What happens when Marijn van der Meer, a man with a flawless soothing voice, meets Jorrit Kleijnen, an insanely talented music score composer? Magic. Magic happens.
I discovered HAEVN through random YouTube music back in 2018 and was struck by that great combination of good voice and melodies. Bought the album and was positively surprised to discover not a few but a whole 14 excellent tracks album.
But… what about the live version of HAEVN ? Anyone who has watched a few videos already know the answer. For those who haven’t, let me tell you about their live show.
Given the circumstances, live shows, theatre play, musicals, etc. are still a tricky thing to organize and attend to. More than a year after the beginning of this pandemic, culture is still trying to survive the best it can. Online and streaming events are another option used by many artists to keep entertaining the audiences…
Tonight the band therefore performs
at De Vereeniging in Nijmegen, a Dutch town near the German border, and are
accompanied by a string orchestra and the G-Roots choir. We are watching them
through computers, TVs or phone screens from all around the globe: the band’s
native Netherlands but also Mexico, Canada, Poland, Italy, USA, Germany,
Austria, New Caledonia, Brazil, Sweden, Belgium, etc.
They open the show with The Sea, quiet beginning… soothed by Bram Doreleijers’ guitar, whose notes are a crucial addition to almost every song. HAEVN’s music would not sound the way it does without his guitar.
Something unexpected happens during this song though: I start crying… For the last 14 months, I have showed strong resilience but tonight, during this first live show I’m attending since February 2020, something in me broke for a few minutes: I miss my beloved London, I miss music concerts, festivals and theatre moments; I miss the unity feeling you have during a concert, I miss moments with friends… like so many, I’m sure, but that’s one wave I didn’t see coming… It made me realize once more how much music can swallow you whole to make you feel so alive. And human.
After this emotional first song,
the band offers us a new song. There will be four of them during the night and once
again, these tracks are extremely well-produced. Given that we’re experiencing
them from a live point of view, I truly can’t wait to see what they will sound like
on the new album: same orchestral sound or… different arrangements? Whatever way,
I’m sure it’ll be a pleasant moment. To be honest, I can hardly pick one favourite
out of these new four tracks so guys, if you consider to take one away from the
next album… don’t. Just don’t.
Where The Heart Is is another emotional moment as the first verse lyrics hit me hard: at that moment, I strongly feel the loss of a close relative, partly due to the virus. Like Linkin Park’s One More Light or Jean-Jacques Goldman’s Tu Manques, seems like this one will stick in my “cry to be able to move forward” list. Like I wrote above, music and its inner power, eh?
The distinctive cello notes of We Are starts and we’re going with the flow but… what a minute, that’s not exactly the one we know! For this version, the band added a saxophone ending, which give a whole new vision to the song. That is one bold addition but that’s one I really enjoy!
The band will use a few others “less classic” instruments during the show, like a clarinet at the end of City Lights, a xylophone at the start of Love Is A Game and Bright Lights and a mandolin for Bright Lights. It felt so much like a natural thing that I actually had to check the original songs to compare both versions. Indeed, playing with different arrangements is one of the strongest assets of HAEVN: whether they pick a symphonic, acoustic, gospel or other music style, they always land on their feet.
On Throw Me A Line, Marijn’s voice is at its top form: when he holds the note on the Are you ready to break out now? part of the song, time is suspended for a few seconds... Marijn's voice has seemed familiar to me for a long time but I couldn't put my finger on the "why". It hit me at that time: his voice is VERY similar to Theo Hutchcraft's, Hurt's singer. Now I wonder what a song with these two would sound like. That's one perfect vocal match I'd definitely like to hear someday!
For most songs, the band are accompanied by either the orchestra and the choir or the orchestra alone. Most of Eyes Closed, HAEVN’s first album, is filled with orchestral sounds, but the addition of the choir brings a new and powerful dimension to the songs, like on Fortitude for example.
But… the band can also do their own “thing” without the extra chords and vocals. They can also show they can go on different paths and not being “just” a band with aerial music.
Jorrit plays some melody on the piano before starting Sinner Love soon joined by Marijn. Bram and his Fender Jazzmaster, David Broeders (drums), Mart Jeninga (here on keyboards but also playing bass) complete the set. At one point, these guys are one single unity and we feel the inner “rock” side of HAEVN through their jam. This is without any doubt one of my favourite moment of the whole show! This is for moments like this that I miss real live shows!!!
So we now know HAEVN can slip to the rock style, let’s try the dance one… which, I’ll admit, is something you’d never expected while listening to the xylophone at the beginning of Love Is A Game. And yet… just like the album version, I end up dancing! Even better, the band is jamming again and I am so thrilled: these guys are damn good musicians and it’s SO SOOOO f…ing good to feel that thrill!
The orchestra and choir come back for Bright Lights, beginning with David again at the xylophone and Bram trading his Fender for a mandolin. On this one, you can clearly see what an excellent addition a choir can be to a song and I’m enjoying this new version of Bright Lights.
Ninety minutes after the arrival
of everyone on stage, it’s time to say goodbye with one last song, Back in
the Water.
Back is still one of my favourite, one of the very first songs
I heard from them (the first one accidentally being… The Sea), one that
put a smile on my face just by being a “feel good” song. And that was probably
enough to make me fall in love with them.
This version, with the addition of the orchestra and the powerful choir, is a true jewel to finish the evening.
A perfect evening. The whole show went smoothly but don’t be mistaken: if you’re familiar with the stage universe, you’ll instantly know there was a hell of a lot of work and rehearsals behind a show like this one. Not only on the music side or placing everyone on stage (which was not exactly the real stage here). The sound and lighting aspects were also a success in this adventure: to be honest, the photographer me went crazy for not being there to immortalize that moment and those beautiful red and blue lightings! Massive credits must also be given to Robin Pierce, the director, and his crew for this great show. All of you involved, you can be proud : this was – like I said – perfect!
Once again, I’d like to insist on the magic of HAEVN : isolate Marijn’s voice and Jorrit’s music and you could still enjoy every second of their work and realize the talent in each of them. Starting doing music together was the best idea they could have ever get. I’ll gladly plead guilty to the fact that this very orchestral type of music is my kind of music drug and that Marijn’s tessitura is at the right level to strike a.. no… many chords in me but…. You, if you read this, give HAEVN a try, it’s totally worth it.
So... dear Marijn and Jorrit, as well as all band members, orchestra and choir members and everyone who worked in the shadow to make this concert a beautiful and magical moment, let me just write this: thank you for the magic. So much.
And yes, one day, we’ll be together in a music venue, that’s a promise. And we’ll all be able to hear clapping at the end of every song and not clap in our living room with you not being able to hear it. That’s a promise, too.
Photo credits: Studio Gambar (IG : @studiogambarnl), Kim Balster
Setlist :
- The Sea
- (New song)
- Where The Heart Is
- (New song)
- We Are
- Fortitude
- City Lights
- (New song)
- Throw Me A Line
- Sinner Love
- Love Is A Game
- Bright Lights
- (New
song)
- Finding Out More
- Back In The Water
More information :
