Whitchurch Festival

4th August, 2001

The Ocean 2, London

22nd October 2001

The Mean Fiddler, London

27th October 2003

The Mean Fiddler, London

10th October 2004

Venue: The Whitchurch Festival          Date: 4th August, 2001

Set list: There is More to This World, Garden of Dreams, I am the Sun, Stardust We Are (Part 3).
Encore: Zoltan Solo, Rumble Fish Twist, Jonas Solo, Sounds of Violence.

After having spent the whole afternoon, literally, setting up their equipment and adjusting the sound levels to be as perfect as possible, it seemed very odd that as soon as Martin Orford completed his set the roadies took to the stage en mass and moved the drum kit, from the podium where it had been originally set up, down to floor level. This dislodged electrical connections so the keyboards wouldn't start and caused feedback problems which the band spent their first twenty five minutes or so on stage trying to rectify.

During this period some of the band tried to amuse the audience with jokes and limericks - unfortunately these did not come across well due to their accents, leaving the patiently waiting crowd at first bemused and later plain unamused, with jeers and cries of "get on with it" eventually being heard.

At last, having evidently decided that they had done what they could, the set proper started.  The first piece 'There is More to This World' is a favourite of mine from the album 'Retropolis'.  Despite all the attention the sound was not totally up to scratch but the band played a rousing version of the song making a good start.

Roine introduced all of the band members before the next number, 'Garden of Dreams' (from 'Flower Power') which was to be performed without the mellatron. This number on the album is a few seconds short of a whole hour - they cut it down to just 45 minutes! Now I might be a little old fashioned, but why devote over half the set to one song that is a couple of years old - there are some great numbers on the new album and it would have been nice to have heard more of them.  The other concern I have with including this in the set is that being at a festival, many of the audience were interested in seeing TFK without being fans and although this was, without a doubt, played well it became somewhat self indulgent and many people began to get restive and to chat amongst themselves.

A strong version of 'I Am the Sun' from 'Space Revolver' led to the set ender 'Stardust We Are', a superb song which was performed with just the right touch giving a light and airy chorus contrasted against the heavier instrumental sections.

The encore consisted of a single long jam incorporating Zoltan's drum solo,  'Rumble Fish Twist', the second track from the 'Space Revolver' album (one for you Steve!) and a fun bass solo from Jonas'. The concluding piece was 'Sounds of Violence' from Stolt's 1994 solo CD 'The Flower King' which was totally brilliant and shows what they can do when they're not noodling!  These pieces together created a hard and heavy, yet light hearted, jazzed up ending.

The Flower King's are an excellent band who can certainly play well. It's a shame that this gig was marred by the shenanigans at the start and the quality of the sound - particularly during the first part of the set.  Perhaps another time if they keep their feet firmly on the ground they'll please this reviewer more...

Marisa

Venue: The Ocean 2, London.              Date: 22nd October 2001

Although I wouldn't say I was the biggest fan of The Flower Kings, I was sufficiently impressed by their Whitchurch show (despite the problems detailed by Marisa in her review) to check them out on this date in support of the new 'Rainmaker' album. It was also a chance to check out this new London venue - a three stage, six bar complex in deepest Hackney.

This gig was in the Ocean 2: a smallish venue, a bit like a spruced up and scaled-down LA2, which holds about 300 people. Unfortunately, it would be charitable to say this was half-full tonight - OK, I know it was a midweek gig in a slightly less accessible area of London, but small turnouts like this are hardly going to convince more foreign bands to bother playing shows over here. However, on the plus side it was an extremely loyal and appreciative audience, and they did seem to spur on The Flower Kings to produce an excellent performance.

After a delay of about 30-40 minutes (due to 'London traffic' apparently), Roine Stolt (tonight resplendent in shiny gold trousers - nice) and the rest of the band amble onto the stage and head straight into new track 'Last Minute On Earth'. This is a fine epic track with plenty of stirring guitar work and a strong lead vocal performance by Hasse Froberg, and it kicks things off nicely.  The sound quality was pretty good, enhancing the performance.

