The Dutch singer Anneke Van Giersbergen, known for being the vocalist of the band The Gathering for more than a decade, and the Finnish musician Marko Hietala, former Tarot and Nightwish, joined their talents to visit several Latin American countries on an acoustic tour called “Six Strings and a Voice: an evening with Anneke van Giersbergen and Marko Hietala”. Thanks to DangerSteel Productions, this tour arrived at the Auditorium of the Spanish Cultural Center in Lima last Friday, October 13, with a repertoire based on each artist’s own songs and a selection of covers by artists such as Black Sabbath, Rainbow, Whitesnake, Iron Maiden and others.
The atmosphere before the concert was very emotional, with several fans of Anneke and Marko exchanging comments in the line before the doors opened. The venue chosen is a small theater which allowed all the fans to be close to the stage and be able to enjoy the acoustic show prepared for this tour. The only strange thing for many was that they had to remain seated as if they were going to watch a movie.
The band in charge of opening the show was Memorias de un Despertar, a melodic and symphonic heavy metal project by Peruvian musician and composer Marcel Verand and which presented songs from his most recent album called Reclama tu Libertad in addition to his debut album Ira Y Sacrificio released in 2021. The presentation of this band was a great discovery for those attending the event. They received a lot of applause and said goodbye after performing five songs.
Band:
Sebastian Mahle: Vocals
Eduardo Poppe: Acoustic Guitars
Eder Gomez: Acoustic Bass
Mauricio Fernández Maldonado: Percussion
Setlist:
1. Lothair
2. Mas Grande que Dios
3. Enciende tu Luz
4. Eres Tu
5. Soy tu Creación
At 9.30pm as scheduled, the curtain of the Spanish Cultural Center opened again and we were able to see Marko Hietala on stage accompanied by the Finnish guitarist Tuomas Wainola. They started with the songs “Stones” and “Isäni ääni” from Marko’s album Pyre of the Black Heart released in 2020 and then moved on to a series of covers of Black Sabbath, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne, the audience accompanied singing all the songs while Marko commented between songs his love of metal music and his annoyance at the current state of the world. It was a joy to hear him in such good spirits. We must remember that the Finnish musician confirmed his return to musical activity in December 2022 after spending time away from the stage. The bassist and vocalist left Nightwish in 2021 affected by his depression and the future of the music industry. In March 2023, Hietala also confirmed the return of Tarot after they disbanded in 2015. Tarot is a pioneering Heavy Metal band in Finland and was founded in 1985 by Marko and his brother Zachary, together with guitarist Mako H.
Then Anneke would enter the stage to perform the Whitesnake song “Child Of Babylon” together with Marko and Tuomas and then remain alone on stage and present a setlist in which she would combine songs from her solo career along with songs from her former band and well-known artists such as Audioslave and Ed Sheeran.
Anneke spent 13 years as frontwoman for melancholic doom metallers The Gathering, and decided to go her own way in 2007. She has participated in projects with Devin Townsend, Anathema, Within Temptation and many more. In 2012 she released her first album Everything is Changing and received two nominations for the Edison Award – the most prestigious awards in the Dutch music industry – in the categories ‘Best Female Artist’ and ‘Best Album’. In October 2017, Anneke and her progressive metal band Vuur released their debut album. In This Moment We Are Free – Cities entered the Dutch charts at #2, the highest chart position Anneke has ever had with an album. At the end of 2018, Anneke released Symphonized, an orchestral album of eleven songs. It was recorded in two concerts that spanned the artist’s entire musical career together with the Residentie Orkest The Hague orchestra. In 2019 the Dutch copyright organization Buma Cultuur honored Anneke with the Buma ROCKS! Export Award. In 2021 she released her solo album The Darkest Skies Are The Brightest. It was precisely the song “Hurricane” from this album that gave rise to the return of Marko and Tuomas to the stage to begin the third and final part of the concert.
The three on stage began a series of covers that made the audience sing non-stop. Special moment when Tuomas began to play a version of the traditional Peruvian song “El Condor Pasa” that served as an introduction to Iron Maiden’s celebrated “Wasted Years”. The concert would come to an end with the song “The Sound of Silence” by the remembered Simon & Garfunkel. At the close of this review, the duo is in Mexico for the final part of their Latin American tour that began in Chile to continue through Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Costa Rica.
Band:
Anneke Van Giersbergen – Vocals, Acoustic Guitar
Marko Hietala – Vocals, Acoustic Bass, Acoustic Guitars
Tuomas Wainola – Acoustic Guitars
Setlist:
1. Stones (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
2. Isäni ääni (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
3. Crazy Train (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
4. Holy Diver (Dio cover) (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
5. Two Soldiers (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
6. Children of the Grave (Black Sabbath cover) (Marko Hietala & Tuomas Wainola)
7. Child of Babylon (Whitesnake cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
8. Lo and Behold (Anneke van Giersbergen)
9. Saturnine (The Gathering cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen)
10. Valley of the Queens (Ayreon cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen)
11. I Saw a Car (Anneke van Giersbergen)
12. The May Song (The Gathering cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen)
13. Like a Stone (Audioslave cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen)
14. Hurricane (Anneke van Giersbergen)
15. Catch the Rainbow (Rainbow cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
16. Wasted Years (Iron Maiden cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
17. I See Fire (Ed Sheeran cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
18. Strange Machines (The Gathering cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
19. The Islander (Nightwish cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
20. Perry Mason (Ozzy Osbourne cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
Encore:
21. The Sound of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel cover) (Anneke van Giersbergen & Marko Hietala)
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I’m a photographer with extensive experience working for national and international media. I’m also a passionate photography educator with extensive experience working with students of different ages. I love Heavy Metal music and I began shooting concerts in 1992. Concert Photography is my passion. I’m based in Perú but willing to travel anywhere.
