| Date and location |
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Jan 21.
Bavel (NL)
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Part of a 9-minute documentary made about Arjen and Stream of Passion is online for viewing (Omroep Brabant). Please click on the film-strip icon in the grey header bar of the article, then, in the drop down menu, click the title "Walhalla met Arjen Lucassen (2006)".
The documentary is in Dutch and shows you a short interview with Arjen and Marcela, and the band playing in the rehearsal studio. Click here.
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Jan 23.
Eindhoven (NL)
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Rehearsal pictures taken @Dynamo 23. January by Martin Mens, one of our dedicated crew members. Click to enlarge.
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Jan 24.
Eindhoven (NL)
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The Prize Winners of the "Wherever You Are" download contest attended one of the Stream of Passion rehearsals in Eindhoven.
They were treated to a sneak peek of the show, and got the exclusive chance to hear the entire set twice, and also all the little discussions that go in to making a show great! In the middle of all that, they sat down to have dinner with the band. And afterwards got t-shirts and a poster signed by all the band members. You can check out pictures they took in their gallery.
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Jan 25.
Eindhoven (NL)
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The rehearsal period has ended, and I've must say it's been the most
wonderful experience. First of all, it was great to be back in the
Netherlands; I was really looking forward to seeing everyone again! We had
already been getting more and more excited with the idea of finally
getting together and rehearsing as a whole band, and the time had now
come...
Arjen, Davy and Johan had been rehearsing together for a while before we
came in.
And with Lori having the chance to join in in November,
all it took was for the Mexican part to blend in with the rest of the band.
The process was much more straight forward than I imagined, since we already
had a super tight ryhthm section; I was completely blown away by the power
of the band's live sound, it totally RAWKS! I just can't describe the
feeling of sharing that energy with the rest of the SoPies, they are all
just fantastic.
We had the opportunity of testing the band's live sound and lights for two
days at the Dynamo Cafe in Eindhoven: it was a real treat. Our crew is
absolutely professional and hard working; we all get along really well, so
we're expecting to have tons of fun tonight at the first gig! I can't
wait!
Best wishes to you all, hope to see you at one of the shows!
~ Marcela
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Jan 26.
Eindhoven Gig (NL)
Picture by
Willy Nijenhuis
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Wow! That’s about the only word I can think of this morning, the day after our first show. We were a tiny bit nervous ;) the whole day because this was (and is) what we've been working for for a long time.
It was so cool to see how many people showed up, a big thank you on behalf of the whole band!!!
It was really exciting to play with all of the sopies for the first time. Especially for Day-V and me, since we live in the vicinity of Eindhoven. A lot of our friends showed up, for which we thank them a lot! And how cool is it when you’re done playing, Floor and Sander from After Forever come in and tell us that it was so f*cking awesome!!
So now we are preparing for the next show, Amstelveen, tonight. So again a big thank you to all the people who showed up, you really make this tour special already! And Damian, a wow again, this man is a goosebump delivery service! Take care and see you soon!
~ Johan
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Jan 27.
Amstelveen Gig (NL)
Pictures by 'GlassPrisoner'
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Hi everyone !
A big thanx to all the fans who were there at the Amstelveen gig !!!
The venue was cool, the people working at the venue were very kind, the sound and light were great and the audience was awesome. It was so cool to see a few people show up again that already were at the first gig in Eindhoven yesterday. I heard some of you are even going to join us at other shows, so you guys really rock ! It was fun to also have Joost van den Broek (After Forever, Star One ed.) in the audience.
We had a great time on stage. The marvelous respons of the audience really gave me chills. I remember during 'Nostalgia' it was so amazingly quiet and our two gorgeous looking vocalists, along with Alejandro's romantic piano playing, were so touching that I actually got a bit emotional. I was sooo proud of them.
It's too bad I can't really see the rest of the band that much, while playing, since I'm always hidden behind the drums. At one point all bandmembers (except for Alex and me) where at the front of the stage. That was the first time in my drumming career that I felt bad being chained to my drumkit.
It was so much fun to meet all the fans after the show. I've never before signed so many CD-booklets, T-shirts (and whatever you can think of ;-) It's so nice to hear what the fans think of the show.
As most music in this genre is best respected by (young) adults, it was really cool to meet a few young guys that loved it as well.
There were two boys who told me they enjoyed the show very much and they would definately promote us amongst the youngsters. I'm sorry I didn't catch your names, but we're all glad to have a young generation liking our music !
Damian did an excellent suport act tonight. He's such a funny guy. While we were in the dressingroom he made the crowd yell: "Lucassen, Lucassen !!!" We were surprised and thought: "I hope he knows what he's doing ?" Damian felt very good about the audience. He really loved playing for you guys and I guess it showed ;-)
Because of the first two awesome gigs, I'm really getting a taste for it. I'm ready to rock for another 13 shows !
Hope to see you there !
Take care !
Grtz, Davy
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Jan 28.
Rotherham Gig (UK)
Picture Diana by
'Spider'
&
'Metal Freak'
Pictures Alejandro by
'Metal Freak'
&
'Spider'
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Rotterham's gig rocked!!