Next off, rather surprisingly, Stolte announces 'Garden Of Dreams'. I do quite like this track, but at about 45 minutes (even in truncated form) it takes up a long time - time that could surely be spent playing more material off the last couple of albums.  However, unlike at Whitchurch the Flower Kings are pretty much preaching to the converted here, and the track is greeted with ecstatic cheers when it finishes. Special praise must be given to bassist Jonas Reingold, whose almost jazz-like, freeform style really gives the band another dimension.

As a bit of a breather, the band's next track is the breezy 'Serious Dreamers' from the new album, which features good harmony vocals (something Stolt's no doubt picked up from Transatlantic), excellent keyboard work from Tomas Bodin and a bass solo in the middle - normally I'd find this annoying, but on this occasion Reingold gets away with it through sheer mastery and a sense of fun - and not allowing it to go on too long.

Roine Stolt then announces that the band will have to shorten their set, due to the traffic problems, and had anyone got any suggestions for the next track? Plenty were offered, although I'm not sure what track they eventually played next - possibly something from one of the early albums, but it certainly featured some great bombastic guitar playing. Given his previous announcement I expected this to be the last track before the encore, but no - next up is another epic, 'Stardust We Are' - okay, again in truncated form, but it's still over 20 minutes long, and allows the band to cherry-pick the best elements of the track which is performed brilliantly, and for me was the highlight of the night.

The band encore with an excellent, spot-on rendition of 'I Am The Sun', before leaving the stage.  The crowd clamoured for more, and it was to Roine Stolt's credit that he reappeared on stage to say that the band didn't have time to play any more songs as they had to pack the gear and be out of the venue in 45 minutes.  Unfortunately he didn't take up the offer from various fans who offered to help them pack up!  No-one was really complaining though, as the band had still put in a set well in excess of two hours. Overall, an excellent gig by a band who seem to be going from strength to strength.

Tom

Venue: The Mean Fiddler, London.               Date: 27th October 2003

Set list: Devils Playground; My Cosmic Lover; The Hero From Cloud City/Church Of Your Heart; Train To Nowhere; Ghost Of The Red Cloud; The Truth Will Set You Free; There Is More To This World; The Flower King.

Before we get to the main attraction, must say something about the support band,  Ritual. I have not heard any of their recorded works, but I am familiar with Patrick Lundstrom's voice from the recent Kaipa albums. I really enjoyed them. They perhaps took a few songs to warm up, but they do have a distinctive, unique style. An interesting mixture of rock, ambient and prog, with a little bit of grunge added to the mix. They won the crowd over by the end of the set, and I think I will definitely be checking them out further.

You know, it occurred to me looking at the Flower Kings set list above that if a non-prog fan (i.e. heathens, heretics etc) looked at it they would probably say, "Blimey, just 8 songs - is that all they played?" But if you know the Flower Kings, you know it's not quantity that counts - its very much quality.

Fans of the band also know that no two Flower Kings gigs are ever alike – set lists change from gig to gig, and songs will occasionally be extended and improvised on the spot.

Another penchant the band have these days is for very low key, quiet openings. They don't try and hit you over the head straight away; they like to ease into it gradually. On previous tours they have been opening with an epic, and tonight was to be the same. Devils Playground from Unfold The Future was tonight's. In fact, it was  almost 5 mins before the track got properly started, as Roine was having discussions with the sound crew to try and get his guitar levels correct. But it did create a certain amount of anticipation, which was all the more satisfying when the track kicked off proper.

Then we were off, with the entire band firing on all six cylinders.

I do like this track, and I often think it should have been more prominently placed on the album, rather than buried away at the end of side 2. It's almost like a symphony, with it's multiple movements and changes. Lots of very strong and appealing themes here, (some of them "borrowed" from other FK songs, something the band do often). Roine was in very good form tonight, smiling a lot, even encouraging Daniel Gildenlow to do an impromptu drum solo on his percussion rig. He appeared to be in one of those improvisational moods, so it was going to be an interesting evening.

