Leprous + The Ocean Collective & Port Noir. 2 – 3 Nov. 2019. Zwolle & Leiden, NL

Part II –  Gebr. de Nobel – Grote Zaal. Leiden, The Netherlands / 3. November 2019

Having witnessed the incredible show at Zwolle, and given that we were in the Netherlands for a couple of days, we decided to just give it a shot, head over to Ticketswap and to make the 1:30 hr car-drive to Leiden to see the band again. Believe me, it is not only because we like the band a lot – Leprous’ shows are always an experience we like to live at least twice. So this time both of us packed our cameras and off we went.

Like the night before, the venue in Leiden, Gebr. de Nobel (Grote Zaal, 750 people), filled up rather quickly. I must give some extra lines about this venue. What an awesome place this is! A very nice centre pit area surrounded by an elevated balcony where people can have a perfect view of the stage without being that far from it. Then 2 more levels with balconies offer an impressive view from above towards the stage. It is like an old theatre where more people have a good chance to see the show very well and some of the Leprous guys told us later that night they were really impressed by the venue as they indeed mentioned: I’m sure it was a beautiful sight from the stage. Also, the staff is super friendly and in the bar is possible to pay by card, not like in the venue in Zwolle where we had to buy coins for drinks and then couldn’t use them because the bar closed early after the show (they even denied to serve me some tap water!) Not good.

Back to the show, Port Noir started punctually, and a difference immediately jumped in my eyes and ears. The band’s sound was much better, crisp and clear and also they were clearly more loose and warm than the day before. Love Andersson had much better interaction with the audience, despite the stage being a bit smaller than in Zwolle, which forced the band to have a very narrow stripe to move, even so, their energetic music pushed them to, and their guitar player dared to jump and dance around for a bit.

The interaction between band members was much better as well, and obviously, the audience response to this was even better. Many were clearly fans of the band and were singing along many of the songs which we heard already the night before as it was the same setlist.

Click here to see the full gallery of Port Noir live in Leiden

When The Ocean Collective were ready on stage, they had already lifted their own backdrop displaying imagery from their most recent album, but to no use as the darkness and smoke which characterizes their show made it impossible to be seen at all. There were some sound problems with the volume of the voice at the start of the show, or so I thought, and indeed later I got told by some friends they noticed it too. It was quickly fixed and the show ran smoothly. Chris Edrich is also behind the sound console desk for The Ocean, so it was guaranteed the sound was going to be superb as it surely was!

A big part of the audience in Leiden was clearly there for The Ocean too. Many die-hard fans were right at the front, singing, shouting, lifting hands and sharing handshakes with vocalist Rosetti as best of pals. It was really nice to see his engagement towards the fans. The Ocean played the same set as the night before, and after around 50 minutes, they left the stage with ovations.

Click here to see the full gallery of The Ocean Collective live in Leiden

The headliners Leprous had the same stage setting as the night before, despite the somewhat smaller stage, everything fit very well. The band started at 9:30 pm exactly with the same 2 first songs they started the night before, beginning naturally with ‘Below’ followed by ‘I Lose Hope’ from “Pitfalls”. Then we got the first change on their setlist when the band played ‘Illuminate’. No surprise as the band is known to change their setlist for every show. One interesting addition was the Massive Attack cover ‘Angel’ which is featured as a bonus track on their latest album release. This was the first time the song was played on this tour, and the seamless transition between the ending of ‘At the Bottom’ towards ‘Angel’ was superb.

Click here to see the full gallery of Leprous live in Leiden

Raphael Weinroth-Browne also left his cello a couple of times more than in the night before, to play the keyboards on the other side of the stage. Also Einar, Tor Oddmund and Simen went there to add their bits. Interesting was to see what I think it was a bit of improvised sound creation Einar did during the seamless transition or intro to ‘Angel’. And the same happened during the intro to ‘Echo’. What an impressive song this one was! Goosebumps galore with the new arrangement of this classic in the Leprous repertoire!

After the short break before the encore, in which Raphael stays on the stage playing a beautiful piece on his cello, the band came back to close the show again with ‘Mirage’ and ‘The Sky Is Red’. This was a perfect flawless show in a superb venue! I must highlight the selection of Ulver’s music as background after such a perfect concert night. Perfect to wind down the energy after the venue lights went on – even more as the closing track can not hide a certain Ulver vibe itself.

Click here to see the full gallery of Leprous live in Leiden

This was a really good experience in an excellent venue we hope to come back to in the near future. It wouldn’t surprise me if the place sold out that night as it was really packed both in the pit as in the balconies. Also kudos to the general public who behaved excellently, being silent when they had to and offering a generally friendly atmosphere and camaraderie.

Setlist:

1. Below
2. I Lose Hope
3. Illuminate
4. From the Flame
5. Observe the Train
6. Alleviate
7. At the Bottom
8. Angel (Massive Attack cover)
9. The Price
10. Third Law
11. Echo
12. Distant Bells
    Encore:
13. Mirage
14. The Sky Is Red

Click here to see the full galleries of the three bands at Gebr. de Nobel in Leiden, NL