We're so glad to see that the audience enjoyed our show, it was a great night for all of us. It's amazing
how the show is getting better each time. We're having the best time ever and we're ready to keep on
rocking.
This gig meant a lot to the band 'cause it was the first one outside Holland and it feels so great to play
for an audience that really enjoys our music. This visit to England has been really nice.
We have to thank the fans who have attended every show til now. It's great to have some time to spend with
the audience after the shows, we appreciate it so much.
There were some bananas dancing in the crowd hehehe It was awesome! Arjen even took one of them and made it
dance on stage ;-)
We even had a small party after the show in our ROCKSTAR BUS!!!
Thanks everyone for all your support! Although we're far away from Mexico this has been a great time for us.
You really make us feel at home!
We're looking forward to the rest of the concerts! Hope to see you there!
In a few spanish words: Nos la estamos pasando conmadre! ;-)
~ Diana and Alejandro
For your information: Diana Bovio is Marcela Bovio's younger sister. She's taking care of backing
vocals and some lead vocals during the tour. She is also featured on the single
"Out in the Real World"
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Jan 28.
Rotherham (UK)
Pictures by
'Tim @ CRS'
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Click to enlarge.
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Jan 29.
London Gig (UK)
Pictures by
'Ken'
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Yesterday was one of those days that start out one way and turn out to be completely different by
the end. When we first arrived and saw the Borderline's teeny stage, we didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
Would Davy's drums even fit up there? And where were we supposed to put our monitors and amps? What would
our wildman Johan do without room to run about? Where are we going to put our lovely Diana? There were also
several technical problems during our soundcheck, and most of us were feeling at least a little stressed and
edgy as the clock was ticking and some things still weren't working. Luckily, in the nick of time our ace
crew and the helpful staff at Borderline managed to MacGuyver something to get us a good working sound on
stage. Yet even so, we were still a bit apprehensive about how the show would go.
Well, all of our worries evaporated once we started playing. How could we not go for it when the house was
packed such an enthusiastic crowd (not to mention a sea of dancing bananas) cheering us on? For those of you
who were there, all of SoP send a huge thank you for the fabulous reception you gave us. You all ROCKED!
Thanks to you, what started out as a pretty crummy day turned into an amazing experience that I'm sure none
of us will ever forget.
We now have a couple of days now to rest, do our laundry, catch up on some email and relax a bit. SoP stage
clothes are hanging to dry all over the Electric Castle. But tomorrow night our Metal Bus comes to fetch us
and we head for France and Germany. Hope to see you there!
~ Lori
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Feb 1.
Strasbourg Gig (FR)
Pictures by
'Wojtekk'
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After 8 hours of travel we arrived at La Laiterie in Strasbourg, France;
our first French date! The acommodations and catering were just fantastic
(la cuisine française est magnifique!).
Diana got locked in the dressing
room shower for about 15 minutes, until I eventually went to the bathroom
and heard her banging on the door!
We started of the show with a kind of weird vibe, because during Damian's
set we could hear the audience booing loudly. Not knowing that they were
actually encouraged to do so by evil Damian himself we felt a bit
puzzled...
After we went on stage and started playing though, we could feel
the audience really getting into it and the weirdness went away; their
response was so fantastic that we even had to re-play a song after
finishing with the encores!
So, in short: Merci, merci beaucoup! We'll be enjoying Paris' sights and
sounds today and rocking some more at night!
~ Marcela
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Feb 2. Paris (FR)
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Here's a picture taken in Paris, this afternoon.
From left to right: Diana, Marcela, Pieter (sound), Alejandro, Miguel (light), Davy, Lori, Jos (tour bus driver), Arjen, Johan, Martin (tech/roadie), Jeroen (tour manager), Naomi (merchandiser), Damian.
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Feb 2.
Paris Gig (FR)
Pictures by
'Metal'
&
'Dan'
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Hi fans and friends,
(I’ll start with apologizing for my short story, because we’re close to showtime in Germany, while I write
this.)
Being in Paris yesterday was excellent !
We went to see the Eifeltower and had a great time at the first floor. The venue was awesome. The people
were nice, the sound was great and I had a huge drumriser to sit on. When I saw Diana standing in the venue
while I was behind my drumkit, she looked even smaller ;-) (don’t tell her I said that).
The audience was very nice to play for. From the first moment they showed us their affection. It really fed
us with a lot of energy and I guess it showed.
After the gig there were so many fans waiting for an autograph and a picture. Waiting and pushing to get
with the band. It was quite a weird experience, but I had a lot of fun. I met some wonderful people and gave
away some more drumsticks than I had planned ;-)
Now, let’s see what Germany will bring us...
Grtz, Davy
During his performance, Damian called his son on his cell phone and had the audience sing 'Happy
Birthday' to him.
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Feb 3.
Ashaffenburg Gig (GER)
Pictures by
'Spider'
&
'Metal'
&
'Wojtekk'
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Dear streamies :)
After the really cool gig in Paris, we got into the bus to have a small party :) There were balloons,
flowerchains and a few ;) drinks to celebrate the birthday of Martin, our backline/guitartech.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!
Thanks to him and ofcourse the rest of our wonderful team, all the gigs work out perfectly, so a big thanks
to the whole team, you rawk!
