Plackband — The Third Rise

Plackband 2024. Promo photo by Bert Treep.

Reunion! Again!

Guys, welcome, but also welcome back! What happened that led to this second Plackband reunion and how did things go from there?

RB: When we were rehearsing with our new combo, Rebels Of 69, we saw a people posting old Plackband photos. This triggered a bit of nostalgia tickling again. We are not really getting younger (I mean, Tom is 75 already) and the realisation hit me that if we ever wanted to do something under that name, now would be the time. With PBII being put on hold for a while, the idea of getting the old band back together just got stronger. Of course, I didn't know how the others would feel about this.

Michel (van Wassem, keyboards) and Tom (van der Meulen, drums) are also in Rebels Of 69, so I talk to them almost daily. Since the mini reunion in 2017 I only saw Albert (de Keijzer, bass) and Kees (Bik, vocals) now and then. As I do often with ideas, I talk to Michel first.

Michel van Wassem (MvW): When Ronald called me, I was enthusiastic immediately. Partly because progressive and symphonic rock is more challenging for a keyboard player than the more guitar-oriented alternate rock we play with Rebels Of 69. The music there is mostly written by Ronald and I love it, but my share is less complex and bombastic than with Plackband or PBII.

We agreed that I would talk to Kees and Ronald would talk to Albert. Tom was very easy, by the way: he was interested right away, he really just wants to play as often as possible!

RB: I sent Albert a message, and he responded right away. It felt like he had never left. He started talking about his guitars he still has and his equipment, so typical for Albert.

MvW: Kees reacted with some reservation and said he would think about it. But talking was no problem, so we set 6 November 2023 for a meeting in our rehearsal space.

Koos Sekreve

But things did not go as planned in this department, unfortunately...

RB: Kees wanted to know what the plans were, how much time and energy it was going to take. He was very honest about this from the beginning. His health had taken a turn, and he had to get fitter. As a singer he is much more depending on the physical condition. He was working on it, but there was only one way to find out: rehearse and practice.

MvW: I helped him with his vocal parts, recorded things, listening back, tweak things. The start was difficult but there was also progress. We agreed to see how things would go for six months. Just before christmas we recorded Bloodmaster and that actually sounded pretty good. After the holidays we continued and there was a setback that even surprised Kees.

Plackband in the 70s: Kees Bik

RB: We were keeping the goal in mind of getting the original line-up back into shape. Kees wanted that too and was really working hard. But his physical condition didn't allow much and just a bit of the flu was a big blow. We played Bloodmaster, Seventy Warriors, See The Dwarf, End Of The Line, Sign Of The Knife, Ghost Town, and The Good Earth — we played a lot of songs, but every time after two or three songs his voice just couldn't take it any more.

MvW: Indeed. We could take one step forward, and it could be two steps back the next week. In March this year Kees decided it was not going to work because there was a step back too often and had no confidence in his vocal abilities. He didn't want to be an uncertain factor for the rest of us. This would break the original line-up, which was hard for all of us, but we understood, of course.

So how to continue? The first gig was already booked. The first idea for a replacement was easy as that was on everybody's mind and probably the most logical Koos Sekreve helped us out in 2005 for gigs in Holland, Belgium, England, and Italy, when our then singer Karel Messemaker was ill.

Back then, Koos was clear that it could only be a temporary solution. Karel sang for three years with us after he got better.

So how did you contact Koos and how did he react?

MvW: everyone was very open-minded about the idea, without expectations. When we called Koos, he immediately said that he was interested and that he wanted to do it on a permanent basis, not just as a temporary replacement. Things in life had changed, like kids going to live on their own, working fewer hours, etc. And he just had the warmest of memories of that one year he was with us!

We agreed we would rehearse one song: the French L'enfant du 92eme, which is also on our DVD Visions. When he came into our rehearsal room we were in the middle of an interview with Bert Treep of iO Pages. That was some wonderful timing! A warm reception, interview with photos, and it felt like he had never left. When Koos enters a room, you just feel the positive vibes. And when we played the song, it was clear. Bert Treep was in the sound room and said it sounded like listening to a CD!

Style

There has been a second, long pause during which you wanted to follow some clearly different ideas and wishes that didn't fit the Plackband name. PBII has a slightly different sound, Rebels Of 69 even more so. Sounds very reasonable — taste changes over time. Does this reunion mean you feel a wish to go back to the Plackband sound?

RB: Yes. We don't see it as a reunion, but a continuation or new beginning, a new Plackband. On the one hand we will try and keep the sound as close to the original as possible. I finally got my Kemper Profile Stage to produce that typical Hackett sound. On the other hand, with Koos (Sekreve, vocals) we have new possibilities. Technique, keyboards, equipment — everything has evolved, so we have many options to let the sound evolve, possibly with new songs as well.

