Ayreon Effect

Back in 2019, Fenya and Bobby and I went to see Delain at the Starlite Room, and Anneke van Giersbergen was one of the opening acts. We adored her, especially when she  got a crowd of riled-up metalheads roaring out the chorus to Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

She mentioned working with a live show for something called Ayreon that I was unfamiliar with, and did an acoustic cover of "Valley of the Queens" which was beautiful and haunting. I looked up a few Ayreon songs and enjoyed them, but noticed the majority of their videos came from what turned out to have been a rare set of live performances from 2018.

Ayreon is a music project led by Dutch songwriter/composer/musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen since 1995, but similar to the Alan Parsons Project, was always intended to be a studio endeavour, focusing on rock opera-style concept albums. Their music is a rich melange of sounds, with their Wikipedia listing including descriptions of "progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music." 

Intrigued by the few performances I had seen and the one album I had streamed ("Into the Electric Castle") I finally sat down and watched the entire Ayreon Universe concert, a 'greatest hits' live show from 2017 that included a tremendous range of musicians (most of who are Dutch and only three of which I recognized immediately, including Marko Hietala, formerly of Nightwish.

The entire concert can be viewed on YouTube and is a worthy evening for anyone who likes Nightwish, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and/or 70s-inspired space rock, or if you are just into a comprehensive survey or "Who's Who" of Dutch Rock/Metal Performers. It is wonderfully staged and features an astonishing 16 different vocalists who have all worked with Arjen before, and who vary greatly in style but are all tremendously gifted singers.

Highlights for me included the aforementioned "Valley of the Queens" with Anneke reprising her role from the album while joined by Marcela Bovio (MaYaN) and the incredible Floor Jansen of Nightwish. The harmonies alone on this one are worth the price of admission as far as I am concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbebO5BZi-I

The concert's BluRay release was announced with an excerpted video of "Everybody Dies" which includes Hansi Kursh of Blind Guardian as well as Floor, Mike Mills, Maggie Luyten and Tommy Karevik (Kamelot). It is a tremendously upbeat and fun song considering the bleak prognosis of its lyrics:

Doom, gloom, the world goes boom
None will be spared, so don't assume

Not ragged clothes, nor silvers spooned
You're all the same when extinction looms

No food supplies (No water supplies)
No power supplies (Or other supplies)
No compromise (Just say your goodbyes)
And everybody dies!

No explanation (Or clarification)
No information (Or justification)
Forget the whys (Just cover your eyes)
And everybody dies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AAXtUdM7xE

The absolute standout for 14-year-old me was the raucous "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (technically a product of a different Arjen Jucassen project, Star One). Not only does this song dramatize the discussion between two characters described as Loner and Idealist arguing between fight or flight regarding an impending space battle, it also includes tremendous backing vocals (one of whom is Floor's sister Irene!) on the chorus and is just too much fun, honestly: 

https://youtu.be/mDjomu33Xzc?si=uSZZwzBgjL8AFQmb

[loner]
I don’t care about your plans and schemes
Don’t give a damn ’bout your righteous dreams
All that I do, I do for myself
I never cared for anyone else

[idealist]
We have to save them, we have to try
We can’t just watch while the innocent die
Let’s steal this ship and start our crusade
Powerful allies will come to our aid

[loner] Seven fighters
[idealist] Navigators
[crew] Intergalactic space crusaders
[loner] Federation
[idealist] Dictators
[crew] No scruples, lethal traitors
[loner] Outriders
[idealist] Invaders
[crew] Intergalactic space crusaders
[loner] Domination
[idealist] Liberators
[crew] Fighting to survive

And not only is this song apparently an homage to the venerable British sci-fi tv show Blake's 7, it is specifically oriented around the second season finale - a tip of the nerd cap to you, Mr.. Lucassen; that is indeed a deep cut!

My final excerpt is "Theory of Everything" because of its amazing instrumentation, from the opening chords on a vintage Hammond B to the headbanging flute solo that surely made Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson gasp in admiration. Transitioning from the crunchiest power chords on guitar to soaring pianos and vocals from Mike Mills and later Marcelo Bovio - it is truly the most operatic feeling piece, at least to my untrained but appreciative ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3TxOaCZv0w

There is also a rare onstage performance by the seemingly introverted Arjen Lucassen himself, who says the only thing that scares him more than performing onstage is speaking in public. But this doesn't stop him from coming onstage to graciously and earnestly thank his fans and fellow performers. I think he can list me among those fans at this point too.

Like I said, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube, but I intend to pick it up on BluRay when I am next in the U.S. ($10 shipping to Canada? No thank you!) so I can listen to it at greater volume in surround sound.

If you happen to like what you hear and want to come over for a screening at some point, or want me to pick up a copy for you, just let me know!