After a long drive we got in Aschaffenburg at the ColosSaal, a really cool venue in Germany. Really
friendly people and a cool stage. We didn't know what to expect, but it turned out to be great. Many people
showed up, in fact it felt like the most we had so far. It's hard to realize we're almost halfway through
the tour, we don't want this to end for a long time!
The gig went great, the audience was great. What we usually do after a gig, is get backstage for a few
minutes and then go into the venue, to thank all the people who showed up for us. It's so amazing for all of
us to see that people enjoy our music. This time unfortunately, there was some kind of a party after our
gig, so we had to move all our stuff as fast as possible into the bus. Nevertheless, we managed to sneak
into the venue again and talked with the people for half an hour before we had to go.
Our next destination: Reichenbach, and it's going to be a special gig.... so watch out for the next diary
entry!
Take care and stream on!
and as our mexicans say: Saludos!
~ Johan
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Feb 4.
Reichenbach Gig (GER)
Pictures by
'Cortez77_fr'
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This gig turned out to be a very special night. It was a small venue
with no stage and we all thought it was going to be tough, but thanks
to our kind hosts and our excellent crew everything went just perfect.
We got the opportunity to visit a very nice hotel near the venue and
for the first time in my whole life (Diana) I SAW SNOW!!!!! It was so
great and we had so much fun. Reichenbach is such a beautiful city,
and its people are so nice and kind. Thanks to Uwe for his great
hospitality we really enjoyed ourselves.
The show went on and just got better and better, having the audience
so close to us is really amazing 'cause you can feel their energy and
also as a band being so close it's fun 'cause we could interact more
easily with each other.
Of course none of this could have been possible without our amazing
crew! We really want to thank you all guys for your excellent work, we
know it was though, but you managed to make it perfect.
You have to know we had a great audience, even some people from
Hungary and Switzerland!! Thanks for coming from so far, hope you had
a great time too.
Danke!!!
~ Diana and Alejandro
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Feb 5.
Oberhausen Gig (GER)
Pictures by
Lori
'Cortez77_fr'
'Djenga'
Dietmar Schäfer
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Hi Streamies!
Thanks to all of you who turned up to support us at Oberhausen last night. I want to send an extra
thanks to the long-haired headbanger guy on Arjen's side of the stage -- when we were waiting to make our
entrance we could see you through a crack in the curtains; seeing your enthusiasm from the very beginning
gave us a real kick!
Oberhausen was rather special for us: for one thing, it was the last show of five in a row. Most of us had
never played that many gigs in a row before. Additionally, there were several people from InsideOut in the
audience, which was a real treat for us. Marcela told me that they said the show was "much more metal" than
they expected it to be. I take that as a compliment :-) We are also past the halfway point of our tour, and
some of us were getting quite sentimental about that last night. We are having such a great time and getting
such amazing support from all of you that we just want to go on touring.
Despite all the fun, there were some unusual obstacles to overcome yesterday. The stage was hollow, so the
sound was really boomy. In fact, the stage shook so much from Johan's bass and the other low frequencies
that it felt like we were all getting a foot massage -- even our spotlights were shaking.
And then there was our catered dinner. It was all good food and the people at the venue provided us with
excellent service, but there were these weird gelatinous dumpling things that we couldn't really figure out.
They looked like boiled potatoes, but upon closer inspection turned out to be something completely
different. We joked that they were the perfect consistency for "wonder bra or trouser enhancement." Diana
christened them "those jelly bastards" and rather than eating them, she and Davy used them as a source of
entertainment (see pic). It was quite funny to see everyone poking them with their forks or
fingers, not really sure what to make of them. But once you got past the surprise of their not being boiled
potatoes, they were actually pretty tasty.
Those of you who have been to a show have probably noticed our Metal Bus parked outside. It's just a bus,
but by now it feels like home for us when we are out on the road, and the band and crew are like an extended
family. I have been pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to live on the bus. The bunks are quite
comfortable (Arjen might disagree, but he doesn't complain), and when the motion of the moving bus kind of
rocks you to sleep. Naomi, our assistant tour manager, is always sure to keep it well stocked with yummy
food and drinks -- it's a big challenge to not pig out every day. There is always somebody to talk to if you
can't sleep, and we often have surprisingly deep and profound conversations. For example, yesterday the
first thing I got to hear about when I woke up was our tour manager Jeroen's amazing shower experience at a
German rest stop. Apparently this shower was truly impressive -- it was immaculately clean, had loads of hot
water, and even a self-cleaning toilet. He was so happy about it and made it sound so fantastic that I'm
sure we were all sorry we missed our chance to shower there. I would have at least liked to see that magical
toilet!
Here is some more SoP behind-the-scenes tour trivia that you might find interesting:
If you really screw up during a show, the deal is that you have to vacuum the bus (which would be a big job
after a couple of days on the road). So if you see one of us making a vacuuming gesture at any time on
stage, it means that someone has totally screwed something up!
In the last song of our set (I won't give it away here) Arjen does something that makes us all laugh every
single time he does it. It's a problem for Marcela because she has to sing right after -- she is always
concentrating really hard trying not to laugh at that point. I'm glad that I can play my part and laugh at
the same time.
