THE GATHERING's 'Mandylion' Lineup Announces More 30th-Anniversary Shows In The Netherlands

To celebrate the 30th anniversary of their "Mandylion" album, the lineup of Dutch rockers THE GATHERING that recorded the LP — including singer Anneke Van Giersbergen — will reunite for five exclusive sold-out shows at Doornroosje in Nijmegen, the Netherlands:

August 27 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje
August 28 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje
August 29 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje
August 30 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje
August 31 - Nijmegen, Netherlands @ Doornroosje

Fans can expect to hear all "Mandylion" tracks as well as more songs from the band's Anneke era.

THE GATHERING says: "After so many years, we are very excited to celebrate this anniversary together, an album that still means so much to us."

The lineup for the Nijmegen concerts will consist of the following musicians:

* Anneke Van Giersbergen - vocals
* Hugo Prinsen Geerligs - bass
* Frank Boeijen - keyboards, backing vocals
* Hans Rutten - drums
* René Rutten - guitar
* Jelmer Wiersma - guitar

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 2005, Century Media celebrated the 10th anniversary of "Mandylion" by releasing a special deluxe edition of the album. The double-CD set featured new artwork, a 16-page booklet with song-by-song liner notes from the band and never-before-seen photos from the album's recording sessions. CD2 contained the first demo recordings THE GATHERING did with Van Giersbergen in June 1994 and early 1995. "Solar Glider" was a previously unreleased instrumental while "Third Chance" appeared two years later in a different version on the "Nighttime Birds" album.

In a 2007 interview with PopMatters, Van Giersbergen stated about her decision to leave THE GATHERING and launch AGUA DE ANNIQUE: "I had been in THE GATHERING for 13 years, and I had never done anything for 13 years in my life. It's been my whole adult life, so to leave that, on one hand, was a very clear decision and a very strong feeling, and I was ready. In 13 years, things had changed in my personal and musical life. It was difficult as well, because the guys, they were like brothers, so to leave that and to change that relationship has been a long process and was probably one of the hardest things I did.

"I told them at the beginning of March, and so we really took some time to assess the situation," she continued. "Also, the guys, they wanted to see what their plans would be next. Of course they were not happy with my decision, but they are respectful and they have good spirits to continue. Of course, I put a big stamp on the sound and the look of THE GATHERING, but on the other hand I'm not the only singer in the world, so it's going to change, but it's not going to stop."

Regarding her reasons for leaving, Anneke said, "There were a lot of physical reasons, but they all came out of one big feeling in my heart that it was time to change. I was supposed to do this record besides THE GATHERING, and I was given time and it was all okay, but I like to do other small projects and work with other people a lot. I had some plans, and the feeling became stronger to develop that more seriously and also especially to be with my family a little bit more. Now, I can direct everything I do from this one agenda, and it feels very good to be the director of your own life. In a way THE GATHERING was officially a bigger band, and we were day and night constantly working with it, and it was quite intense, all the processes. So a lot of small things became one big feeling, like, 'Okay, I'm ready.'"