ANNEKE VAN GIERSBERGEN On Tour Plans With THE GATHERING’s 90’s Lineup: “We Just Focus On These Shows And Take It From There”

It started with a casual coffee between old friends. Anneke Van Giersbergen, the unmistakable voice behind The Gathering‘s seminal ’90s records, recently opened up about the surprising and heartfelt decision to reunite for a series of anniversary shows celebrating Mandylion, the Dutch band’s 1995 breakthrough album. What began as a spontaneous idea quickly snowballed into something far bigger.

“Well, actually, I’m quite excited… This idea came kind of spontaneously,” Van Giersbergen explained in a new interview with Femmetal – Goddesses Of Metal (via Blabbermouth). “We were having conversations, we had just coffee and were talking about life, other things, and then we talked about Mandylion turning 30, and because time flies, we didn’t really think about it.”

That passing mention of time’s swift pace quickly turned into a call to action.

“And then we said, ‘Maybe we can do something nice with it,’ because it’s such an important album for us personally because we had a great time at the beginning of The Gathering career with me, of course,” she continued, “And we said, ‘Well, if we do something, we have to do it now, because next year it’s not such a good reason because now Mandylion is 30 years old, and let’s do something nice.'”

The band’s decision to mark the album’s anniversary with a limited run of reunion shows quickly revealed the lasting resonance of their music.

“So we made this plan, and we made these ideas for these shows. And then a lot of people wanted to come to the shows. I mean, I know The Gathering is still a popular band, and I know it’s alive — people really like The Gathering‘s music now and back then. But we didn’t expect this many people to react to it and want to buy a ticket to see us perform live again. And so we are so happy.”

The reaction from fans, many of whom have waited a decade to see this lineup live again, has been overwhelming — and, in Van Giersbergen’s words, deeply gratifying.

“And we’re gonna make a few beautiful shows and gonna have lots of fun playing together again, ’cause it’s been a long time. It’s been 10 years, I think.”

While fans from across the globe are clamoring for more, the band is tempering expectations about a wider tour, at least for now.

“Everybody’s asking. I mean, it’s fantastic. It’s a great problem to have, that a lot of people want us to come to their country,” she said. “But we focus on these shows here, and a lot of people are traveling for it, so that’s really, really wonderful. And then we’ll see. But we just focus on these shows and take it from there.”

Looking ahead to the upcoming performances, Van Giersbergen shared her enthusiasm for diving back into the band’s emotionally rich catalog, especially the tracks that offer both melodic and powerful live energy.

“It’s kind of a wide variety of atmospheres on this album [Mandylion], but I like songs like On Most Surfaces [from 1997’s Nighttime Birds], because they’re heavy and we can let all the energy flow on this one,” she said. “I like the heavier songs as well, but In Motion #1 and [In Motion] #2 are, for instance, very, very melodic — they’re carrying you through a story — and I also like that so much.”