When we arrive at a venue, there's usually not that much for the band to do until soundcheck. Our crew is so
professional that I just feel in the way if I try to help, so us girls usually go off to check out the
dressing rooms (or find the food). Or we might try to do some last-minute shopping if we are in a city
center (girls will be girls). We are always on the lookout for shops that sell stage-worthy clothing and
"bling.". Anyway, when we hear "Amazing Flight" followed by Rammstein's "Spiel Mit Mir" playing on the PA,
we know to get ready for soundcheck.
Speaking of Rammstein, they have become our benchmark of coolness when it comes to lights and sound. If we
have good sound and lighting specs at a venue, it's "Rammstein." If something sounds or looks good, it's
"Rammstein." Sometimes we just say "Rammstein" and make the metal hand for extra encouragement at any time.
Our lighting tech, Miguel, is particularly adept at this :-)
As tempting as it is, we are actually not supposed to make the metal hand sign in photos or on stage,
because it's become such a cheesy cliche. So we have another sign -- "pinkie respect." It's like the
"respect" gesture, but then you stick your pinkie out and wiggle it. So if you happen to see any of us doing
that, now you know what it is -- Pinkie Respect!
Best wishes and SoP Pinkie Respect from
Lori
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Feb 9.
Milan Gig (IT)
Pictures by
Lori
'Cortez77_fr'
Andrea Beckers
Dietmar Schäfer
Martin Mens
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Hi Streamers,
Being on tour means a lot of different people at a lot of different places. Wednesday we left for Italy. It
was a long drive, during which we spent by watching ‘Friends’, a Green Day concert and having some beers and
laughs of course ;-)
On our way to Italy we had to make a long stop so that Jos, our bus driver, could rest. The people at
La Laiterie in Strasbourg (where we played last week) were kind enough to provide rooms and food during our
break. Their hospitality was excellent, as was the food (again).
The next day we arrived at the venue and we found out that most of the equipment that we need to put on the
show was not there. They had some stuff and thought it would do, but they probably didn’t expect a band
(with a show) like this. Eventually Jeroen, our tourmanager, arranged for more advanced equipment to be
brought to the venue and after a
long wait we finally could start the build up. We had to rush during the soundcheck, but luckily we had just
enough time to get it right.
Diana wasn’t feeling too well before the show, so she decided to lie down for a few minutes. There were a
few matrasses backstage so Pieter (the soundman), Arjen and myself followed Diana's example quickly. As it
turned out, we really needed the rest before going on stage.
Damian did a wonderful job again by entertaining the crowd. Johan and I even went into the venue for a
couple of minutes to check it out. He’s such a great performer!
When we were all dressed up and ready to go we heard that we would be escorted to the stage by two
bodyguards. That was quite a weird experience, but they were very professional.
When the show started the audience was already enthusiastic. They sang along with most of the songs and were
feeding us with energy from the start. I think I even saw a banana somewhere in the audience ;-)
The strongest memory I have of the show itself was the fact that I missed one of the (to me) most important
rolls in the ending of one of the encores. I was so angry with myself for missing my personal climax of the
set that I was glad that we had one encore left. So that I could take my revenge ;-) The very last song
ended up being louder and a bit more aggressive than I had ever played it before.
During the meet and greet after the show I noticed that the girls were completely adored by all male fans. I
must admit I had a kind of Casanova idea about Italians, but I'm glad to report, they have all been very
kind to the ladies. Besides: the bodyguard were there to 'protect us all' ;-)
That night we left for Spain, which was going to be a 36 hour drive. During the ride we had to show our
passports at the French border. When I was awake early in the morning, chatting with Damian and the bus
driver, a police car drove by. Just for fun I said: ”They’re coming for us.” We were quite surprised when it
turned out that they actually wanted us to pull over. We were thinking of the worst things that could
happen. When the police officer stepped out of the car and walked towards us it turned out that he had been
so kind to follow us just to give us back Diana’s passport, which they forgot to return.
Later on we had another long stop for our bus driver, but this time we ended up on the beach in Perpignan,
France. This really felt like a holiday, which I haven’t experienced for the last five years. We seriously
thought about swimming in the sea, but it was way too cold. Johan found a little football somewhere on the
beach, which seemed to have lost its owner, so we thought we’d give it a new home. We played some soccer and
found out that we were all terribly out of shape! ;-)
In the evening we ate at a nice little restaurant where the boss and his wife had a few screaming (but
lovely) kids running around. Damian even had to play father for a moment when the youngest, a little baby,
didn’t seem to stop crying and it was driving Johan completely mad. Besides that Marcela noticed my long and
sharp ‘Dracula teeth’ again. Seems like I can keep surprising her with those ;-)
As some of us have been watching even more episodes of ‘Friends’ upstairs in the bus, Lori, Jeroen, Martin
and I watched ‘Vanilla Sky’ downstairs. Jeroen fell asleep, Martin liked it, but didn’t really get the
story, Lori did get most of it and I just love it, ‘cause it’s one of my favourites ;-)
Now, in the middle of the night, while everyone’s asleep and I should too, we’re driving towards Madrid. So
Spain, you better get ready to ROCK ! ;-)
Grtz, Davy
For your information:
 the 'bananas' everyone keeps talking about come from a popular messageboard smiley: which is a dancing banana! It grew to become an ayreonaut trade-mark, and since then bananas in all sorts of shapes and sizes have been popping up during concerts everywhere so messageboard regulars can find each other!