The only down side at this point was the sound. Mostly it was fine, but I personally could have done with Jonas' bass being a little more prominent, and poor Daniel's mike was so low it may as well have been turned off.

Before the next song, there were calls from the audience for various numbers to be played. Roine listened intently for a little while, before silencing the audience with "Do you think we look like a travelling karaoke machine?". Nice one Roine.

Cosmic Lover was a bit of a surprise, but a very welcome one. This has a superb, driving bass line from Jonas, and is extremely danceable. Quite a contrast to the usual prog epics, but it's all part of the bands versatility. Jonas gets a solo in this one, as does Zoltan (albeit very brief), and Roine rounds things off nicely with a very Zappa-esque guitar solo. Once again, Roine seemed keen to improvise and extend the song, which is fine by me.

Next up was a track from Tomas latest solo album Sonic Boulevard, Hero From Cloud City. This is actually a pretty good showcase for Roine's guitar playing, rather than featuring Tomas' keyboards. This one had a very Shine On You Crazy Diamond feel to it, especially with Roine's superb Dave Gilmour style playing, and Tomas traditional Hammond organ sound. The song then segues in to the end section from Church Of Your Heart, picking up from Hasse's "Time may catch me…" line, which is always guaranteed to send a shiver down my spine. I know of very, very few bands that can produce that sort of reaction in a slightly jaded, over 40's prog fan – and this was only the third song.

After that, a chance for the audience to catch their breath. A couple of acoustic numbers, with the band all sitting at the front of the stage on stools. This was real "sitting around the campfire" stuff. Zoltan was sporting a pretty fancy Stetson hat - all we needed was a few plates of beans and a spittoon and the image would have been complete. Train To Nowhere was first, one of the lesser-known songs from Stardust We Are. Very good though, and nice to be able to hear Daniel's backing vocals clearly this time.

This is what I like about a Flower Kings gig, you never quite know what you are going to get.  They will often pull something out of the hat that you have forgotten about, or not listened to for a long time. Then you get that warm, sense of familiarity come flooding back, a sort of "Ah yes, I remember this one now" feeling.

For the next acoustic number, Ghost Of the Red Cloud, there was definitely a bit of a mischievous attitude on stage.  Zoltan played sampled horses hooves on the keyboard, Tomas had apparently promised to sing, but chickened out and spoke his lines in a very deep, Johnny Cash fashion, and Roine added to the frivolity with a spot-on Bob Dylan impression at the end. Great fun.

Then back to the full-on prog stuff, The Truth Will Set You Free. I saw them open with this last year in Glasgow, and it was stunning. Tonight's version was equally as good, very powerful and brilliantly performed. It's hard to resist singing your lungs out along with Hasse on "With this heart, stronger than America".

Hasse is a great performer; he loves striking typical rock poses, and is able to switch from singing beautiful, delicate passages to heavy rock with consummate ease.

Another classic next, There Is More To This World. Bit of a hard edge to this one, and a great one to dance along to (well, sort of move from side to side – best I can do) with it's slightly funky, almost conventional beat.

Daniel really shines on this one, especially on vocals. He really adds a lot of the overall sound of the band. He plays guitar, keyboards and percussion too. I remember seeing him with Transatlantic a couple of years back, but don't remember him having much of an impact, but here he really makes a difference.

For the Encore, we got a fantastic version of The Flower King. Played pretty much like the re-recorded version from Scanning The Greenhouse, which was the first version I ever heard and probably my fave one. So I was a very happy bunny indeed. Once more, it has yet another irresistibly sing along chorus, and there was plenty of scope for both Roine and Tomas to solo during the instrumental section. 

And that was our lot. If they had segued into Stardust We Are at the end (as on the version from the live album), you would probably have needed to get a stepladder to get me down from the ceiling. Alas, it was not to be.

