Date of Performance: December 2, 2004
Venue: Tivoli Club, Utrecht, NL
Kino's World Premiere
John Mitchell looked a little nervous when I caught up with him backstage at the famous Tivoli Club in Utrecht, Holland. Whilst the parking meter was costing me a small mortgage, John, together with Pete Trewavas, was kind enough to answer my burning questions, result of which you'll be able to read in the forthcoming issue of Progression magazine. Meanwhile It Bites keyboard player John Beck joined the party as well whilst it became clear that Chris Maitland, who drummed all the parts on the band's debut album, could not make it. His replacement was Steve Hughes who stepped into Maitland's shoes during the band's first ever concerts in Europe. The Tivoli gig marked the band's very first concert ever and judging from what I heard this most certainly won't be there last. 
Kino, as the new project between our four friends is called, delivers the kind of music which adds slight prog touches to an otherwise sophisticated rock background, resulting in well executed accessible rock music. As no fewer than three singles are planned to be pulled from the album, it most certainly proves that Inside Out has confidence that this band could well take over where It Bites left off all those years ago. As a matter of fact, the band's very first gig would've been at The Underground in Köln, Germany, immediately filmed for the WDR TV programme Rockpalast. That date was pencilled in for December 8, 2004 with the concert being broadcast on February 7, 2005 (check out www.rockpalast.de for more details). Also, the highlights of that concert will be featured on a DVD which will be included with a limited run of the band's debut album to be released on February 28 (Europe, February 22 in North America through InsideOut Music America.
Because having a TV recording as your debut concert experience is a little scary, the band thought it would be much better to do kind of a try out a little earlier. So on December 2, Kino took to the stage in Utrecht, Holland. Very few people knew about this, so the attendance was rather low. Nevertheless Dutch proggers Ricocher had been called upon to open for Kino. The kind of neo-prog which Ricocher executes is not at all my favourite cup of tea, so although they really tried their best to impress, all were there for to see Kino. From the first bars of "Leave A Light On" (which strangely enough doesn't feature on the band's debut album, but which will probably be the band's first single) till the powerful ending of "The Devil's Chord," Kino has left a huge impression. Of course there were the occasional hickups here and there, with each of the band members forgetting somehing along the way, but then again this was Kino's very first concert ever. So things only can get better from now on, not only because the band members will get better playing together, but also because the audience will get to recognize the band's music better once the album gets released.
Not only did Kino perform more material than can be found on their debut album, John Mitchell proved to be an outstanding front person, and although he probably won't like it, next to Arena, I no longer see a point to continue with The Urbane. I feel it's far better for John to put all of his energy into both Arena and Kino, as that's where his future lies. Kino will be the support band on the forthcoming Spock's Beard tour in Europe. Judging from what I'v seen and heard so far, it won't be long before Kino embarks on a headlining tour of their own.
Links: Progression, Inside Out, Rockpalast, Ricocher, Spock's Beard
all photos: © John "Bobo" Bollenberg
