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Bospop 2019 - Dag 3

22/7/2019

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​‘Een bietje sjanspasta in oe haar, dan komt het allemaal goeh!’ Met deze Brabantse humor werd ik wakker van mijn tweede slaap tot 11.00uur ’s ochtends, want weer slecht geslapen door de klamme nacht. Heerlijk dat taaltje, uit het land waar mijn wieg heeft gestaan en nog enigszins te verstaan. Dit in tegenstelling tot het Limburgs later op de dag van Rowen Hèze waar ik nog steeds geen touw aan vast kan knopen.
Marc Broussard luidde deze dag voor ons in met relaxte blues/ soul muziek, later in dezelfde tent gevolgd door The Doors Alive. Al chillend op het gras en waarbij ik nog steeds geen wiet nodig heb om in de flow en hogere sferen te geraken. De stem van de reïncarnatie van Jim was wat rauwer en minder warm dan van de rock hero himself. Maar 50 jaar na dato zie ik van jong tot oud de nummers meezingen, wat een legendarische muziek! De eigthies bands hebben me deze Bospop niet kunnen griipen. Ik voel er simpelweg niets bij. Ik zit het gros van dit blog te typen in de witte tent, terwijl Level 42 zijn nummers op ‘een standje te lui afspeelt’ volgens mijn vader. Ondertussen begint The White Buffalo, dus nu even pauze, want dat klinkt meteen te gek. Terwijl deze grote sexy teddybeer de tent omver blaast met rock en gevoelige nummers die elkaar afwisselen, zie ik in mijn linkerooghoek iets op het scherm staan bij het hoofdpodium: ‘Optreden Sting geannuleerd, wegens aanhoudende gezondheidsklachten’. Wat een domper...Sting was één van de grootste redenen om te gaan, zeker van mijn vader...Nadat we deze shock verwerkt hadden, gaf de teddybeer ons weer wat energie en blijheid. En wat zou ik deze teddybeer graag net zoals die van mijn dochtertje op het einde van mijn bed in de hoek me iedere avond in slaap laten zingen (tenminste als Eddie Vedder geen fut heeft haha).
Met een set nieuwe tanden, vol zonnebrandspray en de gitarist in witte leren pak en de zanger met rode broek en Steven Tyler sjaal, stormen de bandleden van Foreigner vol energie het podium op. Nee, ze zijn niet ‘Cold as Ice’. Integendeel. Alle foute rockposes die je kunt verzinnen worden uit de kast getrokken. ‘Popiejopies’, zegt iemand achter me. Maar wel vol overgave, ze verloochenen zichzelf niet! Of toch wel, want later lees ik dat niemand van de originele band op het podium stond...Dus zagen we alleen maar een gelikte cover band?
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​Ondertussen was het hele programma gehusseld. Rowen Hèze verhuisde naar het grote podium in plaats van de tent om een uur lang het publiek de domper te doen vergeten. En dat lukte! Alle Limbo’s zongen in vol ornaat mee en alle Brabo’s zoals ik deden hun uiterste best. Rival Sons up next, ja en hier ga ik toch even een minpuntje naar voren brengen. Het geluid in de witte tent was nog steeds erg schel, bijna iedere band was zonder oordoppen niet te doen. Erg jammer van zo’n rockband waarbij de hoge tonen juist niet schel moeten zijn. Maar goed dat mocht de pret niet drukken, de Rival Sons speelde vol verve, rock on! Daarna even uitrusten op een bankje, onder het genot van Joe Jackson, die van punk, rock tot blues Bospop inblies, al zittend achter zijn piano. De goede man wordt ook een dagje ouder. Daarna werd ik weer betoverd door Chris Robinson (van The Black Crowes) en zijn unieke heze geluid, en kon het niet laten om bijna vooraan te staan. Wat heerlijk weer! Door The Specials smaakte onze Thaise Curry nog beter met hun exotische geluid en heerlijke reggae ska punk. Trouwens, wat een verschil in eetkeuzes in vergelijking met 5 jaar geleden. Het astronautenvoedsel hadden we best thuis kunnen laten. 
Na The Specials stond Earth Wind & Fire in de witte tent die zij met hun vrolijke funky beats en lichtshow kleurden. Een uitstekende 14 koppige band, maar kon mij weer niet echt boeien. Wat mij betreft ook meer North Sea Jazz Festival materiaal. Maar voor de gemiddelde Bospopganger was het een leuk jeugdsentiment en ze dansten vrolijk mee als opmars voor Nile Rodgers die bij afwezigheid van Sting nu als afsluiter ingepland was. De juiste keuze van de festivalorganisatie! Nile heeft de allure van een grote poplegende, terwijl hij alleen de albums van poplegendes geproduceerd heeft. Met zijn band ‘Chic’ bracht hij al hun nummer 1 hits ten gehore. Een hartelijke man, die vol trots over zijn bizarre carrière verteld waarin hij vele artiesten de duw heeft gegeven die ze nodig hadden. Denk aan Madonna, Duran Duran, David Bowie, Diana Ross, Syster Sledge en nog vele anderen…
 
