CD/DVD Releases: Lucassen And Van Giersbergen's New Project The Gentle Storm
Earlier this year, Arjen Lucassen announced a project with Anneke Van Giersbergen. In September, that project got a name: The Gentle Storm, with an album, The Diary, set for release on March 23, 2015 (in Europe). And while in the newsletter the following is noted: "And there's an extra surprise: although Arjen no longer tours, he's helped Anneke put together a killer band for live dates in support the album." Except, in a press release from Insideout Music (who will release the album), it notes that "Arjen will join Anneke for a select few European live acoustic dates."
"I'm very excited that Arjen has agreed to join me for these acoustic shows. I will play a solo set and halfway through the show Arjen will join me on stage. We'll perform some Ayreon classics together and premiere a couple of songs that will be on our upcoming The Gentle Storm album. This will be a unique opportunity to catch us performing together and I look forward to sharing the stage with Arjen a lot!" Anneke comments: "Since Arjen won't be joining me during the full band tours (besides a special appearance in Amsterdam), I will take The Gentle Storm on the road backed by some well-known Dutch talents. I've unintentionally formed a supergroup with some of the best musicians the Dutch heavy music scene has to offer, including the amazingly talented Marcela Bovio on additional vocals." Among those dates, The Gentle Storm are scheduled for Prog-Resiste in Belgium next April and it appears Lucassen will perform with the group there - we shall see.
The Gentle Storm live: Anneke van Giersbergen (ex-The Gathering) - vocals; Merel Bechtold (Purest of Pain, MaYaN) - guitars; Ferry Duijsens (Anneke van Giersbergen, ex-Dreadlock Pussy) - guitars; Ed Warby (Hail of Bullets, Ayreon, ex-Gorefest) - drums; Johan van Stratum (Stream of Passion) - bass; Joost van den Broek (producer, ex-After Forever) - keyboards; Marcela Bovio (Stream of Passion) - background vocals
Live dates:
26/3/15 Melkweg, Amsterdam - Netherlands
28/3/15 ROCK Ittervoort Festival, Ittervoort - Netherlands
3/4/15 Hedon, Zwolle - Netherlands
3-5/4/15 Paaspop Festival, Schihndel - Netherlands
11/4/15 Paard van Troje, Den Haag - Netherlands
22/4/15 Divan Du Monde, Paris - France
23/4/15 The Garage, London - UK
24/4/15 The Musician, Leicester - UK
25/4/15 The Roadhouse, Manchester - UK
26/4/15 Prog-résiste Convention Festival, Soignies - Belgium
[Source: Arjen Lucassen newsletter, InsideOut Music]