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Feb 11.
Madrid Gig (SP)
Pictures by
Lori
'Cortez77_fr'
Andrea Beckers
'Mab the Evil'
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Hi everybody!
We, the Mexicans, were really looking forward to getting to Spain and playing in Madrid. It was really nice
to approach people and be able to use our native tongue to communicate =) Both the gig promoters and the
spanish audience were very enthousiastic, it was a real treat!
We started of the activities going to our hotel day rooms for showers,
then Arjen and I headed to a local music shop for a short but sweet
signing session; we then headed back to the lovely venue, La Sala Caracol.
Our dressing room was quite small, we kept bumping into each other all the
time, but on the bright side it helped us feel closer before the show ;-)
Before the gig things weren't so optimistic: the drumstage was too small
for Davy, plus Diana and Arjen were feeling really sick. While on stage
all kinds of things started going wrong as well: three monitors broke
down, my in-ears were going crazy, the lightboard wasn't behaving normally
at all... Still, we managed to pull through it with great aplomb, and we
had an amazing time performing. The public's response was so warm and
enthousiastic it felt just like home to me...
We had the great pleasure of having Joost from After Forever visiting us
during the show, since they were performing in Madrid the very same day.
Thanks for stopping by, Juicy! Best of luck for the rest of your tour!
So right now we're staying the night somewhere in France due to unforseen
complications with our transportation. But we've had the opportunity to
stop by McDonalds, where Alejandro got a cheeseburger happy meal,
including a blue music box that plays a oh so catchy Billy Crawford tune
0_o
Mil gracias, Madrid!
~ Marcela
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Feb 16.
Zoetermeer Gig (NL)
Pictures by
Martin Mens
'Spider'
|
Hey Streamers!
It's been a few days since the last entry, but I can assure you we weren't
just relaxing! Last Monday evening we said goodbye to our beloved tourbus
and even more beloved driver Jos. Thanks Jos for getting us in the right
places in the right time and for the great times we had with you. We hope
to see you very soon again! We had a really great time on the bus with the
band and crew altogether.
For most of us it was a new experience and I
think none of us wanted to miss it! We even created a new game, called
"Huevos" when we ran out of electricity. It will be on the market soon!
Not being able to watch Rammstein was hard though ;)
On Tuesday we had an in-store signing session. We brought our gear with us
for the radio-show on 3FM. When we arrived at the cd shop "De Waterput" we
saw a small stage at the back of the store. The owner of the shop asked us
if we could play some songs.
And as you might have noticed, for the ones who've been seeing our shows, we kind of like playing, so we got
our guitars and the piano and played 5 songs acoustic.
Next stop was Hilversum, the radio station, where we had a live acoustic radio performance for 'Move Your
Ass' on 3FM (Dutch National Radio). They didn't tell us that they had a webcam online all the time, so it
must have looked sometimes silly haha! We played Deceiver live and acoustic. The response from the listeners
was awesome. Thank you 3FM!!
My plan was to write about the Zoetermeer gig, but I just had to share the previous information with you!
Zoetermeer was in one word amazing! The venue was sold out, 800 people in
total to see our show! A great stage, actually everything was great! Do I
sound too happy now? I AM! WE ARE!
The gig was really cool, a lot of close friends and family showed up that
night. My other band Forcefeed (www.forcefeed.nl ;) )
and relatives of Arjen, also Peter Vink and many more. Thanks for being there!
The meet and greet with the fans afterwards was really crowded. It's fun
to see and hear that people enjoyed the show.
And now we are in Rijssen already, getting ready for the gig tonight. we
will be recording for (hopefully) a DVD tonight, lots of people are working on it already.
Anna, the German girl who joined us on our trip to Italy and Spain and
helped out with the merchandise, just came in here in Rijssen and
surprised the whole band with a selfmade Huevos playing bord!
If you want
to know more about Huevos, you'd better ask Alejandro or Jeroen (our
tourmanager) caus' they created the game and all the rules involved haha!
Thank you Anna for the sweet surprise, we really appreciate it!
I think this is my last entry so I just want to thank everyone who made
this whole tour possible, for me it was, and still is, a once in a lifetime
experience. And thanks to you guys for reading the diary, visiting our
site, seeing the shows and posting the bananas!
Muchos Gracias! Muy bien!
Take care and stream on!
Maybe till some day. J
Johan
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Feb 17.
Rijssen Gig (NL)
Pictures by
'I.C.E. Motion'
|
Hi Streamies!
It's early morning at the Electric Castle; all the other SoP members
are still fast asleep (or trying to sleep), exhausted from yesterday's
excitement and very late night, but I'm up early to bring you new
installment of the tour diary. Last night's show in Rijssen was a
really special one. Not only because of the fantastic audience we had
(you guys and gals were AMAZING!), but because the entire show was
filmed for a potential DVD release. The lovely crew of D'iMages were
there with seven cameras to capture us Soppies from all angles. The
D'iMages crew were all bubbling with infectious enthusiasm about
shooting the show -- it really inspired us! They are a really nice
bunch of people -- before we went on stage, they came into our
dressing room and gave us a really thoughtful gift: a personalized
towel for each of us, with our name and the SoP icon embroidered on
it. Another really nice gift was a custom-made game board for playing
"Huevos," which was presented to us by Anna, a nice German girl who
has been helping us in the merchandise booth.