De sfeer zat er goed in en Nile kreeg heel Bospop aan het dansen. Dat zette daarna nog een paar uur door in de 24-uurstent in een sfeer waar iedereen zichzelf mag zijn. Van jong tot (heel) oud danste op alle soorten muziek. Van Guus tot Metallica en System of a Down. Geweldig! Wat was deze Bospop een mooie ode aan alle soorten goede muziek, van soul, tot rock/metal, blues en punk. En ja, van sommige muziek word je warmer dan van andere muziek, ieder zijn smaak! Pa, volgend jaar weer?!

Bospop 2019 - Dag 1

Bospop 2019 - Dag 2
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Bospop 2019 - Dag 2

22/7/2019

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Na een korte nacht slaap in een klamme tent, liepen we weer op ons gemakje naar het festivalterrein waar Cordovacs, ‘jihaaa from Nashville’, inclusief baard en cowboyhoed met driestemmige zang Bospop gelijk in de feeststemming brachten. The Lachly Dooley Group uit Australië met drummer Jack Barnes, zoon van Jimmy Barnes die vier uur later hetzelfde podium zou betreden, brachten een energieke show. En de zanger was een virtuoos op de Hammond orgel. Helaas was het geluid te schel in de tent en weer teveel van hetzelfde, net zoals bij My Baby. Duidelijk niet ons kopje thee.
​Na een gezellige lunch in onze huurtent racete ik net op tijd naar voren voor Living Colour, die ik van begin tot eind wilde maken. Zouden ze nog steeds zo goed zijn na de laatste keer dat ik ze ooit op Pinkpop zag een paar decennia terug? Ja hoor, de zanger haalde alles nog met gemak en gooide er zelfs nog meer soul in. Maar ook de harde noten werden niet geschuwd, ‘Time’s up’ en ‘Elvis is dead’ kwamen er nog net zo strak uit als toen op Pinkpop.
Flogging Molly brachten natuurlijk de regen mee. Maar dat mocht niet baten, dancing in the rain hoort erbij op de Ierse folk, poncho aan en gaan! En als afsluiter stond John Fogerty (voormalig zanger van Creedence Clearwater Revival)  geprogrammeerd. De verwachtingen waren natuurlijk hoog van deze rocklegende, die Woodstock ‘69 overleefde. Daar vertelde John nog een mooi verhaal over. Dat ze alleen wilde spelen met Creedence als ze op een goede tijd geprogrammeerd werden. Zo geschiedde het, zaterdagavond om 21.00uur zouden ze spelen. Tot grote ergernis van John bracht The Grateful Death roet in het festival. Al experimenterend met LSD op het podium, besefte ze na een uur pas dat het eigenlijk de bedoeling was dat ze een deuntje moesten spelen voor de 500.000 man...en uiteindelijk kon John om 2.30uur s nachts het podium op, spelen voor 500.000 slapende naakte mensen. Toen riep er één man vanuit achterin: ’John I am with you! No worries!’ En John vertelde dat hij toen maar voor deze ene man ging spelen en daar later een lied over heeft geschreven. De ode ging daarna door aan de seventies en 50 jaar muziekgeschiedenis, met her en der wat covers. Waar iedereen bij Level 42 de volgende dag stond te klessebessen, was bij John iedereen in de ban van zijn muziek. A true legend, zo humble en integer. Dat zijn de echte. Zo vraag ik me op dat moment ook af of Eddie Vedder over 20 jaar hier zal staan. ‘Mijn eigen’ rock legend. Dat ik op Bospop 2030 daar met mijn twee dochters sta te zwijmelen en die ook alle nummers uit hun hoofd kennen. Net zoals ik die van John Fogerty, maar nooit er bewust van ben geweest dat ze van  Creedence waren. De lange vakantieritten door Europa met Creedence op cassettebandje zijn blijkbaar in mijn geheugen gegrift.
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Daarvoor speelde een andere John, ook ‘mijn’ John, want uit Australië, waar ik hem voor het eerst zag toen ik daar woonde. Dit was de vierde keer dat ik hem kon bewonderen. Wat een gitaarvirtuoos. Nu in de rockstand, heel anders dan in Paradiso de laatste twee keer. Hij was duidelijk in festivalsferen en kreeg mijn vader zelfs aan het dansen op Funky Tonight! Iets wat Jimmy Barnes met zijn gekrijs daarvoor niet voor elkaar kreeg.
En het ‘kattengejank’ van Skunk Anansie zoals mijn vader dat verwoordde, trokken zijn oren ook niet haha. Ik wel. Ik stond op 15 meter van het podium en was helemaal lyrisch van haar en de vette muziek. De hits kwamen er nog steeds op hoog niveau uit. Maar tijdens haar nieuwe nummers ging zij (en ik) pas echt los. Wauw! In haar jarenlange gevecht om Engeland bij Europa te krijgen zoals ze aantal jaar geleden op Rock Werchter vertelde, had ze het nu over haar land als ‘what a f’in disgrace’, natuurlijk refererend aan het May-Brexit drama. Het zit haar zo diep dat ze op een gegeven tegen de band zei dat ze een nieuw nummer wilde spelen. Geen idee wat de titel zal worden, want ze hebben het pas twee weken geleden geschreven. Maar daar kon ze al haar boosheid in kwijt, ‘This means war’ werd herhaaldelijk gezongen. Wat een vet nummer was dat! Go Skunk! Ga vooral door met nummers schrijven, never too old! En zoals ze zelf zei: ‘We need to play new songs, otherwise we’ll just simply get bored’. En die eerlijkheid trekken wij goed, wij Nederlanders. Hands up for Skunk!

