Live Review - Station 4 - Minneapolis, MN - Sunday, September 16th, 2007.

I was lucky enough to see Within Temptation live on September 16th in a small club in Minneapolis. I've been wanting to see them live since the release of 'Mother Earth'. I ran into Ruud Jolie before the show and chatted with him for several minutes. He was very down to earth and friendly. We discussed going from playing huge festivals and shows in Europe to playing some pretty small clubs in the USA, he liked the fact that it was more intimate in the smaller venues. They played the House of Blues in Chicago the night before and he said it was one of his favorite venues he'd played in. We also discussed the fact they have finally made a mark in the states and I informed him that I saw their new CD at Target. He'd not heard of the chain and after I explained they were a large nationwide company, he looked pleased. He was also nice enough to sign several CD covers for me and told me to stop out and get the rest of the bands autographs after the show. As he was flipping through the covers signing them, he saw the "Our Farewell" single and said he didn't own a copy of that one. After signing a few more, he ran across the Limited Edition of "Running Up that Hill", and said he didn't that one either.

There were about 300 fans at the show. The venue was pretty much a dive, and I kind of felt bad for the band because there was no backstage to the venue, no changing room, no bathroom, shower…nothing. The band kicked off the show with a couple songs from the new album, followed by 'Stand My Ground', which drove the fans crazy. It was hard for the band to be real energetic since the stage was tiny; however, that did not stop Sharon from using her trademark hand gestures, waving and clapping her hands to get the crowd energized, and jumping up and down. The crowd was very responsive and after each song, the screaming and clapping was almost deafening, despite the size of the crowd. They played nearly every song from the 'The Heart of Everything', several from 'The Silent Force', and of course "Mother Earth", "Deceiver of Fools", and the show-closer "Ice Queen" from their 'Mother Earth' album. I was slightly disappointed they didn't play anything from 'Enter' or 'The Dance''; however, I understand that stage of their career is behind them now.

They had all the instruments and Sharon's voice dialed in perfectly and the band was spot on throughout the entire show. Sharon sounded better live than on the albums since she was able to put extra emotion into it as she fed off the crowd. The new songs sounded incredible, and as stated earlier, they were even better live. I didn't wear my earplugs, which was not a great idea as my ears rang for a good part of the next day. After the show I stopped out at the bus and was able to get a bunch of stuff signed by the entire band. I was lucky enough to get a short chat in with Sharon and a hug. I cannot believe I forgot my camera to get a picture with her. I also got to chat a little bit with keyboard player Martijn Spierenburg. I told him we drove about six hours to see the show and he said we must be good fans to come that far. I told him I'd have driven a lot further since I'd waited since 'Mother Earth' to see them, and seemed impressed that I'd listened to them for that long as they have not had much exposure in the states.

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