Live | Vanden Plas [support: Ivanhoe] – Nieuwe Nor – Heerlen [NL]

22 March 2025

The progressive rockers from Germany’s Vanden Plas are finally back on an extensive tour to bolster their latest release ‘The Empyrian Equation Of The Long Lost Things’. And this is great news for fans, but also the band itself is more than happy to be on the road again.

On this Saturday night, Poppodium Nieuwe Nor is the place of gathering of fans and band. Fans from all corners of Europe. Germans, Swiss, Belgians and of course the Dutch. The venue was therefore well filled with people of which some are faithfully following the band through several venues. Some even saw them for the 3rd time in a row this week.

IVANHOE – THE SUPPORT ACT

First, however, it is Ivanhoe , also from Germany. Formed in 1986, this band is still active. In itself an achievement and a fine support, but not one that lingers longer than a few moments to me, or manages to grab my attention for a bit longer. Sorry about that.

VANDEN PLAS – THE HEADLINER

After a half-hour change over, the intro of the band that this Saturday is all about starts. As soon as the gentlemen take the stage it is clear why people have come to Heerlen. Remarkably, it seems that through the years singer Andy Kuntz only seems to get better as a singer, but certainly also as a frontman. Consequently, he carries the band from the very first moment. Drummer Andreas Lill and bassist Torsten Reichert provide a muddy concrete layer with their passionate playing. Guitarist Stephan Lill is and remains a great guitarist and newbee Alessandro Del Vecchio is just a great keyboardist and vocalist.

From opening tracks ,,Push’’ and ,,Holes In The Sky’’ Vanden Plas has the audience’s undivided attention. The sound is good, but not superb. Somewhere the balance is somewhat lacking and the individual instruments seem to get in each other’s way a bit here and there in their frequencies. Perhaps this had to do with the fact that Vanden Plas nowadays plays completely digital [except for the drums] and there were no amps or cabinets to be seen on stage. Many touring bands do that nowadays, but I think the average audience member won’t care about that.

VICTORY LAP

With ,,The Sacrilegious Mind Machine’’ and ,,Far Off Grace’’ Vanden Plas continues their victory lap. And what works in their favor is that the band itself is also super-enthusiastic about the fact that they are finally back on tour. As singer Andy also briefly mentions between songs. Due to various private and also other reasons [such as covid], it was not possible to organize another extensive tour before. That makes the band hungry and the arrival of Alessandro has also provided an energy boost.

Tonight we witness why Vanden Plas is at the top of German progressive metal scene for more than 3 decades. They have mastered the art of their instruments more than above average and also know how to write damn good music and get an audience under their spell. I can only see people enjoying the performance. The main point of the set list, with 4 songs, is the latest album ‘The Empyrian Equation Of The Long Lost Things’, but also older work is not forgotten. In any case, it goes down more than well.

SHORTENED SETLIST

Only drawback for the fans will have been, that the band had to shorten their set somewhat compared to some other venues. There is a hard curfew, as there was another event to take place in the same venue. Too bad because a song like ,,Rainmaker’’ was unfortunately not played, despite the fact that the fans tonight hoped for this track from the beginning of the performance.

Too bad, but it’s can’t be helped. However, we may conclude that Vanden Plas anno 2025 is more than alive and kicking. They prove why they belong to the top of their genre. It was a nice showcase and let us hope that these sympathetic men will play in our region again sooner next time.

 VANDEN PLAS SETLIST

– Push
– Holes In The Sky
– The Sacrilegious Mind Machine
– Far Off Grace
– Vision 3hree: Godmaker
– Soul Survives
– Cold December Night
– Santimonarium
– They Call Me God
– Vision 13teen: Stone Roses Edge
– Iodic Rain
– My Icarian Flight

-Postcard To God

All photos by Raymond Helebrand