Bospop 2019 - Dag 1
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​Bospop 2019 - Dag 3
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Bospop 2019 - Dag 1

22/7/2019

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Al tuffend over landelijke weggetjes om de vakantiefiles te ontwijken, haalde mijn vader en ik herinneringen op over de vorige twee keer dat we naar Bospop waren geweest. In 2013 nog op het voetbalterrein bij de Bosuil, de tweede keer in 2014 op het nieuwe terrein gelegen aan de A2, net zoals deze editie. De eerste Bospop met bands zoals Within Temptation,  ZZ-Top, Rodger Hodson van Supertramp die me enorm verraste, Crossby, Stills & Nash en de experimentele muziek van Steven Wilson. Voor de tweede Bospop hadden we al vroeg kaarten gekocht, want de Simple Minds kwamen waar mijn vader groot fan van is. Het werd alleen heel erg spannend of we konden gaan, want een half jaar daarvoor lag het leven van mijn vader aan een zijden draadje (vanwege een heftige hersenontsteking). Hij kon daarna nog amper lopen en zijn hersenactiviteit was ook enorm verminderd. Maar hij moest en zou naar Bospop om de Simple Minds te zien. Na een half jaar lange revalidatie met een enorm doorzettingsvermogen, had hij weer de kracht om er bij te zijn. Iets wat ik eigenlijk nog steeds niet kan geloven. Bospop had hem letterlijk weer op de been gebracht. Het rare is wel dat mijn vader nu zei dat hij zich niet kon herinneren dat hij Simple Minds had gezien, terwijl ik tijdens hun optreden tranen in mijn ogen kreeg omdat hij naast me stond. Wonder boven wonder. En nu, na 5 jaar, zijn we er weer! Mijn vader inmiddels bijna 70 en die al maanden van tevoren een Bospop afspeellijst had gemaakt op Spotify, zoveel zin had hij er in.
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Aangekomen op Bospop verliep eigenlijk alles vlekkeloos. Precies tussen de buien door de gehuurde tent ingeruimd en op naar het festivalterrein dat op vijf minuutjes lopen lag. We waren precies op tijd voor Matt Simons die Bospop opwarmde met zijn mooie stem. Daarna door naar de witte tent waar My Baby begon. Met een dijk van een stem en groovy beats en gitaarwerk, deinde we mee met de nummers. Helaas leek het wel of ze in hetzelfde nummer bleven hangen, soort van continue intermezzo’s. Na een paar nummers raakten we verveeld, mooi moment om bij onze tent de eerste bakjes astronautenvoedsel van warm water te voorzien, want geen zin in lange rijen en vette hap. Het smaakte ook nog. 
Ondertussen begon James Morrison met een cover van The Beatles ‘With a little help from my friends’, die klonk als de Joe Cocker versie vanwege zijn rauwe hese stem. En na een aantal nummers kreeg ik het er zelf helemaal benauwd van omdat hij zijn strot zo aan ’t knijpen was. Door naar The Charlatans, met hun Britse ietwat luie Indierock, wachtend op hun hit ‘The only one I know’, wat ik een heerlijk nummer vind, met de rest van de nummers was ik niet echt bekend. Klonk wel chill.
