Within Temptation Concert 12/04/07

Well I'm back from the WT concert! And I'm going to attempt my first concert review. Though before I start, I must admit I'm more of a casual fan so couldn't remember the names of all the songs. I also tried to remember most of the setlist but I instantly forgot all about my review once the music started! I saw them at the QMU in Glasgow, which I'd never been to before. I went with a few friends (one is a bigger fan than me)and we managed to make it to Glasgow Uni, but trying to read my little map wasn't that easy lol. (The QMU is a student union BTW). But after seeing a line of people I decided that must be the queue and we found the venue. Yay!We got there at 7pm, which was when we were due there and already quite a queue had been built up. I've never actually been to a concert at a small venue before, so it was quite cool to attend a smaller gig like this. The queue didn't take too long to move, we had to fill temporary memberships since we weren't students and asked if we were going to be drinking (yes!). We made our way through to the main area (after being frisked) and sat down on a table. And I was quite impressed with how close we were. We weren't going to go into the mosh pit, though if my friend, who is the WT fan, wanted to then I would have made my way in lol.We eventually decided to make our way to the balcony upstairs, which had a seated area - whoo! And also another bar which served wine. I got a glass of great rose for £1.50 (damn those students get it cheap!)What I liked about it, is that compared to other concerts I'd been to, it didn't seem to take long to get started. You get in, get your drink, merchandise and a seat and you're all ready to go! I can't quite remember what the name of the support act was, but they were from the UK and may have had Lord in their name. Oh I also may have seen their drummer, but maybe not...They were quite entertaining and didn't go on for too long, unlike some other artists (I normally don't like to slag off support actss but Matt Goss supporting Mariah Carey was the most boring support I'd ever seen!) After expecting a lengthy break between the support act, I was surprised WT came on quite soon after. And this is where my memory goes lol. I think the first song was Our Solemn Hour, which I was surprised they opened with. It's probably cause I'm not a huge fan but I didn't think it was an obvious opener. The next song was The Howling, which was great because I could name it and because it's a good song. The view we had from the balcony was excellent! It's probably the closest I've been to an artists after Mariah (I saw Mariah on her Charmbracelet tour BTW, hence the good seats!) Sharon was wearing a really cool white corset-y white dress, similar to the one on the album cover and a really cool pair of boots! (She did get a "Sharon, I love ye" in a Glaswegian accent shouted at her)They obviously did quite a lot from The Heart of Everything, quite a few from Mother Earth and a couple of songs from The Silent Force.Two of my favourite performances were What Have You Done and Mother Earth. WHYD was a lot of fun as we had to sing Keith's parts, and although I'm not into shouting in songs, it was a lot of fun to shout/sing along with. They even played his part in the video in the backgroud too. I was quite surprised that they had a screen playing stuff in the background as being a rock band, I presumed they they wouldn't be into having the show look all pretty. I'm glad they did though - OK you don't have to have an amazing stage to have a great show, but I think it's good that people don't forget about the visual side of the music. [Plus if you're watching a concert on DVD - makes it much more interesting] I was surprised about how happy I was when they played Mother Earth, I thought WHYD was the song I was looking forward to most, but when they played ME I was like "OMG YAY". Angels was great too, although I can't remember much about it - actually I can't remember how most of the songs sounded which is kinda annoying.Stand My Ground was received very well - everyone was really happy when the played that. I didn't know it was such a popular song. In the UK it was used on the advert of this awful looking vampire film Blood & Chocolate.Towards the end when they were playing a song from The Heart of Everything, all the music stopped and we heard the drummer showing off his skills, or so I thought. Actually the power had gone so Sharon went off stage for a few secs to see what the problem was lol and they started the song again.One of my other friends who was there, who like me is more of a casual fan, was wanting to hear them perform Ice Queen. So we were glad when it was played in the encore. Having no idea how popular this song was amongst fans (their singles aren't released in this country - only albums) I wasn't even sure if they were going to play it. We had to sing those little...ab libs(?) at the start...not sure what to call them. But anyone who's heard the song will know what I mean.The only song I wished they had done was Neverending Story, but all in all it was a great concert! (I hadn't been to a concert in ages previously!). I'd never been to a rock concert before so it was a new experience for me - surprisingly enough there wasn't that much moshing going on in the pit! Loved the venue! It would be cool go back there again. I got a really cool t-shirt with the album picture on it as well, which I'm chuffed with. The only litte nitpick I would have, and it ain't that major, but sometimes Sharon's voice was kinda drowned out a litte by the music.I was also surprised at the variety of fans there - I'm stereotyping here I know, but I expected the fans to be mostly Goths. But there were older people there too - I had thought it would be mainly people in their teens and twenties.Anyway it was really cool to see them on their first show in Scotland! (Sharon said that The Cross (I think) was actually about William Wallace)*************************************Ignore any repetitiveness or errors in my post lol, I was just typing it as it came into my head so it isn't well structured and just a bit random!And I forgot that I do have another concert I'm going to - Elton John. It's more a family thing this time. I'm only going because he's coming to my city, which is a bit weird, why here? And because some of my family are going and asked my sis and I along. It's a one off this concert I think, no one this big will ever come to where I live again, so I decided to go. We got pretty good seats too, although that's down to the fact that there was a password to get tickets in advance that leaked lol.