Friday 18-09-2009
De Victorie, Alkmaar, NL
After a demo a few years ago, new Dutch prog/goth band Illumion recently released the
critically acclaimed debut Hunting For Significance. For the first time live with new
keyboardplayer Gerton Leijdekker (S.O.T.E.), the band formed by guitarist Eveline van
Kampen, went on stage in Alkmaar.
Unfortunately not too many people found their way to De Victorie, but luckily there were
more than when the first show (Ignoramus) began. A bit nervous she was, the good looking,
rather slender guitarist of Illumion, in a tasteful and rather sexy outfit. Singer Esther
Ladiges thought for a moment she was fronting her other band Unicorn, but she corrected
her slip of the tongue instantly and sang with more power and confidence as on the CD so
it seemed, also because now she had only one voice instead of multiple recordings of her
on the album!
Bass player Peter Boer (also from S.O.T.E.) proved to be a very reliable and stable factor
in the band, keeping his balance and playing his bits perfectly. Newcomer Gerton Leijdekker
also did a good job and considering he is a guitar player, he must have practiced a lot to
be able to play his parts!
Another familiar face on stage was Emile Boellaard on the drums and backing vocals, who played
with S.O.T.E. until recently. Boellaard is a professional drummer unlike the other musicians who
all have "ordinary" day jobs next to making music. He is more than capable to play these often 7/8
time signatures Eveline composed.
Although the band has to work a bit more on their stage performance, there's no doubt all
musicians are well trained and perfectly capable of bringing the music from their debut album
live. The only way to get the experience needed to perform at a professional level, is to play
live regularly. Hopefully the venues will recognize the talents of Eveline van Kampen and her
band mates and book them for more shows: they deserve it!
Reviewer: Menno von Brucken Fock