Toen was het tijd voor Mr. Richard Ashcroft, ooit zanger van The Verve. Met ‘Just my voice and 6 strings, something else than all the fireworks tonight’ (refererend aan TOTO die deze avond zou afsluiten), wist hij de aandacht van iedereen een uur lang vast te houden. Wat een charismatische man met een mooie warme krachtige stem. Nog steeds op de bres in zijn legeroutfit. ‘Don’t be a slave to money’, zei hij voordat hij ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ inzette. 
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Even later stond het gelikte Kodaline in de tent te spelen, met strakke lichtshow en even zo strakke set. Toch wel mooi, was onze conclusie, in tegenstelling tot de wassen neus van Toto die daarna op de main stage speelden. Ik dacht heel even dat André Hazes en George Baker het podium opkwamen. Maar niets was minder waar, de mannen van TOTO zijn geen mannen van het volk. Ze kwamen erg afstandelijk over en waren voor mijn gevoel alleen voor zichzelf aan het spelen. De hits werden afgedaan met een korte introductie over het ontstaan van het nummer waarna ze er één minuut van speelden. ‘Africa’, het enige liedje dat ik wel trek en mooi vind werd kapot gejammed. Duidelijk materiaal voor North Sea Festival, en vele Bospoppers liepen daarna net zoals mijn vader en ik naar de 24-uurs tent. Erg jammer dat Snow Patrol ingeruild moest worden voor TOTO. De dag ervoor vroeg Tim Op het Broek op Kink Radio welke muziek je echt niet kunt negeren. Toen wilde ik al TOTO appen, maar dacht, laat ik ze live nog een kans geven. Nou Tim, zet TOTO maar voor mij alsnog op je lijstje, haha!

Bospop 2019 - Dag 2
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Bospop 2019 - Dag 3
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3x The Smashing Pumpkins - From 'gig' to 'show'!

15/6/2019

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‘Today is the greatest… show I have ever seen…I’ll burn my eyes out…’ at the Smashing Pumpkins show last Tuesday, as it was an astonishing set design and lighting show (at AFAS Live in Amsterdam). I have called it a ‘show’ explicitly and not a ‘gig’, which would describe the two previous TSP concerts I went to. This ‘show’ was absolutely mind blowing from an esthetic and artistic point of view. Three huge surrealistic style Puppito's - as Billy calls them - raised from the dead and lit up in all combination of colors you can only imagine during the whole show.
​A big contrast to the first TSP show that I ever saw at Rock Werchter Festival back in 1997 (what an amazing line-up by the way...). All members being very shy, not interacting with the crowd at all, just playing their songs, vigorously though. At that ‘gig’ I decided not to watch, but only to listen and shut my eyes to suck up all their great bombastic songs and guitar riffs and solo’s, by using just one sense while banging my head. 

