What are you guys watching on TV right now? I'm a big fan of TV series (like I prefer long novels to short ones or short stories). Right now we've splurged on a few months of Apple TV+ and are waiting for a new episode of Severance every Friday.

Apart from that I'm really enjoying something totally different: Slow Horses with the incomparable Gary Oldman. It's a spy story and deals with a department set in a run down house where agents work who have failed at their jobs big time, one way or another. Oldman plays their boss, the one who has chosen this position for reasons that are revealed later on. He is unkempt, generally in a bad mood, sports clothes that seem to get dirtier with every episode and he's pretty good at being a spy when he sets his mind to it. I also like the frustrated young agent River Cartwright played by Jack Lowden and Saskia Reeves as the elderly secretary who used to be an agent(?). It's a really interesting cast of characters. There are some clichees and minor inconsistencies in the stories but that doesn't matter at all. I could watch Gary Oldman all day, he's maybe the best actor I know.

#tv #tvseries #slowhorses #garyoldman #tvshows

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I arrived at the hall about 45 minutes before doors opened officially, to a medium long queue. They did start to let us in early, though, because everybody was searched, which takes time. Everything was strictly on time, lights went out for special guest Christopher Cross at 7:30 pm. He played a set of 45 minutes that I will not comment on except to say that it was immensely boring for me, because it's not my kind of music at all.

An army of roadies changed the set then and at one minute to 9 o'clock Toto went on stage. It was such a contrast to Christopher Cross, so much energy! Even though only Steve Lukather is left of the original line-up, at least two of the musicians these days have played with the band for a long time, namely Joseph Williams (who was singer on "Fahrenheit" and "The Seventh One" and returned as lead vocalist in 2014) and Greg Phillinganes who plays keyboard and sings backing vocals and has on and off played with them for decades. Most of the other musicians have been long-term friends apart from Dennis Atlas, whom they aptly named a powerhouse, the second keyboarder and singer. He sings the very high parts that the young Bobby Kimball was so perfect at. In the keyboard solo parts Greg played a more jazzy piece, whereas Dennis is more the rock kind of guy (and could it be he knows his Bach and Beethoven?), experimenting with all the different sounds the keyboard has to offer.

Shannon Forrest on drums got to play a solo, too and last but not least John Pierce provided a solid backdrop with his bass playing.

Toto played only songs from the classic albums until "Mindfield", they performed the title track which hasn't been on their setlist since the Mindfield tour. Luke sang more than he usually does and with Greg, Dennis, and Warren Ham also on vocals, Joseph didn't perform too many songs on his own, which I thought was a shame. His performance on "White Sister" was stunning, though. Actually, there wasn't a single song that I did not like, the band always seems to have fun on stage and absolutely transmits that to the audience. They played for almost exactly two hours, closing with "Hold the Line" and "Africa" and then it was over without an encore. That was a bit sudden! The lights went on at once and the crew began to dismantle the stage.

It was a totally different experience from the countless Marillion concerts that I have been to, or recently, Riverside, where the music includes quite a bit of soul-searching and also sharing the musicians' emotion and personal experiences with the audience. A lot of Toto music is more about combining rock, pop, jazz and progrock to make stunning, complicated and at the same time accessible music and sharing that with the audience. Still, there are certainly songs that mean a lot to members of the band like "I will remember" for Steve Lukather. What all these musicians have in common though is that music is the focus, in contrast to a choreographed show like Madonna's or Beyonce's stage performances. Those seems to me more like a circus performance with the music added on top rather than a celebration of music itself. This is not criticism on my part, rather an observation. If people enjoy it - perfect! For my part, I want to concentrate on the music, though I sure enjoy a front man (or woman, or lots of them at a Toto concert) who can entertain and talk to the crowd. Loved it! So, if you like Toto, absolute go to a concert if you can, you'll be in for two hours that pass in a flash, you'll have fun and feel the energy between the band and the audience.
#toto #rockmusic #rock #dogzofoztour #totoband #stevelukather

This has been my second Midwinter Prog Festival and I loved it! First of all, the venue is fantastic. The Tivoli Vreedenburg in Utrecht offers a variety of food stands, there's lots of personnel (everybody very friendly) and the sound is good. Now to the bands, none of whom I knew very well:
1. Lesoir
They're a Dutch band, all very skilled musicians and I loved the guitar player whose style was just to my taste and who brims with good ideas. I was impressed by frontwoman Maartje Meessen who plays keyboards, flute and guitar and is the principal singer. Best part was a duet between the guitar with a wah wah effect and the flute. 😀
2. Avkrvst
Norwegian prog metalers Avkrvst were the band I liked less but in our group they had steadfast fans. I thought the song structure was too similar from song to song, they lacked interesting ideas and melodies and the singer sang out of tune most of the time. For the first time in my life I wished for someone to growl more, not because I enjoy it but because he was better at it.
3. Rendezvous Point
Another prog metal band, but this one I liked a lot. Their front man Geirmund Hansen is very charismatic and his boundless energy just pulls you in. He is an absolutely amazing singer. Leprous drummer Baard Kolstad is fantastic and keyboarder Nicolay Tangen Svennæs is great, too, always adding a special something to the music. In my opinion prog metal can be pretty dull but here, the band is very versatile. Second favorite gig of the show for me.
4. The Flower Kings
The Swedish band has been around since 1994 and have changed their line-up multiple times. I have never been a fan and they did not get to me at all (other than Spock's Beard last year, another seasoned band who played fantastically). In the end I left the hall and got some nachos, much more to my taste. My friends (who used to like them a lot) agreed that the performance was pretty bloodless.
5. Riverside
The headliner from Poland, Riverside, were absolutely magical. Of course, I knew them before but never quite got into them. Here, I was quite with them from the start and after two or three songs I was totally enchanted. I always experienced Mariusz Duda's singing as too emotionless for my taste but his voice is very versatile and he owns the stage. So does their great keyboarder Michał Łapaj, but the whole band is stunning. I hope the latest addition to the band, Maciej Meller, will get to be more influential in time, but he has a heavy burden, having to replace a dead band member. Soon I was absolutely entranced and so were my friends. My husband has seen them live a few times and said that they had never been this good. I could have listened for hours more.

#progrock #utrecht #music #riverside #rendezvouzpoint