SoP sends a huge thanks to the audience last night --you were
absolutely fantastic! There were many there who had supported us at
previous shows, but last night you really outdid yourselves. I wish
you could have seen how incredible you looked from our point of view
on stage. I was fortunate that the BANANAS and a group of friends who
know the meaning of PINKIE RESPECT were on my side of the stage, which
was an extra treat. Incidentally, given how much fun it must be to
wave those giant bananas around, I really admire the group from the
message board for limiting the banana time to the designated slot. I'm
not sure I could have restrained myself...
Here is a selection of some of the interesting things that happened yesterday:
Arjen and I traveled together to the show, and were a bit late
starting out. To make it on time, Arjen was forced to execute several
James Bond maneuvers on the highway. The other drivers on the highway
were obviously impressed with his driving prowess -- impressed enough
to "do a Moses" for us (clear the way for us like the parting of the
Red Seas). That's probably why the Moses concept readily came to mind
later on that evening when Damian came into the dressing room after
his show and told us about his less than successful attempt to crowd
surf. Apparently, the crowd had also done a "Moses" (something Damian
had never experienced before) and he had a rather more abrupt landing
than he anticipated. But being the positive and cheery guy he is,
Damian was willing to give the crowd a second chance later on during
our show. He graciously offered to help us keep the audience
entertained while we were solving some technical issues related to the
filming for the (potential) DVD. He got the crowd to cheer LU-CA-SSEN
over and over, and finally did the most magnificent stage dive --
luckily there was no "Moses" this time. The crowed bore him all the way
back to the sound/light board and back to the stage. I was watching
from the stage and it was truly impressive.
In my last tour diary entry, I mentioned that Arjen likes to try to
make Marcela laugh during one of the songs by singing one of the lines
in a funny or unexpected way (right before she has to sing the
chorus). Last night he aked Alejandro how to sing the line in Spanish,
as a surprise for Marcela. The line to sing was "aun mas." It seemed
simple enough to Arjen, but at the last minute he realized that he
couldn't remember, so he had to rush over to Alejandro right before
Alejandro himself was about to sing, to ask him for advice. Alejandro
just had time to say "aun mas" and then go into his line.
Unfortunately for Arjen, Marcela was able to stifle her laughter (I
wasn't).
Davy was pleased to meet very young aspiring drummers (I think they
were about 10 years old) after the show, who asked him for sticks.
It
was also a special show for Davy because he was revisiting the place
where he met Arjen for the first time. It was during the
meet-and-greet after the Star One show there. Can you spot Davy in the
picture? How many other familiar faces do you see in the crowd?
(Click to enlarge.)
Damian is known far and wide for being a model of politeness. He is
the archetypal super-polite English gentleman. This has turned into a
source of amusement for those of us whose cultures have not refined
politeness strategies to such a great degree. Diana has cultivated a
very convincing imitation of Damian being polite, which has been
entertaining us all for the past couple of days. Damian is a real
sport about it (the fact that Diana is excruciatingly cute when she
does it may be a factor in this).
Finally I'd like to extend a personal thanks to the two girls who were
right in front on my side at the show in Zoetermeer -- you know who
you are! It was so inspiring to see how much you were enjoying the
show -- I was sorry not to see you at the meet-and-greet later on so I
could thank you personally.
Time to get ready for Vosselaar!
Pinkie respect from
Lori
|
Feb 18.
Turnhout Gig (BE)
Pictures by
Johan Buts
&
'Spider'
|
We can't believe how fast we got to our second to last gig. This has been an amazing tour and last night Turnhout made it even more special. The day started with two little mexicans and one gorgeous swedish freezing in the dressing rooms (it's been one and a half months and we're still not used to the cold), but our hosts at Biebob quickly provided us with a heater so we could have our little piece of Mexico backstage ;)
We had a beautiful guest in the girls dressing room, her name is Jolanda and she's the queen of the Electric Castle ;), for those who don't know, she's been singing along with Damian in some of our shows, and she does an amazing job, she has a wonderful voice and looks great on stage, Rock on Jolly!!
The show was great, we had so much fun!! Marcela and I (Diana) even got the chance to do the banana dance on stage to thank our faithfull banana fans, later on Arjen made Alejandro dance it too!! front and back! and Marcela tried to do the same with Arjen but it just didn't work.
At the end of the show the energy was intense, and Davy really went for it hitting the drums so hard that he was overwhelmed and exhausted on backstage; laying in a couch, dizzy... but he felt better with a chocolate bar hehehe
It's worth mentioning that we had a great and delicious dinner... pollito con papas =D
We only have one show left, and we're going to give it all to you guys.
LET'S KICK HUEVO!!!!
Cheers!
Diana and Alejandro
|
Feb 19.