16 years later, I finally got to see them again. Coincidentally, on my birthday, 27th of July 2013 at venue ‘013’ in Tilburg. Billy was a lot more chatty, even slightly funny and he interacted with the crowd, which this small venue let him, I guess. Or maybe, he was more grown up and a little bit less shy than back in the day. That gig was as raw as it gets, and being so close to Billy, it felt very intimate. And last but not least, I catched the drum stick that evening. One of my best birthday presents ever! 
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​And now, 6 years later, they have evolved themselves tremendously, upgraded to a bigger but still intimate venue with a full blown show. I was still keeping my head down during most of the songs using one sense until my friend tapped me on my shoulder and said to watch the show, as the Puppito in the middle turned around and had a different face and another vibe to it. Absolutely gorgeous! ​From that moment onwards I decided to use all of my senses. A feast for the eyes and ears.
 I just love it how Billy and his mates, almost back in their original formation, really made an effort with this show and enjoyed it as much as the crowd did. Just like the funny ‘interlude’ (a cover of ‘Friday I'm in Love’ from The Cure) where Billy took a break and James started singing. I believe James messed that one up on purpose, as the sound and his voice was way off from the outstanding level of performance when playing their own songs. In 'epic theatre', you would call that an ‘alienation’ (also a song title from their new album by the way), a complete break from what was happening before in order to get the crowd back into reality, so that the show would have even more impact afterwards.
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​Which it really did. The setlist was carefully put together, 2 hours of all of the best songs from almost every album, including a couple of crowd pleasers like ‘Tonight’ and ‘1979’ while embracing their new songs. I really got into their new songs of their latest album ‘Shiny and Oh So Bright, Vol. 1 / LP: No Past. No Future. No Sun’. I really dig ‘Solara’ as it has the same bombastic sound and structure as ‘Cherub rock’, with a new vibe to it. 
​‘Alienation’ and ‘Knights of Malta’ are beautiful songs which let Billy’s voice stand out as it does with ‘Disarm’. By the way, the crowd screwed up ‘Disarm’ a bit for me, as I was only looking at mobile phones when they played it, really annoying. So I put my head down again, using only one sense again. Obviously, I also took pictures and videos, so I guess I am as annoying as them…You just wanna capture these beautiful moments on camera to make them last forever…
As Billy said at the end of the show, ‘we could have never imagined this would be our future 31 years ago’ while pointing at the three huge dolls, the enthusiastic crowd and being grateful for their support over those 31 years. Billy, I would like to thank you for being you and for embracing your carefully composed music and sharing your amazing thoughts through your lyrics. I would also like to thank James and Jimmy for standing side by side again, playing your amazing guitar riffs and solo’s. And guys, I do expect the next Volume of your latest album shortly, can’t wait! (Scroll down for more videos and pics!)
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3x John Butler Trio - Aussie vibes

14/11/2018

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‘Home, home, hoooomeee….’, that’s what John always makes me feel like at his shows. Whether it was in Australia where I saw him for the first time at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney, or the past two shows in Paradiso Amsterdam.

‘Home’ is also the title song of his beautiful arranged new album. A song that really hit me, as it sort of tells my own story: About being away from home so long while residing in Australia for 6 years. 
About being torn apart between our laidback lifestyle in Australia and missing our friends and family on the other side of the world. And about making our final decision, the most extensional decision I’ve ever had to make. Choosing between a beautiful country where the sun always shines, with the amazing beaches and easygoing lifestyle and my dear family and friends (and my precious Europe with its different cultures). We finally choose the latter as that’s what life is about for us: sharing our experiences with our loved-ones and caring for them in good times and in times of need. 

I wanna go Home
I can’t find my direction
Home
I’m loosing connection
John’s explanation of this song was that being on tour all the time makes you miss out on a lot back home not being with his beloved kids and wife. About the latter, he wrote a beautiful love song ‘Just Call’, about how he met his wife in this beautiful town Broome in Australia. One phrase hit me as well in relation to the above 'Home' story:

Of all the people I could find, I found you
Our families crossed the oceans
So we could share this space and time
You just stole my heart and cracked me open…


Somehow the emotions and the vibes of this love song crack me open…
Enough about me, this show really stood out for me from the other two shows I have seen, as this one was so heartfelt and almost spiritual in a way. His new album is all about trying to find some positive energy in this screwed up world. About spreading the good vibes resulting in everyone singing along out loud during a golden oldie, tatatatada, datadaadadaaaaaa….
The show was built up quite nicely, starting of with not 2 but 4 ‘assisting’ musicians on drums, key board, base and as backing vocals. This whole arrangement lifted the songs into a new dimension. The new songs were even better live. And the new drummer made me smile as he shook his head on the beat of the drums looking like The Fozzie Bear with his cap on 😊
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But as soon as John was alone on the stage, the real magic happened. Creating a song by looping live voice samples into a beat and backing vocals, he got the whole crowd to silence and we listened in awe while he was 'unfolding' this song. As I wanted to stay in the moment, I didn’t capture this amazing one-manband song, someone else fortunately did on Facebook (skip to 1:10 mins).
​And that’s what I love about John, I could listen to him for hours playing the guitar, standing up close in this amazing venue. For a couple of hours, I felt the Aussie vibe running through my veins again, standing side by side my sister-in-law who has lived there too for a couple years. Dreaming about the promised land, that once felt so empty as I was home sick...
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Got some if you need it... - Pearl Jam show 1/5

