Beyond 01011001: Arjen Lucassen on Ayreon Live, Plan Nine & more surprises!

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Step into the world of Ayreon with Arjen Anthony Lucassen himself as we explore the new Ayreon Live album and the upcoming Plan 9 album. Discover the inspirations, challenges, and innovations behind these projects in this captivating interview with the legendary musician and composer. Finally, we also discuss the exciting details of the upcoming re-releases and secret albums that have not yet been announced!

0:00 Intro
1:14 Guest Appearances
2:48 Next Ayreon Live Shows
5:01 Surprise Reactions
7:17 "I love bad endings!"
11:25 Fan Show Recordings
13:29 Charity Donation
14:57 Fan Input for Ayreon Events
16:55 Coverdale or Gillan!?
18:48 Playing Live thanks to Joost
20:56 Plan Nine Shows
22:03 Reworking Demos
24:28 Inspirational Showers
26:13 Solo Album Reissue
29:19 Blackbriar & Comic Books
33:28 Outro

An Ayreon live event is not just any concert. It’s a monumental occasion where the highest-calibre musicians and an enormous production come together to forge a bombastic spectacle. The rarity of these shows only adds to their uniqueness. In September 2023, Arjen Lucassen's '01011001 - Live Beneath the Waves' sold out five performances at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Today, Ayreon is excited to announce the release of this concert on 3LP, 2CD+DVD, Blu-ray, Earbook, and digital formats on 17 May, through Music Theories Recordings / Mascot Label Group.

Ayreon mastermind Arjen Lucassen, alongside keyboardist Joost van den Broek, assembled a remarkable lineup, featuring many original cast members from the 01011001 album and various special guests such as Simone Simons (Epica), Damian Wilson (Threshold), Anneke van Giersbergen, Jonas Renkse(Katatonia), Tom Englund (Evergrey), Daniel Gildenlow (Pain of Salvation), Marcela Bovio (MaYan), Brittney Slayes (Unleash the Archers), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), John Jaycee Cuijpers (Praying Mantis), Maggy Luyten (Beautiful Sin), Michael Mills (Toehider) and Wudstik, among other incredible musicians.

The band featured top instrumentalists from the genre - Ed Warby (Drums), Johan van Stratum (Bass), Timo Somers (Guitar), Marcel Coenen (Guitar), Joost Van Den Broek (Keyboards) and more. The enigmatic Lucassen himself made an appearance, marking this as the largest cast in Ayreon's live show history, which is no mean feat. 'Live Beneath the Waves' vividly brings to life the water planet Y, immersing audiences in this technological underwater world.

Track listing:
01 March Of The Machines
02 Age of Shadows
03 Comatose
04 Liquid Eternity
05 Connect the Dots
06 Beneath the Waves
07 Newborn Race
08 Ride the Comet
09 Web of Lies
10 The Fifth Extinction
11 Waking Dreams
12 The Truth is In Here
13 Unnatural Selection
14 River of Time
15 E = MC2
16 The Sixth Extinction
17 Speech
18 This Human Equation
19 Fate of Man
20 The Day That The World
Breaks Down

Lucassen & Soeterboek’s Plan Nine have revealed the fun new comic-book themed animated video for “Ice On Fire.”  The song is taken from the album 'The Long-Lost Songs' which will be released on 17th May via Music Theories Recordings / Mascot Label Group.

Videos used:

Ayreon - The Day That The World Breaks Down (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves) Ayreon - The Day That The World Break...

Ayreon - The Sixth Extinction (01011001 - Live Beneath The Waves) Ayreon - The Sixth Extinction (010110...

Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan Nine - Before The Morning Comes (Official Music Video) Lucassen & Soeterboek's Plan Nine - B...
Robert Soeterboek - Vocals
Arjen Lucassen - Guitar
Marcel Singor - Lead Guitar
Koen Herfst - Drums
Rob van der Loo - Bass
Joost van den Broek - Hammond
Irene Jansen - Backing vocals
Jane Goulding – Backing Vocals