Stairway to Heaven, Utrecht (NL)

It was a wonderful Sunday, April 18th, 2004. A great day for a party! It was a little rainy, but it did not spoil the fun. When our group of artists, volunteers and crew arrived at 11 AM, there were already fans gathered outside, very eager and waiting to get in. But they would have to wait another 2 hours before we could allow them to enter The Stairway to Heaven cafe, in Utrecht!

We set up quickly, and when Heather Findlay arrived, fresh from the airport after having had no sleep since her Mostly Autumn gig the night before, there was time for a quick sound-check. It was the first time all musicians gathered together- but the chemistry was already there- even at noon on a Sunday!


At 1 PM the doors opened, and people poured through the doors, over 500 people came into the Stairway to Heaven Cafe and received an Ayreon pen and postcard. Most people immediately gathered in front of the stage, and patiently waited for Heather Findlay to come and countdown the album's beginning. Everyone got very quiet as the first tones- or should I say... beeps- rang through the cafe. People immediately got into the groove of the music, and started headbanging as the heavy riffs took over!

Then it was time for a part of the DVD to be shown on the many screens throughout the cafe, giving a behind the scenes glimpse of the making of 'The Human Equation'. At the same time Arjen and the gang took some quality time chatting with fans and signing autographs, posters, CDs, and some body parts. It was hard to tell who was enjoying it more, the artists or the fans! Lots of smiles and bright happy faces! As Arjen later told the audience, he had not expected as many people to show up on a Sunday afternoon like this, and was visibly impressed and touched with the heartwarming welcoming applause and cheers from the crowd telling him clearly: he had been wrong!

Once the DVD section was finished, it was time for a special acoustic set with Arjen on guitar, Joost van den Broek on keyboards and Irene Jansen & Heather Findlay on vocals. Starting off with a powerful rendition of 'Valley of the Queens', the set also featured special versions of 'Into the Black Hole', 'Day Thirteen: Sign', 'Dreamtime', 'Castle Hall' and 'Day Eleven: Love'. That song was also sung by Andre Vuurboom (Sun Caged), Ed Warby, Arjen's wife- Jolanda, and of course Arjen. They had so much fun doing it, that the crowd begged for more, and everyone completely got hooked on the song!
After the set, the entire group went back to signing CDs again, and talking to the fans, making sure no one was overlooked. It was a very magical day, and the enthusiasm of the fans really made it a special day to remember for all those involved! Thank you all for coming and being so supporting throughout this day. Thanks also to those who made this day happen. Our volunteers for helping out, and the crew at Stairway to Heaven led by Clement! Thank you!

Among the songs played were 'Dreamtime' sung by Irene Jansen and 'Day Thirteen:Love' sung by Heather Findlay who had flown over from England especially for this performance in Stairway to Heaven Cafe in Utrecht, Netherlands.

Video Downloads

Pre-release Day Thirteen: Sign

Pre-release Black Hole

This footage was shot by Jon Hinchliffe, Yvette Boertje, Aleix Dorca, Jon Hinchliffe and Bryan Ketelaars.