13/6/2018

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‘Got some if you need it’….Yes, I needed IT desperately! A full dose of Pearl Jam after a 4 year long wait. Something Eddie felt too as he was showing by his song choices like Long Road to start off, and snippets referring to the ‘wait’ screaming his lungs out:

I just want to scream helloooooooo
My God it's been so long
Never dreamed you'd return
But now here you are and here I am

(Elderly Woman)

The waiting drove me mad
You're finally here and I'm a mess

(Corduroy)
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Unfortunately, all my videos failed except for the ones where Ed is talking...But this video of 'Long Road' is still worth watching, felt like we were all in heaven:
Before Long Road kicked off, Eddie was showing off with a speech in Dutch, saying ‘We komen vaak terug, omdat we het hier te gek vinden’ (‘We come back a lot, as we love it here so much’). And we love it too! After pumping up the audience with 'Corduroy', Eddie went in overdrive with ‘Do the Evolution’, followed by the always magical song ‘Given to Fly’ and songs like ‘Mind you Manners’ and ‘Wishlist’, clearly referring to political matters at hand and wishing for the next president to be a much better person. And they played ‘Red Mosquito’, never heard it live, just plain beautiful.
Eddie was very chatty all night, talking about Jeff’s favourite colour orange and joking around about the Dutch not being in the World Cup aside from thanking a lot of Dutch people like Hanky Panky, the beautiful ladies from the Moco Museum (who were standing alongside the stage) and Eric from Tivoli.

And that’s what it felt like, like they actually want to play in a smaller venue…But standing up close for the first time, the band members still make it feel intimate in this huge venue (Ziggo Dome). It’s their rawness I really like, as if they’re playing in a local bar, messing up sometimes, like Eddie and Mike who got confused about the next song which was supposed to be dedicated to someone called ‘William’ from Ireland. Mike changed his guitar and they played a full blown ‘Got Some’, which was ‘coming out of their toes’ as we would say in Dutch.
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Last night was also about honouring their living legacy, they played quite a few songs from their first 3 albums, and most of ‘Ten’, I even joked around that they would play ‘Alive’ after having played ‘Why Go’, ‘Porch’, and ‘Black’, 3 in a row…and to my surprise they did :-0

Halfway they played ‘Even Flow’ and ‘Jeremy’, obviously crowd pleasers, but the lyrics of ‘Jeremy’ got a whole new meaning to me last night. And especially this phrase ‘Jeremy spoke in class today...’, which my 8yro nephew actually did a couple weeks ago, saying in front of his whole class that he didn’t want to be bullied anymore...while I am writing this tears roll down my face again, as they did last night. And that’s what I love about Pearl Jam, their songs and lyrics are timeless and can mean or let you feel something completely different at any given stage.

The mesmerising version of ‘Footsteps’ was my favourite. I was in owe by how the whole band played along and lifted this song to a higher level, also backed by the beautiful lighting. I had the urge to take a video, but I also wanted to stay in the moment, and so I did…(and my phone too all night...grrrr....;-)

So, that’s a wrap for last night, can’t wait to see what they have ‘in petto’ for us tonight! Another blog will follow soon about my 'Pearl Jam' tour: Ams1, Ams2, Pinkpop, Milan and Berlin!
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(And many thanks to Dimi 'The Greek' for his detailed reporting on Facebook backing up my memories)
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Valencia by bike

10/11/2017

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Exploring a city by bike in other than Dutch cities? Yes, you can! As we did in Copenhagen last summer and yet again in Valencia last week. Me and my mum love cycling as true Dutchies do. As soon as we arrived, we figured out if cycling back and forth from the beach to the city centre was feasible. It’d be half an hour trip by bike and according to some locals and other Dutchies we encountered, this city is very ‘bike-friendly’. And it sure was, certainly compared to other European cities. ​​Just as long as we followed the red bike paths, we were fine.

