New DELAIN Lineup plays first official Dutch concert in hometown Zwolle

07-11-2022

After playing two “secret rehearsal shows” in June and another “tryout” concert on November 2, the new DELAIN lineup performed its first official Dutch gig last night (Friday, November 4) at Hedon in Zwolle.

Joining keyboardist, founder and main songwriter Martijn Westerholt in DELAIN‘s current lineup are new singer Diana Leah, original guitarist Ronald Landa and original drummer Sander Zoer, along with bassist Ludovico Cioffi.

Earlier today, DELAIN shared a few photos from last night’s concert and included the following message: “No words can describe what happened yesterday at Hedon… it was pure magic!

“DELAIN is back in business, and this SOLD OUT show is the ultimate proof! Pure energy and enthusiasm it’s what we breathed during our set, and all we needed.

“Thanks to all of you who took part of this unforgettable event. Thanks to HAWXX for partying with us and to our very special guests Ivar de Graaf and Paolo Ribaldini who joined us on stage for such an epic moment! (By the way, exciting news about it very soon)

“Once again, thank you all from the bottom of our hearts. Until next time, Delainers!”

The band’s setlist was as follows:

Hands Of Gold
02. Suckerpunch
03. Burning Bridges
04. Invidia
05. The Quest And The Curse
06. April Rain
07. Masters Of Destiny
08. The Hurricane
09. Cordell(THE CRANBERRIES cover) (with Ivar de Graaf)
10. What Lies Beneath (with Paolo Ribaldini)
11. Your Body Is A Battleground (with Paolo Ribaldini)
12. Sing To Me (with Paolo Ribaldini)
13. The Gathering (with Paolo Ribaldini)
14. Don’t Let Go
15. Fire With Fire
16. Not Enough

Encore:

Mother Machine
18. Control The Storm(with Paolo Ribaldini)
19. We Are the Others

The new DELAIN lineup made its official live debut on August 27 at the Riverside festival in Aarburg, Switzerland.

Leah answered a few fan-submitted questions via the band’s YouTube channel, including how she joined the long-running Dutch metal act. She said: “It’s really simple, actually. I knew they were looking for a singer so I just left a comment on their Instagram page. So a couple of days later I received an e-mail from Martijn, and we talked a bit about how I could audition and he sent me some material that I could sing on. And the rest is history.”

Asked how she decided to sing in a metal band, the 32-year-old Diana said: “Well, I’ve always wanted to sing in a metal band. It was really my desire to do it. In fact, I did sing in a couple of rock bands, but it wasn’t really heavy music, which I loved at the time. It was really hard to find the right people to form a band with and also to get along together and all that. But I’ve always wanted to be in a metal band. Always.”

Leah also talked a bit about her background, saying: “I was born in Romania, in a city called Alba Iulia. It’s in the middle of Transylvania. And then I moved to Italy when I was 15, and I lived in Italy for, I think, 10 years or something. And then I moved to Canada, in Ottawa, and I lived there for five years. And then I came back to Italy. And now I currently live in Italy, near Torino, so up north.”

This past August, DELAIN released a new single, “The Quest And The Curse”, featuring the band’s trademark bombastic riffs, lush orchestrations, elements from film music, metal, pop, electronic, and much more mark an amalgamation of the old and new, and build the next chapter of DELAIN‘s history.

Watch the original video for ‘The Quest And The Curse’ below.

With the addition of Diana Leah, the band now is complet again and consists of:

Martijn Westerholt
Keyboards, Orchestrations, Vocals (backing) (2002-present)
See also: Eye of Melian, ex-Within Temptation

Diana Leah
Vocals (lead) (2022-present)

Ronald Landa
Guitars, Vocals (backing) (2006-2009, 2021-present)
See also: Autumn, ex-Infinite Dawn, ex-Hangover Hero

Ludovico Cioffi
Bass, Vocals (growls, backing) (2022-present)
See also: Carnality, Nightland, Sun of the Suns, The Modern Age Slavery, Neker (live), ex-Ne Obliviscaris (live)

Sander Zoer
Drums (2006-2014, 2021-present)
See also: ex-Antares, ex-Nemesea, ex-Secret Rule, ex-Tragul

Watch the previously made statement from Martijn Westerholt, about his continuing band structure below.

Last year, Delain announced to part ways with all its members, saying in a statement:

“Delain Goes Back to its Roots

For the last year or so, the collaboration within the band ceased to work as well as it once had. Some of us were no longer happy with the current roles in the band. We all tried very hard to find a solution for over a year, but sadly we were unable to find one.

As a result, we will all be going our own ways and pursuing our own endeavors. I am very sad our cooperation has come to end, but at the same time I am very grateful for all the years we were able to work together. Together we toured the world, shared highs and lows, and met with many successes as well as times that pushed us to learn and grow. We all enjoyed meeting our fans and making new friends all over the globe. I would like to thank my fellow bandmates and wish Timo, Otto, Joey, and especially Charlotte the very best for the future. And I hope that will mean onwards and upwards to new musical adventures for each of them!

That being said, Delain will live on. The others have chosen to pursue different paths. I have decided to keep Delain alive by continuing on with writing and producing the music for Delain as I always have. I started Delain as a project in 2002 and for the next album I will take it back to a project form, releasing music with special guests. As it looks now many familiar faces will be returning to join me on this journey.

I can’t express my gratitude enough to all of you Delainers that have supported us over so many years. Your dedication to the music and the community you created for us has been overwhelming. Even though this situation is not ideal, change never usually is at first, I hope you will continue to join Delain on its new journey. This is not the end of Delain. It’s the end of a chapter, but also the beginning of a new one.”

Social media