Due to visa problems, Vanden Plas will not be able to play at ProgPower USA.  Unfortunately, Vanden Plas is not the only band affected. Check out the PP USA website for more information.

We are happy to announce the winner of the "Christo" Ouverture contest: It's Benedikt Holnacher from Munich, Germany! He identified 12 songs or song parts in the ouverture. Congratulations!

Here's the solution of the contest, provided by maestro Günter Werno himself:

0,0 - 0,5: Deep Note, Atmosphere

0,5 - 0,50: Variation of Silently piano theme played by the guitar, main theme
Wish you where here - intro theme played by synth lead
Judas chorus melody played by orchestra with harmonic alterations

0,50 - 1,05: Intro Christ0 plus Church organ

1,05 - 2,23: Fireroses Dance
1,05 - 1,16: Intro
1,17 - 1,45: Verses: harp plays vocal line, guitar plays vocal line of "Isn't it a wonder"
1,45 - 1,57: Pre-chorus, woodwinds play vocal line
1,57 - 2,23: Chorus, guitar picks up string melody

2,23 - 3,17: New middle part of "Free the fire" played by orchestra, joined by band, in the beginning overlapped by "When I prey" choir from "Postcard to God"

3,17 - 3,20: Bridge to Postcard, new theme

3,20 - 3,57: Postcard to God
3,20 - 3,33: Intro
3,33 - 3,57: End chorus

3,57 - 4,04: Bridge to "I don't miss you", new theme

4,04 - 4,41: I don't miss you
4,04 - 4,27: Chorus
4,27 - 4,41: Outro combined with intro vocal line from "January Sun" and "Isn't it a wonder" and "Somewhere alone in the dark" played by acoustic guitar

4,41 - 5,07: Outro, guitar picks up alternated "Silently" theme again, deep note, atmosphere

A new Vanden Plas album is on the horizon! Stephan has already composed 12 new songs and Andy is working on
the lyrics and vocal lines. There will also be more songs coming from Günter and Andy.
Which songs and how many will be featured on the cd will also depend on the story (more info to follow).
The band is thinking about a release in fall 2009. Once again, the band will work together with engineer Markus Teske
and the album will be recorded at Bazement Studio near Wiesbaden, Germany.

Hier ist ein kleines Weihnachtsgeschenk für alle Vanden Plas-Fans: Auf unserer MySpace-Seite ist ab sofort die bisher unveröffentlichte Ouvertüre des Christo-Musicals zu hören! Die Ouvertüre enthält Parts und Melodien von verschiedenen Songs des Musicals. Viel Spaß beim Anhören!

Dazu veranstalten wir einen kleinen Wettbewerb, um zu sehen, wieviele der Songs Ihr erkennt: Hört Euch die Ouvertüre genau an und notiert die Namen der Songs zusammen mit Angabe des Zeitraums, in dem sie in der Ouvertüre vorkommen. Sendet Eure Ergebnisse per E-Mail an contest@vandenplas.de und vergesst nicht, Euren Namen und Eure Adresse mit anzugeben. Der Gewinner wird unter den Einsendungen mit den meisten erkannten Songs ausgelost (die Band erwartet nicht, dass jemand tatsächlich alle erkennt!). Als Preis winkt ein Vanden Plas - Überraschungspaket, Einsendeschluss ist der 31. Januar. Viel Erfolg!

Here's a little Christmas present from Vanden Plas: We have just posted the yet unreleased Ouverture of the Christo Musical on our MySpace site! The Ouverture features parts and melodies from different songs from the musical. Enjoy!

In addition, we will hold a little contest in order to see how many of the songs you are able to recognize: Listen to the ouverture, find out which songs are included and note the song titles and the time period where they appear in the Ouverture(!). Send your submissions via e-mail to contest@vandenplas.de and do not forget to include your name and address. The winner will be picked among those who find the highest number of correct songs (actually, the band doesn't believe that there will be anyone who recognizes all!). The prize will be a Vanden Plas surprise package. Please send your submissions before January 31st. Good luck!

Andy Kuntz on stage with musical star Chris Murray at the "Night of the Musical-Stars" on January 24th in Bonn, Germany! Andy will be special guest at Chris Murray's musical gala where songs from Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Miserables and WE WILL ROCK YOU, among others, will be performed. In a two-hour show, Chris Murray, Armin Kahl (Aida, Elisabeth – Die Legende einer Heiligen), Andy Kuntz and Andreas Henning (piano) will perform hits from musicals.

Ticket Hotline: +49 (0)561 – 949 90 415 (daily 12.00 – 23.00) or buy your ticket directly at the WOKI-Filmpalast in Bonn, Germany!

Günter Werno recorded keyboards for the second Place Vendome album (Günter: "Kiske in best form!") and the new Joe Lynn Turner album. Both CDs are produced by Dennis Ward. Günter can also be herad on 5 songs of the new album of the German death metal band Debauchery.

Stephan Lill has recorded a guitar solo for the upcoming album of the Finnish melodic mertal band Celesty! The song with Stephan's solo is called "Legacy of Hate pt.3". The album will be released in 2009.

An Abydos DVD has just been released.

Abydos is the name of Andy Kuntz's solo project. An album was released in 2004. Later, Andy developed a musical around the album and it's concept, involving numerous actors, singers and dancers, an orchestra, and his bandmates of Vanden Plas. The stage production was a huge success in Kaiserslautern, and has been filmed for the DVD.

More info and a short teaser can be found on Abydos' brand new myspace page : http://www.myspace.com/abydosofficial. Expect more updates very soon!

VP will be Shure's guests at the Frankfurt music fair. They will play some of their own songs, plus songs from Abydos and from other musicals.

More details here : http://www.shure.de/ProAudio/Products/de_pro_article_FRA_07