By Jase Walker
Following a bit of a disastrous turn of events earlier this year for Kalandra, they’ve made it up to the Netherlands with a one-off return journey to Utrecht to make good on their headline show at Tivoli Vredenburg. It’s fantastic that they’ve been able to make this work and despite no support act for the show tonight, my interview with them sees them ready to make a splash with a mix of anxiety and hope.
Single act shows always seem to be a bit tougher on the band to start with as no support act means the onus is entirely on them to make things ramp up as fast as possible. After I left the Green Room following the interview and moving out onto the venue floor, I very quickly remarked to myself how busy the place was, so I don’t think they’re going to have a problem really!
Seeing the stage set up befitting a proper headliner, the backdrop is art with four “pillars” of rough cut white linen, lit up with a deep blue hue along with four tall light “posts”. Seeing a band do a headline show for the first time, especially after seeing several support slots prior, and getting to know what their personal touch on their show is like is great. Prior to the band walking up, the band’s name in its stylized font appears on the draped sheets. As they walk on, the room erupts into claps and cheers, people have been waiting and most definitely looking forward to this!
The band definitely weren’t kidding when they made a big point about how much they put back into making sure they look and sound good while they perform though! They sound incredible, a real strength to the feel of the music while remaining brilliantly balanced all while the lights dance around and set the mood with gorgeous pastel hues. It’s struck me that they’re actually using the draped cloth as a sort of defacto screen, projecting various shapes and patterns onto it now and then which is a fantastic bit of clever creativity.
Katrine often comes across as a bit apologetic in her talks between songs as if she’s still trying to make up for the issues that caused them to miss this date initially. Judging from the turnout and response though, the crowd sees the humour in it and seemingly isn’t too bothered because they get to see this show finally anyway. As for the show itself though, I’m continually wowed by how fantastic it looks and sounds, fully drawn into this experience that puts emphasis exactly where it’s needed whether it’s lights focused on a member who’s key for that part or ever so slightly adjusting volume levels to boost it a little bit.
Something always stands out to me as a very distinctive sound of a lot of these Scandinavian artists that infuse significant amounts of folk into their sound, whether it’s these, Myrkur, Aurora or Eivør. They all do a fantastic job of creating these grand, atmospheric and often slower songs that create a feeling that someone like Hanz Zimmer attempts to capture with his film soundtracks.
Similar to other shows that I’ve been to where there’s a vibe you can feel about how much the crowd reveres the band they’re seeing as Kalandra often has much quieter and subtle moments, you can hear a pin drop as everyone here is totally silent. I sometimes feel that bands like this attract the type of people who really want to get lost in the experience that the band has crafted, truly engross themselves in the show and it shows in the mutual respect of, well, shutting the fuck up and listening intently.
Going back to the drapes, again, these are constantly grabbing my attention in the way they’re used, as I type this they’re currently displaying the band themselves on each individual drape but a live feed from a camera at the back of the room and did a great job of splitting the band onto each drape. There’s so much thought that’s gone into putting this live show together, so much care and attention to detail to have its moments of brilliance but using them just enough to not overdo it. It truly warms my heart to see that the band that drew me in all those years ago as an opener for Leprous in Manchester has grown to the point of building a bigger following of their own and with the means to make a show truly their own.
And finally we draw to a close to finish this fantastic and incredibly hypnotic headline performance from Kalandra. The band and their supporting ensemble of engineers have created an amazing show that was definitely worth waiting for and I’m overjoyed they were able to make this one off return work and clearly everyone tonight was similarly enthused about it too.