THE LAST BLAST OF THE DECADE

On this very cold Saturday night Dutch most famous and oldest rockband Golden Earring turned on the heat in a very crowded Rodahal in Kerkrade for their 'Last Blast Of The Decade'. They were supported by The New Shining, an alternative rock band also from the Netherlands. This 3-piece warmed up the audience well. Thanx to Jac Houben for the Golden Earring pics. Click below on "Read More" or scroll down for an exclusive report. 

THE NEW SHINING
(20.00 - 20.50 hrs.)

The support act for this night is The New Shining, a Dutch alternative rock band formed in the summer of 2006 by Xander "NAX" Stok on vocals and guitars, his brother Vincent "VINCE" Stok on drums and bass guitar player Arjan "R" Nijman. In 2008 the band released their first album  “Supernatural Showdown”. Not soon later they started to write new songs. Then well-known producer Erwin Musper (Anouk, Van Halen, etc.) contacted them what resulted in the band's 2nd album ‘Hedges Against The Night’. This album became LazyRocker.com album tip of this month.

I never saw The New Shining on stage before. As I am very impressed by their latest album I was very curious about their live performance. Well, nothing wrong with that! They delivered a great energic set in a Rodahal that was already very crowded. Although the band plays alternative rock music their performance was very well appreciated by the Earring fans where the avarage age is rather older than the followers of The New Shining. Guitar player/vocalist Nax struggled with the flu the day before but his voice was in a good shape. The rhythm section with R and Vince played very solid. The band started with "Between a Rock & a Hard Place", a brand new track just as "The End Game". The Dutch rockers did only 2 tracks from their latest album: the single "ShadowCast" and "How Does It Feel". Other highlights were "Red Eyes", "Temptation", Bugz (a song for the sleepless) and an excellent cover from The Cult "She Sells Sanctuary".
Citizens of the USA watch out for this band. TNS might be the next Dutch band who will conquer your country!!

Set List:
01. Between a Rock & a Hard Place
02. ShadowCast
03. How Does It Feel
04. Someone Like You
05. She Sells Sanctuary (The Cult cover)
06. Red Eyes
07. The End Game
08. Bugz
09. Temptation

Personnel:
Xander "NAX" Stok - vocals and guitars
Vincent "VINCE" Stok - drums
Arjan "R" Nijman - bass guitar

GOLDEN EARRING
(21.15 - 23.10 hrs.)

The Dutch Godfathers of rock the Golden Earring don't need to have any introduction to the Dutch readers. Even many other readers might know this legendary band. Formed in 1961 they still keep rocking. Since 1970 this 4-piece performs together in the same formation. The band is Holland’s greatest rock music export since "Radar Love" and "Twilight Zone" became big international hits, especially in the U.S.A.  

This Saturday they delivered as usual a solid set with a full and impressive lighting show in a very crowded Rodahal in Kerkrade, the Netherlands. Frontman Barry Hay was in good shape and many guitar players should be jealous on George Kooymans who still plays like a young god.
The band already served three generations of fans and it's always nice to see how mixed the audience is. You see kids from 18 years old and people who could be their grandparents.
I might now have seen the Earring live on stage for about 15 times, but it never gets boring. Okay, I know by now how they play classics like "When The Lady Smiles", "Going To The Run" and "Long Blond Animal" and I wonder if they won't ever get enough of playing these songs. The rockers from The Hague always try to surprise the audience and theirselves by playing some unknown songs. This night they played for example songs as the bluesy "Leather" and "Fighting Windmills".

The band kicked off with "Clear Night Moonlight". Bertus Borgers joined the Earring on stage to play some saxophone solo parts just as during "They Dance", "The Devil Made Me Do It" and the tracks played as encore. Sidney Katz acted as ghost guitar player during several songs.
Personal highlights were "Another 45 Miles" with George Kooymans on vocals, "Long Blond Animal" and "Going To The Run". I would have appreciated "Why Do I", "Legalize Telepathy" and "Quiet Eyes" but hey, the band has got so many great songs they can't play them all.

They finished the set with "Radar Love". The song started when Rinus Gerritsen played his solo on his double-neck bass guitar. At the end Cesar Zuiderwijk joined him on drums and then the audience got wild when they heard the well-known riff of this classic song. As usual Cesar delivered a great solo halfway.
As encore the Dutch rockers played "She Flies On Strange Wings" and "Holy Holy Life".

The band will do some shows in 2010 before they will start to record a new album.

Set List:
01. Clear Night Moonlight
02. They Dance
03. Another 45 Miles
04. Leather
05. Twilight Zone
06. Save Your Skin
07. Long Blond Animal
08. Fighting Windmills
09. Something Heavy Going Down
10. The Devil Made Me Do It
11. Liquid Soul (incl. band introduction)
12. When The Lady Smiles
13. Going To The Run
14. Johnny Make Believe
15. Bass Guitar Solo/Radar Love/Drum Solo)

Encore:
16. She Flies On Strange Wings
17. Holy Holy Life

Personnel:
Barry Hay - vocals, guitars, flute
George Kooymans - vocals, guitars
Cesar Zuiderwijk - drums
Rinus Gerritsen - bass guitar

Guests:
Bertus Borgers - saxophone
Sidney Katz - guitars

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