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THE ARCHIVES
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Morrigan's Pit has closed down as of November 2006. The site and its articles will stay online as an archive until September at least, but probably longer.
The Archives
2002-2006
» CD REVIEWS
» INTERVIEWS
» LIVE REVIEWS
» SPECIALS
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ROCK INC FESTIVAL
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De Bosuil - Weert (NL)
March 28st 2005
http://www.rockinc.nl
This Rock Inc Festival's second edition was a big success from the start. We got there shortly after the doors opened and it was already packed! The Bosuil is a great venue with a good atmosphere and it deserves a good crowd :) And so does the Rock Inc agency, like everything they do, this was again well-organized! This festival was one date in the Flying Aces Tour that AFM put together to send Masterplan, Circle II Circle, Rob Rock and Pure Inc on tour. Nico and I were there and later on the day Nadja arrived as well :) (Marlies)
I had never heard of PURE INC before and I was expecting some sort of rock that would hardly interest me. Well, was I ever wrong. I was floored!!! It was more rock than metal, but it was damn good and esp. singer Gianni Pontillo blew me away!! I mean totally, this guy reminded me of Chris Cornell and I was overwhelmed by his power and passion, awesome! The whole band was great and played tight, guitarist and Rob Flynn look-a-like Sandro Pellegrini stole the show as well with his great solos and stage acting. The sympathetic Gianni told us they were from Switzerland and asked us if we knew where it was, "you know, the country of cheese and Alps" ;) The show ended with the amazing "Falling Season" and because the last part of the song is instrumental, Gianni left the stage early, so guitarist Sandro, bassist Gentman and drummer Dave Preissel got some well deserved time in the spotlight as well. 
I bought their debut CD "Pure Inc" afterwards and that's no disappointment either! (Marlies)
Setlist Pure Inc:
Intro
Rolling Stone
Genius
Piece Of Mind
On The Verge
Next To You
The Thing You Left On Me
Crawling
Fear My Eyes
Falling Season
ROB ROCK couldn't give me the same goosebumps, but that's mostly a matter of my musical taste. This veteran knows 
how to sing and it's weird to see someone with such talent and track record so early on a bill. He was presenting his 3rd solo album "Holy Hell", but played songs from all albums (like the fabulous new "Slayer Of Souls" or "Streets Of Madness" from "Rage Of Creation"), plus a Driver/Impellitteri song ("Warrior") that also ended up on Rob's new CD as "I'm A Warrior". The line-up was different from the last time I saw them (Bang Your Head 2003) and I missed guitarist Rick Renstrom, but the current guitar team (Daniel Hall and Carljohan Grimmark) was nothing short of amazing either! Daniel seemed really shy - until he started his solos! My only complaint is that there wasn't a lot of movement on stage, but musically definitely a top band in the melodic field. (Marlies)
Then the band that I had been waiting for, CIRCLE II CIRCLE. Zak Stevens' voice has always been an enchanting one, whether he sings Savatage songs or his own Circle II Circle ones. With the band's enthusiasm and musicianship and Zak's voice and charisma, we all had a great time! It's inevitable that the few Savatage songs he puts in his set, are the most known ones, and thus get the most response: he had us sing to "Follow Me" and "Edge Of Thorns" this time! I was surprised we didn't get to hear "Watching In Silence", but I guess ya can't keep 'em all
happy. After this gig I truly couldn't imagine that Masterplan
could top this in terms of succes (but they did BTW)! (Marlies)
Open Season
Sea Of White
Holding On
Hollow
All That Remains
Labyrinths / Follow Me
The Middle Of Nowhere
In This Life
Cynical Ride
Encore
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Edge Of Thorns
MASTERPLAN released two awesome albums - no doubt about that. But could they bring live on stage, what those records promised as well? With the first song I was not convinced. The band started off with "Crimson Rider" of the current record "Aeronautics". Not a bad choice to start with, but something was wrong. Jorn Lande did not display his talents as a master vocalist like we are used to. He needed at least about 5 songs to get warm and to get a little bit out of himself. It is a wonder that a person so introverted like him is the front man of a band. Yeah well.. on the other hand with this voice it would be a shame to hide him behind a drum kit. ;-) But then with the help of his fellow band mates, Jorn delivered song after song in a most convincing way and even guitarist Roland Grapow claimed his share of the spot light - and his share of false notes. The crowd didn't seem to mind and at the end Masterplan was warm enough that songs like "Spirit never dies", "Enlighten me" and "I'm not afraid" sounded like they should: awesome! "I'm not afraid" was so well presented; it got stuck in my head on the way back home. To add some spice to the show "Bleeding Eyes" got introduced with the glowing in the dark and flickering fishbone bass. Pretty impressive! "Falling Sparrow" got dedicated to the recently deceased record label boss Andy Allendörfer.
Overall the song choice was perfect and this band has everything that's necessary: a magnificent vocalist, a super tight rhythm section, a young and promising keyboard player and of course a great guitar picker. There you can oversee the start up problems.
Though I would advice to take more care at the next tour... Still Masterplan was my personal highlight. (Nadja)
Crimson Rider
Crystal Night
Wounds
Kind Hearted Light
I’m Not Afraid
When Love Comes Close
Black In The Burn
Heroes
Enlighten Me
Bleeding Eyes
Soulburn
Love Is A Rock
Spirit Never Dies
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Back For My Life
Crawling from Hell
submitted by Marlies 31.03.2004
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