Verviers Gig (BE)
Pictures by
'Stream of Passion'
&
Klaas Guchelaar
&
Maus (Maurits)
&
Glass Prisoner
&
'I.c.e. Motion
&
'Gatchaman'
&
'd1ngetje'
|
Hi fans, friends, etc, etc.
Well, the time has come to say goodbye.
(10 min crying break...)
Last night was a wonderful night where we didn't just love to play for all of you, but it was also a very
unique gig. Normally we did our best to play well and to put on a good performance, but since this was the
last gig we gave even more energy. We enjoyed the audience as much as we could.
During Damians performance we had a little practicle joke during 'Homegrown'. When he saw me peaking in
between songs, he called me on stage (probably because he wanted to get back at us ;-) Eventualy Damians
father and my own father had to come on stage to sing 'Satisfaction' with us. I was soo proud of my dad,
especially when he asked Damian if he could play the guitar and he actualy pulled it off like a great
musician ;-)
During my duo-stage dive with Damian I discovered that there were a few friends of mine in the audience that
told me they couldn't and wouldn't be there.
After the show I couldn't hold back my tears when I saw my mother, my girlfriend and a few friends of mine
cry like little babies. Of course backstage we also shared a lot of tears, laughs, actually all kinds of
emotions you could think of.
Okay I'll stop being so detailed to leave some space for the others to write. I just want to say that
yesterday's gig had everything in it. Banana's, the vacuum-cleaner thing, star one clothes, anything you
could think of.
The show was great! I loved the audience ! I had soooo much fun with the band, the crew and the fans !
Thank you all for making my dream come true !
Grtz, Davy
_________________________________________________________________________
Hi streamers!
...as Davy said, it was really a unique night. It was really great to play the last show, but emotional as
well. I'm not that good in saying goodbye actually. I just want to thank Marcela, Diana, Alejandro, Davy and
Lori. Playing with you guys was the best thing ever happened to me. Arjen, thank you for giving me and us
this unique opportunity, thanks really big time!!!
I also want to thank the whole crew for sharing this wonderful time with us and working so hard, you rawk!
and last not but least, all the people who showed up during our concerts and (hopefully) enjoyed the show. I
did, I think we all did. Goodbye for now and who knows.....
Take care and KEEP ON STREAMING!
~ Johan
_________________________________________________________________________
Hi everyone!
I just can't find the words to describe my emotions right now. I'll just say that I had a wonderful time
playing all these gigs. But actually the most important thing is that I met great people with which I shared
amazing moments. That's what matters and that's what I will treasure all my life. Thank you for everything
guys...
~ Alejandro
_________________________________________________________________________
Greetings everyone!
The time has come: our tour has come to an end, leaving us with thousands of wonderful memories...
Our last show was really special. Spirit of 66 is a small venue, so there was a very nice intimate feeling
going on throughout the show; we could really feel the connection with the audience. We saw a lot of
familiar faces out there: friends, family and a ton of Frequent SoPers (some of them even saw 7 of our
performances!) including the message board crowd with their lovely bananas. A million thanks, guys! Having
you there for the last show was absolutely fantastic! We enjoyed every single moment of that last
performance. Also thank you all for your kind words and amazing presents!!
A million thanks as well to our most amazing crew, whose professionalism and great spirit inspired us and
helped us every step of the way. And last but not least, all my love and deepest respect for all the SoPies;
thank you so much for all those wonderful moments, for giving it all on stage and making of this tour the
most beautiful experience I've been through in my entire life. Thank you so much!! STREAM ON!!!!!
~Marcela
_________________________________________________________________________
I could never have imagined what a great experience this was going to be. I had the time of my life, I met
the most wonderful people and I'll never forget them. This last show was incredible, thanks to all the fans,
you rocked all the way!! Thank you sopies!! I'm taking you with me back to Mexico 'cause each one of you
taught me something I'll keep in my heart. And of course, thank you Arjen, it was an honor to share the
stage with you.
I love you guys. See you soon!
All my love,
Diana
_________________________________________________________________________
Hi Streamies!
As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. For me this tour was definitely a "good thing" from
start to finish. More than good, it was the most incredible experience of my entire life. My two earlier
trips to Holland (for filming the "Passion" video in April and for the first band rehearsals in November)
had been enough to show me that the band and all of the other people who are directly involved with SoP are
just the BEST, and I knew that we would all have a great time together on the tour. I was certainly right
about that! What I couldn't predict was the incredibly warm reception that we received from the audiences we
played for. We had such a great time thanks to you -- thanks so much! All in all, the tour was such a
wonderful experience from start to finish that we were bound to get emotional as we realized that everything
was coming to a close.
That last show was really difficult because of all the strong emotions. I guess I look tough enough on stage
to have earned the nickname "Rock Bitch," (thanks, Miguel!) but in normal life I'm a total softie. My first
tears started in the morning when I woke up in my little bed in Arjen's studio, realizing that it would be
the last day for us all to eat breakfast together in Arjen and Jolanda's kitchen. We had so many laughs and
good times when we'd gather around that big table for our meals. For example, saying "It's my favorite" with
a Mexican accent was born at that table.
