The Dutch metal band Within Temptation was looking forward to their Worlds Collide tour with Evanescence scheduled for 2020. But with the COVID-19 pandemic, those plans were pushed to 2022. With the band stuck at home, they started working on new songs, but still missed performing in front of their fans. They, like many others, decided to perform a livestream event titled The Aftermatch – A Show in a Virtual Reality. As they worked hard on the production of the show, they ended up having to postpone a week to ensure everything was in place. And when they did perform, Sharon den Adel (vocals), Ruud Jolie (lead guitar), Jeroen van Veen (bass), Martijn Spierenburg (keyboards), Mike Coolen (drums), and Stefan Helleblad (rhythm guitars) delivered a performance will absolutely be remembered.
The Aftermath – A Show in a Virtual Reality held true to it’s form. The show started off with a sci-fi large robot female floating head telling the story of mankind’s rise and destruction caused by themselves. This figure appears multiple times through the livestream helping to fill in the story as the band played through their set. The performance takes place in four different worlds that includes an apocalyptic-looking city, the depths of what appears to be Hell, another cavern that appears to be in ice, and lastly floating in space itself. The production team did a great job providing a realistic look to these locations. While in the city, the band was separated on rooftops of destroyed buildings and in the cave found themselves floating at times on separate platforms. The space location had such stunning lights and visuals too.
Within Temptation runs the fans through a 12 song set that primarily includes most of their songs from their 2019 album Resist and individual singles released in 2020. “The Reckoning” hits the fans with some heavy guitar and bass riffs. “Supernova” provides us with some techno-metal beauty with perfect timing between the keyboards and drums. But, the 2020 single “Entertain You” that I truly loved with a mix of that hard metal, a perfect pace, and Sharon‘s beautiful singing who guides the song perfectly from beginning to end. Within Temptation didn’t forget about fans from the very start as they also mixed into the setlist “Forsaken” from the 2004 The Silent Force and “Our Solemn Hour” from the 2007 The Heart of Everything.
And this livestream got some friends who peformed on Within Temptation albums to join them during the performances. America rapper Xzibit appears on screen for “And We Run” from the 2014 Hyrda. Jasper Steverlinck from the band Arid serenaded Sharon (and vice versa) during their performance of “Firelight” from Resist. German band Annisokay lent their vocalists Rudi Schwarzer and Christoph Wieczorek to perform the 2020 single “Shed My Skin”, which is a truly awesome single. Though, my favorite guest appearance was seeing Tarja performing her spots in the single “Paradise (What About Us?)”. That is one of the best highlights of the livestream.
Within Temptation fans will love this show as it provides a solid mix of old favorites and new tracks. The band was absolutely on point with their performance and Sharon‘s symphonic and operatic singing style is fantastic. Those who haven’t heard Within Temptation should absolutely check out the livestream as well. Fans of bands like Epica and Nightwish will immediately fall in love with Within Temptation.
The setlist for the livestream was:
- Forsaken
- Our Solemn Hour
- Paradise (What About Us?)
- The Purge
- Entertain You
- Raise Your Banner
- And We Run
- Shed My Skin
- Firelight
- The Reckoning
- Supernova
- Stairway to the Skies
The Aftermath – A Show in a Virtual Reality will only remain available until Sunday, July 18th at 9 PM ET. You can purchase your livestream tickets at https://guts.events. You can find Within Temptation music and merchandise over at https://www.within-temptation.com.
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