MvW: For me, it was a challenge to recreate the old sounds as close to the original as possible. And I am pretty pleased with the results! It took quite a bit of time to get the ARP Pro Solist synth right, now that's a typical part of the Plackband sound. The same goes for the Hammond and Mellotron.

How is all this going to work with PBII and Rebels Of 69?

RB: You could say we have a holding company called Plackband, with brand names Plackband, PBII, and Rebels Of 69. We have a few foundations as well, like Stichting PB2Komstmuziek (a pun in Dutch/English combining the words PBII and a Dutch expression that translates to "music from the future" and means "something that cannot be done right now") and Save The Earth, which we use for charity and when we're doing shows for the good cause, like we did with 1000Wishes and Save The Earth.

The Plackband brand is the mother brand, established 1977 and plays old-school symphonic rock influenced by bands like Yes and Genesis. Our shows will focus on the old material first, but starting early 2025 we want to write some new material as well and possible do a new album. Members are Michel, Tom, Albert, Koos, and me.

PBII (established 2009) is a modern version of Plackband taking influences from Frost*, It Bites, Porcupine Tree, and the likes. We use the PBII moniker for social themes and charities. Our albums Plastic Soup, 1000Wishes, and Rocket are good examples of that. The shows are in larger settings like rock operas or musical theatre.

We are working on funding on a European level for an educational rock opera based on 1000Wishes, but then focusing on child refugees from Ukraine. For now the PBII project is put on hold, but we'll reboot it when we see new opportunities. Members of PBII are Ruud Slakhorst vocals, Alex van Elswijk on bass, and then Tom, Michel, and me.

Finally, Rebels Of 69 was founded during COVID after PBII could no longer operate under the restrictions. Even rehearsing was no longer possible. We were working on a Dutch version of the 1000Wishes, directed by Rob van de Meeburg and with Ernst Daniël Smid (who would be replacing Frits Lambrechts). COVID put a stop on all of this.

For me, the only consolation was playing and writing music at home. Because I didn't have Michel as a sparring partner in this, the music became very guitar-oriented and not suitable for PBII. I didn't have any limitations on what I wrote, it just turned out very energetic and more rock-based music. Think of Muse or bands you hear on Dutch radio station Kink FM. When I sent my songs to singer Ruud, he was very interested and got inspiration for lyrics and vocal melodies right away.

Plackband in the 70s: Michel van Wassem

MvW: I suddenly received music with lyrics and vocals, in a much later state that I was used to. In some way that different way of working was a nice change. I could focus on the keyboard parts only or change the ones that Ronald had come up with. The bass was still a MIDI source. When we asked Alex it became clear that this was not really his thing. That was when we decided to keep this separate and meant we had to put PBII on hold for a while.

RB: Ruud asked his old bass player in Edge Of Sanity, Philip Platt, and he was interested. We're very happy with his very different way of playing the bass, adding funk and jazz-rock. It fit the new style. Funny thing is that we now noticed that our drummer Tom is much more diverse than we ever realised. He really loves drumming with this new style as well. Before going prog, he had already played rock and roll, jazz-rock, and other styles.

Ruud got inspiration from social themes (being "woke", social media impact, political and social polarisation, lying politicians, changes in politics, climate change and activists, cancellation culture, conspiracy theorists, etc.) and that with the more rocking sound gave us a bit of a rebellious feel. So we named ourselves after the song Rebels Of 69. Band members are Philip Platt, Ruud Slakhorst, and the known core of Tom, Michel, and me.

So for now the focus with Plackband will be the gigs.

RB: Yes, we need to work hard to be able to play those old songs properly again! But I have a feeling that this third term and with Koos singing, the songs will sound better than ever. We've gained experience, grown stronger, and are having more fun. The vocal harmonies are getting better as well. Our first gig on October 11 is going to be a blast!

MvW: With Rebels Of 69 we will be playing our first gig at ProgFrog in the venue 't Blok. Together with Plackband, as a double headliner. So the core of Tom, Ronald and me will be playing two gigs on one day! That is going to be a lot of fun. The sad thing is that it will be the last concert ProgFrog will be doing. Unfortunately they decided to stop, which is sad news for a lot of prog fans. So we're going to turn the event into a party there!

Plackband, 2024. Promo photo by Bert Treep.

Plackband and Dilemma (double headliner):
11 October 2024 at De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, Netherlands

Plackband and Rebels Of 69 (double headliner):
1 December 2024 at 't Blok, Nieuwerkerk a/d IJssel, Netherlands

Text by Jerry van Kooten.
Plackband live in Wijchen, 19 April 1981: photos by Jim Pors, used by kind permission from Jim Pors.
Plackband 2024 promo photos by Bert Treep, used by kind permission from Plackband.
Other photos from the collection of Tom van der Meulen, used by kind permission.