All of the Mexicans speak really excellent English with hardly a
trace of Mexican accent. But Diana can do a totally convincing Mexican accent, which sounds absolutely
hilarious. During our first few meals together, when we were all asking each other lots of questions to get
to know each other better, it turned out that lots of things were "her favorite." So any time later on that
she would be talking enthusiastically about something, Arjen would say "Let me guess...it's your favorite?"
Somehow we started saying "Eeets my favoreeet" in a Mexican accent whenever we liked something. There were
lots of silly things like that, and I'm sure that we all have our own special moments and silly jokes that
we will fondly remember in the years to come.
So if I was already fighting the tears away before breakfast, you can imagine how difficult it became
throughout the day of that last show. And it wasn't only me: Marcela said that she had a hard time when she
looked at the cartoon on the last page of our tour booklet.
My next breakdown was when I asked Martin, our fantastic guitar/backline tech, for a fresh battery for my
wireless. Somehow that little battery became symbolic of Martin and the rest of the crew and how they all
took such good care of us, and it was so sad to think of having to say goodbye to everyone. They completely
spoiled us during this tour, and worked so hard at every single gig to make sure we could give you all the
best show possible. I could hardly get my makeup on because the tears kept coming. At the last moment before
going on stage, I had to ask Leon, another member of our super crew, to go hide a roll of toilet paper
behind my amp (I couldn't find any tissue) because I knew I was going to need it.
Those who were there for that last show in Verviers may have noticed that it was an emotional experience not
only for me, but for all of us. I was fighting back tears the whole time -- not always successfully.
Luckily, there were some jokes and silly moments as well. At last gigs, it's traditional for the headliner
to play jokes on the support act -- Damian got more than his fair share of pranks pulled on him: a giant
joint was presented to him during "Homegrown," Jolanda surprised him by appearing in Arjen's silver Star One
outfit, Martin wore a funny mask to freak everyone out, and Arjen surprised Damian by joining in on electric
guitar for "Satisfaction." During these moments, we were all crowded in the stage entrance to see
everything.
There were a few surprises during our set as well -- the highlight for me was when Rammstein's "Spiel mit
mir" started playing during one of the encores. Readers of previous tour diary entries will understand the
significance of that particular song. We were completely caught off guard by that, but then we all joined
in, playing along for a few bars. RAMMSTEIN! :-)
When we ended with "Love" Davy improvised a really great drum solo before our final extended "A" chord. When
he then played that last chord I was thinking, "This is our last chord of the tour, Davy! Keep playing, keep
playing!" -- he must have read my mind, because he did keep playing. It was so hard to say goodbye to you
all in the audience after that last chord; Pinkie Respect to all of you for being so wonderful!
I won't go into the details of what it was like backstage after the show: let's just say that there were
many hugs, and that many tissues were needed -- and most of us had very red eyes later on during the meet
and greet. During the meet and greet I saw that we had special friends in the audience, including our mighty
bus driver, Jos, the sweet couple who run the B&B where we stayed in Chimay during the filming of our new
video, Lon and Peter from the "Team of Passion", and many friends from the Ayreon message board -- some of
whom had traveled very far to see us at more than one show. More tears.
I'd like to end this entry by sending a huge hugs and thank yous to Yvette and to each member of our "Crew
of Passion" -- I can't imagine doing the tour without you. And of course, gigantic hugs and thanks to all of
you who came out to support us during the tour. You rule! Without you, we would have no purpose (and no
bananas). And extra special thanks to Arjen and Jolanda, who opened their home to us for almost six weeks,
and who did all they could to make us feel comfortable and to make this tour a wonderful experience for us.
I am so lucky to have been a part of it all - thank you!
Pinkie respect from
Lori
_________________________________________________________________________
Although everyone knows by now that touring is not my way of life, I must say that I really enjoyed this
tour. We were about 16 people in the tourbus and there were no big egos and no irritations whatsoever, quite
the contrary. The ambience was very relaxed and friendly, and we had many laughs.
First of all I am very proud of the members of Stream of Passion, they proved to be very professional and
extremely nice and passionate people as well. Thanks for everything, streamies, it's been an honour to be
with you and to play with you!
And a big hand for the incredible crew (Jeroen, Martin, Pieter, Miguel, Naomi, Leon, Shirley), the charming
merchandise girls (Rosie, Alexis, Sandra, Joke, Anna), those behind the scenes (Yvette my PM, Jos the
driver, all the promotors and the Team of Passion: Lonneke and Peter) and the wonderful filmcrew of DíMages,
you've all been AMAZING.
I'm also very glad that I chose Damian to support us, no one could have done a better job. Cheers, mate.
Also thanks to all the people joining Damian on stage, especially that lovely and talented girl Jolanda ;-)
And then last but not least; all of you who went to our show, and many who even went a couple of times! You
have been fantastic, each and every one of you. I truly think that I have the best audience (and bananas) in
the world. I'm glad I've been able to meet many of you after the show, thanks for all the compliments you
gave us.
Needless to say that saying goodbye to everybody has been very hard and emotional, many tears have been
shed.
As always I'm not sure yet what my next adventure is going to be, but I'm sure we will be hearing from each
other. Thanks to all for embracing the storm!
~ Arjen
|