​Since March 2017 you can cycle in one of the biggest streets of Valencia 'Colon' which connects the city with a lot of surrounding neighbourhoods. However, I don’t recommend cycling in the inner old city as the streets are very narrow and mostly one-way without any bike paths. We ended up cycling on the crowded sidewalks, quite dangerous to be honest. 
Our cosy and clean AirBnB apartment was located right at the end of the 5km long beach. So that added another 10 mins to our trip to the inner city. Every day, we cycled along the beach on the beautiful boulevard which had several bike-paths as well. A nice treat, considering the mild temperature and blue skies.
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Upon arrival, we had to pick up our keys for the apartment at what ended up being my favorite restaurant ever, La Mas Bonita. Located right at the beach, I felt at home immediately in this beautifully styled restaurant resembling my own place. I just couldn’t resist the fusion food style menu with a Spanish touch, so we had some lovely food there a couple of times. 
(if you are reading this on your mobile, please scroll for more pics underneath the picture below)
On the second day we decided to go by bus and metro to the inner city as we had some shopping to do. However, on our way back it wasn’t as easy to return to our apartment by metro and bus as we thought it’d be. So, we went by bike again the next day and parked them near Mercat Central. We explored a couple of museums and had some lovely tapas at a little bar called Senia (and as desert some delicious ice-cream at lanocciola!). 
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​Our first stop on Sunday was Museo Nacional de Cerámica Gonazales Marti. This museum is housed in a palace that dates from the 15th century. Aside from the overwhelming rococo style furnished rooms, you can find horse carriages, medieval, prehistoric, Roman, Greek and Arab ceramics and ceramic tiles made in the Royal Ceramics Factory in Alcora. The main entrance is highly remarkable with Virgin Mary placed in the center above the door. As we walked through the tiny rooms, we passed by a lovely dressed ‘princess’ wearing an original costume of Valencia. My girls should have been there…
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The next stop was supposed to be La Lonja de la Seda (The Silk Market), but unfortunately it closed at 2pm (instead of 3pm according to our city guide…). But the outside is impressive anyway, not surprised at all that this building is declared by UNESCO as part of Humanity's Heritage.

​The day before we explored the little streets around Mercat Central, a must see huge food market. We filled our bellies with delicious haute cuisine style tapas at the Central Bar, owned by Ricard Camarena, a Michelin star Master Chef. 
Surrounded by Jugendstil architecture, this food experience couldn’t have been better (even though the crowd was elbowing their way for seats at the small bar).
On our way from Mercat Central to El Carme (one of the oldest districts of Valencia) we encountered colorful Jugendstil buildings with lovely balconies decorated with ceramic tiles at the bottom. As we tend to go of the main tourist route we saw a lot of urban street art against the background of the ancient city, which I quite liked actually.
Friday evening, we decided to cycle to the trendy multicultural district ‘Ruzafa’, also located around a central food market ‘El Mercat’. We didn’t get to see the inside, but just a little bit further down the street we had some dinner at Bodega El Mercat. One of the best restaurants according to some locals, who were kind enough to show us the way by bike. 

That’s what I liked most about Valencia, the locals are very cordial. It’s truly part of their human nature. Whenever we asked for assistance, the locals went the extra mile each and every time. Even the bus drivers were concerned if we’d got off at the right stop. This great vibe reaches from the beach to the inner city.
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Even though it was low season, on Friday Night the boulevard was full of people and some bars were open till late. The ‘Beach Club’ is gorgeous, but wasn’t busy enough for proper clubbing.
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And last but not least, we went to see the amazing buildings in the Ciudad de las Artes y las Ciencias City of Arts and Sciences) as designed by Santiago Calatrava, a Spanish architect, structural engineer, sculptor and painter, particularly known for his bridges supported by single leaning pylons, and his railway stations, stadiums, and museums, whose sculptural forms often resemble living organisms. I can highly recommend visiting this ‘city’ at night, the buildings and the surrounding sculptures (and the sculptures itself) are lit up beautifully. This city consists of an ensemble of six areas in the dry river bed of the now diverted River Turia (followed by a 9 km stretch of parkland including bike paths on each side, a 'must bike' as well!)
I fell in love with this city straight away, similar to Sydney, Australia. The mixture of waking up in the morning looking over the beach, the great city vibe combined with friendly locals is inspiring. A city that never sleeps, but that doesn’t feel stressed out. I’ll be back as there’s still plenty to see, also for my kids!
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No one can beat VOLBEAT!

