest but so important role in creating the full total sound. Traditionally, they closed with the simple rocker The Preacher, purely intended as a last reminder before the band moves among the visitors within a few minutes.
The farewell speech of Goyette on stage was long but again testified to the enormous modesty and gratitude of this very sympathetic band. And to illustrate this, a small addition. We often buy a t-shirt as a souvenir when we go to a concert, but I had already bought a t-shirt from Redemption on the previous tour, again black. My wife sends me out of the house when I come home with a black one and I had seen on the site that they also have a nice blue shirt from this tour but upon inquiry it turned out that it was purely intended for the Canadian market and therefore would not be available. Imagine my surprise when Michel offered to take two of them in his private luggage for us and so we could pick up our shirts from Beatrice behind the merchandise stand. Where else do you experience this kind of involvement? Of course afterwards we thanked Michel very much. Not only a fantastic guitarist but also a fantastic human being.
It's clear, I've been to one of the best concerts of my life and the initially lesser quality of the sound can't detract from that, but I do know where I'm going to stand next time.
One more important announcement! In May 2025, the first Mystery weekend in our country will take place, at De Boerderij Zoetermeer of course. Two evenings, the first of which is intended for the shorter songs and the second for the long ones, but of course you can't miss both. Go to the site and buy your tickets quickly so that the band can prepare for this with peace of mind.
De gebruikte foto's zijn gemaakt door Martin Horsting!