As it turns out, the previous RIVERSIDE gig here in Sofia happened exactly one year ago - celebrating what was TANGRA MEGA ROCK’s 13th birthday. But how different it all felt in 2020! And no, we don’t mean the different venue or setlist, but rather all that has been happening around the world during the last few months. The global panic and uncertainty surely had their effect on this concert.
 

 

“We started the Wasteland tour back in 2018. But it was only in the last months that we felt how the album lyrics fit the world situation,” says MARIUSZ from the ‘Music Jam’ scene.

 

We have to agree - listening to tracks like ‘Acid Rain’ makes so much sense now:

 

 

 

And still - RIVERSIDE did arrive here for what was to be the very last gig from their long world tour. Mere moments before kicking it off, we heard the Romanian and Hungarian shows were cancelled, making the band a bit calmer, we guess. 

 

Remember that their previous gig here was off to a rough start, soundwise? No such case this time - it was a perfect gig, from start to finish. No support bands, no sound issues - the Polish prog champions delivered a flawless live show, featuring important tracks from ‘Rapid Eye Movement’ (‘02 Panic Room’ also fits the global craze perfectly, right?), ‘Love, Fear and the Time Machine’ and ‘Wasteland’, of course.

 

The setlist was almost identical to the one 12 months ago and the great emotion was there as well. The last gigs from the Wasteland tour were anything but business as usual for guitarist MACIEJ MELLER. Three years after starting to play with the band, he was recently officially announced as a permanent replacement of the late PIOTR GRUDZIŃSKI. It won’t be easy walking in his shoes! Still, MELLER seems to be up for it - last night he played fantastically and already looks like an integral part of the band.

 

 

After the final notes of this tour had faded away and while walking home, we continued listening to ‘Wasteland’. And just like MARIUSZ DUDA mentioned - those tracks are both frightfully prophetic but also somewhat optimistic. And we need that right now.