But I was more than happy, and I think the rest of the audience would agree. I know they have played longer sets than this, but it really didn't matter when the quality of the stuff they played is as good as this. I saw Spocks Beard last week at the same venue, and I also enjoyed that very much. But since then the bands website forum has been awash with post mortems on why the band didn't play certain songs.

I have not seen any such posts on the Flower Kings website, and somehow I don't think we will.

Because by the end of the night, we certainly believed in The Flower King.

John Morley  27/10/03

Venue: The Mean Fiddler, London.               Date: 10th October 2004

Setlist: Compassion/Drivers Seat/Cosmic Circus/Babylon/A Vampires View/Days Gone By/I Am The Walrus/Adam And Eve/Drum and bass solo/Love Supreme/Blade Of Cain.
Encore: The Truth Will Set You Free

I have to say that every Flower Kings gig I have been to so far (about 5) has been different in some way.  They never stick to a formula, constantly varying the setlist and occasionally going off on tangents and improvisational instrumental workouts. Knowing this going into a gig, I tend never to come away disappointed.

Tonight it was a somewhat shorter set than usual.  There was a lot of activity on stage getting the equipment set up, and they did not come on until more than an hour after doors opened.

Opening track was Compassion.  They seem to like taking the audience off guard with an unconventional opener, and this was powerful, brooding and intense.

The most noticeable thing about the stage set up was that Daniel Gildenlow is now front stage right, with keyboard player Tomas Bodin apparently somewhere behind him at the back, obscured by swathes of dry ice, and indeed keyboards were noticeably lower in the mix than usual.  Having the three main guitarists to the fore definitely made for a rockier, harder-edged and more aggressive sound. My impression is that this reflects Daniel's increased influence in writing and performing with the band on the latest album, Adam and Eve.

I personally have not found the new album to be as instantly gratifying as previous releases, but it's certainly not a bad album and I am still hoping it will grow on me with further listens. That said I know that some fans have found tracks like 'Vampires View' to be a little too heavy and un-Flowery as it were.  Maybe this is Roine's way of saying Daniel is a major contributor to the band whether you like it or not, therefore pushing him to the fore in the live shows. Not a problem for me, as he is a terrific singer (he can scream with the best of them), and is a great multi-instrumentalist to boot. A great addition to the live shows, in fact.

To reinforce this, the majority of tonight's set concentrated on the new album.  And yes, I thought it came across much better live and it urged me to go back and listen to it again.  'A Vampires View' was something of a tour-de-force, very theatrical and showcasing Daniels wonderfully manic, growling vocals. 'Drivers Seat', my fave from the album, was also a highlight, as was the similarly epic 'Love Supreme'. In fact we got almost all of the new album, including another fave of mine , the gentler and somewhat more archetypal 'Cosmic Circus', as well as the heavier title track.

Soundwise, it was perhaps just a little too loud on occasions - understandable with 3 guitarists and vocalists up front.  This is a shame as I think Hasse Froberg has one of the best voices in rock, and it would have been nice to have heard him a little more clearly.

Thankfully the soloing was kept to a minimum, with just a 5 minute piece showcasing Jonas Reingolds frantic, effortlessly fast bass playing, and Zoltan Csorz superb drumming. And is it my imagination, but is Zoltan's kit getting bigger?  It seemed absolutely huge!

For the encore it was 'The Truth Will Set You Free'  - an excellent song to be sure and though I was happy to hear it,  it has been played on the tours for the last couple of years, and it would have been nice to have had one of the more classic older tracks.  In fact, apart from 'Compassion' there was nothing pre 'Unfold The Future' played at all. OK, this may have been because of the time factor...but a rendition of 'Flower King' or 'Stardust We Are' would just have been the icing on the cake on what was otherwise a very enjoyable gig.

In conclusion Iwould add that I have never seen the guys give a bad performance, despite occasional technical and time related problems, and tonight was no exception.

John Morley 17th October 2004.