Lucassen explains return to stage for Gentle Storm

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By ( Prog ) published

Composer tells of decision to make rare live appearances with Anneke van Giersbergen

Arjen Lucasseen has explained why he overcame his concerns about playing live to tour with The Gentle Storm collaborator Anneke van Giersbergen.

They’ve just released their album The Diary, which contains 10 tracks delivered in “gentle” and “storm” versions, and followed it with a handful of acoustic performances in Europe.

But Lucassen – who won’t take part in the full-power Gentle Storm shows fronted by Giersbergen – initially didn’t even want to play the stripped-down concerts.

In the exclusive Prog video interview he says: “I played live for 15 years when I was young, a long time ago. I see myself more as a composer and producer; that’s what I’m good at. I don’t see myself as a performer, because I’m not very good at it, and I get stage fright and stuff like that.”

He continues: “When Anneke asked me to do a little acoustic tour, at first I was like, ‘Nah.’ But then I thought about it, and I thought, ‘Damn it, we worked on this album for a year. Everything turned out right about it. It has to succeed – and I’ll do anything to make it work.’”

Find out more in the video below. The Gentle Storm premiered their video for Shores Of India with Prog last week. The Diary is available via InsideOut in a variety of bundles via Lucassen and van Giersbergen’s websites. The Gentle Storm visit the UK next month without Lucassen:

Apr 23: London Garage

Apr 24: Leicester Musician

Apr 25: Manchester Roadhouse

Martin Kielty
Freelance Online News Contributor

Not only is one-time online news editor Martin an established rock journalist and drummer, but he’s also penned several books on music history, including SAHB Story: The Tale of the Sensational Alex Harvey Band, a band he once managed, and the best-selling Apollo Memories about the history of the legendary and infamous Glasgow Apollo. Martin has written for Classic Rock and Prog and at one time had written more articles for Louder than anyone else (we think he's second now). He’s appeared on TV and when not delving intro all things music, can be found travelling along the UK’s vast canal network.