Watch: New DELAIN Lineup Plays First Official Dutch Concert

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:

01. 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:

17. 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.

Westerholt stated: "The future of DELAIN looks bright!"

DELAIN is:

Martijn Westerholt - keyboards
Diana Leah - vocals
Ronald Landa - guitars and backing vocals
Ludovico Cioffi - bass and backing vocals
Sander Zoer - drums

In February 2021, Westerholt announced the dissolution of DELAIN's previous lineup. At the time, he explained: "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."

Singer Charlotte Wessels said about her departure: "I know that you might have questions about the 'why' in all of this. I fully understand and respect that. Simply put, it is the sad conclusion of more than a year of trying to find solutions to built up grievances. Part of me feels like I'm letting all of you down, I'd like you to know that this decision was not taken lightly and I apologise to those of you who had high hopes of seeing all of us together live on stage again after lockdown. Until recently, I thought this might still be in the cards for us as well."

This past September, Charlotte was asked in an interview with Spain's The Metal Circus TV how she felt about the fact that DELAIN recently made a comeback with a new lineup. Wessels said: "I'm trying not to engage with it too much, honestly. I've seen positive responses about it, which I think is good. But I do try to keep some distance and just focus on what I'm doing rather than checking that out, because I still don't feel like that will make me happier per se."

DELAIN's sixth full-length album, the Westerholt-produced "Apocalypse & Chill", was released in February 2020 via Napalm Records.