The Gathering have released «Echoes Of Mandylion», a live album recorded at the anniversary shows that brought singer Anneke Van Giersbergen back to the band for the 30th anniversary of «Mandylion».
“`The Nijmegen recordings
The album was recorded over five nights at Doornroosje in Nijmegen, the Netherlands, from 27 to 31 August 2025. Those shows were the first in 11 years with the line-up that made «Mandylion», and the band played the album in full every night. «Echoes Of Mandylion» is available digitally, exclusively via Bandcamp.
The «Mandylion» line-up
«Mandylion» came out on Century Media on 22 August 1995. It was Van Giersbergen‘s first album with The Gathering, and the reunion brings together the same six musicians: Van Giersbergen, guitarists René Rutten and Jelmer Wiersma, keyboardist Frank Boeijen, bassist Hugo Prinsen Geerligs and drummer Hans Rutten. The album went gold in the Netherlands.
Van Giersbergen left The Gathering in 2007 to focus on her solo career.
The anniversary tour
The reunion began with a warm-up show at Dynamo in Eindhoven on 29 June 2025, ahead of the five nights in Nijmegen. Van Giersbergen has said the band originally planned only two shows and that the five Nijmegen dates sold out within 20 minutes. The anniversary tour grew to around 30 more shows through 2026 across Europe, North America and South America.
This year’s dates wrap up on 17 October 2026 at the Movistar Arena in Santiago, Chile. The Gathering will then play one final show on 16 January 2027 at AFAS Live in Amsterdam, which will also mark 30 years of «Nighttime Birds», the 1997 album.
Speaking to Hakos Pervanidis of Metal Hammer Greece’s «TV War» show, Van Giersbergen said the band did not expect «Mandylion» to still resonate three decades on. She explained that the reunion came about when she and René Rutten met for coffee as friends and decided to honour the anniversary after the band received a gold disc. She added that there are no plans for new music together after the Amsterdam show, and that she will continue with her solo tours and albums.
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