(… continuing from here …)

In the morning, while T sleeps in, Wolfgang prepares breakfast for us and then drives me to the train station. We say farewell and I mount one train after another … to Mönchengladbach, crossing the border, changing trains again, until I eventually walk out from Tilburg train station.

And lo! this ain’t Tilburg any longer, for here I guide my steps through Ayreon City. The banners that herald good tidings of this 30th anniversary concert weekend stand proud and tall, their fabric waving in the breeze.

My heart pounds faster as I carry the heavy backpack towards the campsite in the middle of the city. Yet even as I approach my destination, my heart falls strangely tranquil and tears come to my eyes. For in bright daylight a beautiful song fills the air, coming from that very campsite; and my ears recognize the voice of Marcela Bovio, and her voice fills my heart with joyful ache. The Ayreon song “Valley of the Queens” is followed by “Here To Stay”. And so it comes to pass that upon entering the campsite I can listen fully to that final song, and I still remember many moons later how hauntingly beautiful Marcela’s voice sounds.

The magic fades – time to get pragmatic. How do I put up that new tent again? If only I had a hammer! Good news: my tent-neighbour Jille has a hammer. He keeps the goddamn tool to himself kindly lends me the tool and watches me with non-judgmental amusement. 30 minutes later, voilà – the tent is up!

I return the hammer and head into the city for the screening of the “01011001 – Live beneath the waves” concert at the Pathé cinema. I give my spare ticket to a fellow Ayreonaut, and we arrive in the cinema hall in the midst of a fun quiz hosted by none other than the maestro himself, Sir Arjen Anthony Lucassen and his chief co-conspirator Joost van den Broek. And then – lights out.

Live Beneath The Waves

For the next 134 minutes I have tears streaming over my cheeks, and a hard time sitting still in my chair like everyone else around me (seriously, guys, did none of you want to jump up from your seats and headbang the shit outta yourselves? And why didn’t I just start?) because the concert recording feels just outright epic. “01011001” is my favorite Ayreon album. I’ve had tickets for one of the rare live shows in 2023 and yet couldn’t go … one of the bigger regrets of my life. This is my first time seeing the full recording, a glorious live perfomance of the whole album with a fabulous array of guest singers ranging from Hansi Kürsch to Anneke van Giersbergen, Damian Wilsom, Simone Simons, Michael Mills, Daniel Gildenlöw, John Jaycee Cuijpers, Maggy Luyten, Arjen himself, and many more. I don’t know if that makes sense to any of you, but to me this album offers a particularly haunting glimpse into the heart of the universe “out there” as much as “in here”, and a prophetic vision of our – and humanity’s – very own fate. I feel so expanded and small, connected and isolated all at once.

Oh, my dearest Anneke singing these beautiful zeroes and ones in the middle part of “Age of Shadows“! Oh, that violin and flute interlude of “Comatose“, and Damian Wilson’s final burst of emotions! Oh, how Maggy Luyten rocks the chorus of “Liquid Eternity“, and Jeroen Goossens plays that chilling flute solo, and Ben Mathot the heartbreaking violin, before it’s Maggy Luyten and Brittney Slayes slaying it again. My beloved “Beneath the Waves“, like an opera in itself, even better than on the album. Riding on the migrator trail with “Ride the Comet“, featuring extra guitar solo duels between Marcel Coenen and Timo Somers. Oh, what joy to hear and see Simone Simons of Epica with Arjen in “Web of Lies“, and later Arjen with Liselotte Hegt in “The Truth Is In Here“, bringing the vast dimensions of the cosmic storyline down to Earth!

I would like to prescribe a good dose of “The Fifth Extinction“, eventually followed by “The Sixth Extinction“, to every leader on our planet. I know it won’t change much, but let us indulge in such unreasonable hope for a while, shall we?

Happily exhausted, I traverse the city again, enter a beautiful cathetral along the way, return to the campsite and hang around with fellow Ayreonaut campers who make music under a large tent with sofas and tables. This is the evening of Ayreon’s premiere show at the 013 venue, my ticket is for the following Saturday afternoon show. On TicketSwap there are (unfortunately, yet also fortunately) way too many spare tickets available, selling at dumping prices, so I acquire one of them for the Saturday evening show as well.

Later that night I grab some strange food in a crowded bar, where two friendly locals start a conversation with me about music and traveling. Later I enjoy the (final?) live performance of the best Ayreon cover band, Ayreon Project. They play with such joy, passion, and love for detail, for almost two hours straight! And the Ayreon songs are anything but easy to arrange and perform.

Again back at the campsite around the fire bowl, I make new friends with Lady V, her mom Iwona and her sister Yunin. How amazing to travel to epic concerts with one’s metal mom! Eventually we retreat to our respective tents where that inescapable blessing called sleep is upon us. One last round of nighttime dreams before the Ayreon concerts …