ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN Says There Has Been No Talk Of Her Making New Music With THE GATHERING

In a recent interview with Hakos Pervanidis of the Metal Hammer Greece TV program TV War, Anneke Van Giersbergen spoke about the ongoing reunion shows from her former band THE GATHERING to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Dutch rockers' "Mandylion" album. Regarding whether she and her longtime THE GATHERING bandmates expected "Mandylion" to still have such an impact after three decades, Anneke said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Really, honestly, no. We know that people still listen to the album, still listen to THE GATHERING, and they follow us around, but we didn't expect this to happen. And we feel so blessed, it's equally cool to be on stage together like brothers and sisters, and to play these old songs. And I think this energy that we have on stage, it comes back to the audience. And people love the music, and they like to see us have fun, and it comes back to us as well. And that gives such an amazing atmosphere."

Asked if she was "skeptical or a bit reluctant" to reunite with THE GATHERING when the offer first came to celebrate the 30th anniversary of "Mandylion", Anneke said: "No, no. The proposal came, actually, quite... Me and [THE GATHERING guitarist] René [Rutten], we just had coffee for a few times, and we talked about life and about everything, and about music, as friends. But then the topic came up, like, 'Okay, so 'Mandilion' is becoming 30 years old.' It became a gold album a long time ago, but now we received this gold album. And he said, 'Maybe now is the time to do something special.' And then I said, 'Yeah, why not? Let's do one show. Let's do two shows, maybe.' So it was all really from a comfortable position of us being friends, us talking about the old days and about music. So there was no big mogul or management behind it and saying, 'Oh, you have to do this for a lot of reasons.' So the only reason was, like, 'Let's have fun with this album.' And we're so proud of it."

As for whether Anneke has talked with the other members of THE GATHERING about making new music together, she said: "We didn't. We didn't talk about it because we wanted this anniversary year, which, like you said, started with one show, then two shows, then the whole year, which was already so many more gigs than we anticipated on. And we said, 'Let's keep it special,' because we can put all our time and energy in it, and we can make really great shows. And now everybody had the chance to come see us everywhere. So we end in January with this big show in Amsterdam, and then that's it. So we don't have any plans. Of course, we keep in touch, and we're friends, and we go out for coffee. And that's, for me personally, something really, really great, and I really enjoy it. But music-wise, we don't have any plans. And I have my solo stuff, so I'm going to do my tours and my albums. And THE GATHERING also has — I think they are going to talk amongst themselves, like, how is the future gonna look? So, no plans [for us to make new music together]."

THE GATHERING's "Mandylion" lineup played five reunion shows at Doornroosje in Nijmegen, The Netherlands in August 2025. They also previously staged a kick-off "try-out" concert on June 29, 2025 at Dynamo in Eindhoven.

The "Mandylion" lineup of THE GATHERING kicked off its spring/summer 2026 European tour on May 19 at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London, United Kingdom.

The band continued the "Mandylion" celebrations in 2026 with around 30 more shows in Europe, North America and South America, concluding with a headlining appearance on October 17 at Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile.

Due to "personal circumstances", THE GATHERING keyboard player Frank Boeijen has been taking a temporary break from touring with the band and is being replaced by Remco Van Zandvoort, who previously filled in for Frank in 2022.

THE GATHERING's third studio album, "Mandylion" was released in August 1995 via Century Media Records. It was the band's first LP to feature Van Giersbergen.

In November 2014, THE GATHERING celebrated its 25th anniversary with a one-time special show at Doornroosje in Nijmegen. All past and present members of THE GATHERING — from 1989 until 2014 — appeared on stage and performed in this unique show together.

Van Giersbergen announced her departure from THE GATHERING in 2007. She has since released several albums on her own and with her AGUA DE ANNIQUE solo project.

In December 2025, Norwegian singer Silje Wergeland, who had been fronting THE GATHERING since early 2009, announced her departure from the band. She explained in a statement that "after 16 years of creating and playing great music with THE GATHERING" it was "time to move on to new ventures."

Prior to joining THE GATHERING, Silje sang for the Norwegian band OCTAVIA SPERATI.