6/9/2017

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Finally, we got in the ring with Volbeat last night! After having endured one year of being impatient -as I’d already bought the tickets back in September ’16- we drove into the Strijp-S area on our way to the famous Philips old ‘Klokgebouw’, and all of sudden a huge festival area arised…slowly it occurred to us that Volbeat might be playing there instead of at the Klokgebouw...
While having a delicious dinner at Restaurant Radio Royaal (located behind the stage), Amorphis blasted through the walls. And as we walked into the festival area, Flogging Molly’s Irish carnival music was already getting the party started, thanking Holland for believing in them from the start (as their first show ever took place in this country). And great to see that the youngsters dig them too!
After another round of beer, we paved our way through the crowd close enough to the ‘boxing ring’. The beautifully orchestrated show started off with one of my favorite songs ‘The Devil’s Bleeding Crown’, the opening song of their latest album ‘Seal the Deal.’ After this theatrical opening, Volbeat’s full blown guitar riffs, awesome drum bass sounds and THE voice of lead singer Michael Poulsen filled the whole Strijp-S area and beyond (according to quite a few tweets of heavily annoyed people haha). 
Highly influenced by Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley, his voice does resemble. But combined with the hard rock/ heavy metal sounds Michael's voice is still unique in its own way. After hearing him sing again last night, his voice has ended up in my top 3 of best rock voices ever (alongside Eddie Vedder and Chris Cornell, closely followed by Axl Rose and Robert Plant…). 
I was torn between staying in the moment and wanting to capture every second of this amazing show packed with fireworks, awesome footage, smoking machines, fire and ‘used toilet paper,’ as Michael joked around:
I couldn’t resist getting some footage of their new song teasing the crowd for their upcoming new album, if I remember correctly it’s called ‘Justify’ and of course 'Lola Montez' and 'For Evigt' had to be captured as well:
I still don’t get that I wasn’t aware of their existence until my first encounter last year at Graspop. They blew me away, so I had to see them again! And will do so for my remaining rock years.

We’ll definitely grow old together!

Oh and last but not least…Volbeat’s guitarist Rob Caggiono reposted my Instagram picture, I couldn’t be more honoured😊:
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Our yearly dose of Life of Agony

15/8/2017

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For the 3rd year in a row, we saw Life of Agony at a venue in Eindhoven. Last year, at ‘Het Klokgebouw’ headlining the ‘Sound of Revolution’ and the previous year at the same venue as last night, the ‘Effenaar’ (as I’ve outlined also in my previous blog about ‘My best memories of Life of Agony’ of the past 25 years). And just like 2 years ago, they kicked off with ‘River Runs Red,’ paving the way for a lot more songs to be played from that iconic ‘90s album. Pleasing the crowd all over again! 
What I find most surprising is that every time I hear those songs live, I get really pumped, and start jumping and headbanging, concert after concert. Isn’t it just magical that you can listen to music over and over again and don’t seem to get tired of it, even if you’ve seen them for the 9th time... In my best LOA memories blog, I counted 8 times, but my friend with whom I’ve seen most of the LOA concerts added another one to the list yesterday, which I completely had forgotten about. 
​That gig was right after their Dynamo Open Air show in ’94 on the 16 June 2017 at Noorderligt in Tilburg as special guest to Prong's show. And as soon as we had figured that out, Prong ‘signs’ started to emerge everywhere. We saw guys with Prong t-shirts at the Effenaar and all of a sudden the DJ played ‘Snap your fingers, Snap your neck’. And we sure did snap our necks afterwards. 
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My friend had said upfront ‘I’m not going to be ‘headbanging’ tonight as my neck is already sore’. But as soon as Joey Z played the first guitar riff, she couldn’t help herself. Unlike the year before at ‘Het Klokgebouw’ where the crowd was too wild and too drunk, the crowd at the Effenaar seemed a lot more respectful to women. So, we did end up just behind the front row. I just couldn’t resist, I had to see the whole band up-close for once and feel their energy. How awesome! Mina and the guys are so intense and you can feel the love for their fans. By the end of the show Mina stood with her arms wide open taking it all in. She was so happy and almost started to cry.
At some stage, Alan Robert (bass), asked the crowd who had seen them at Dynamo ’94 and ’95. Me and my friend and a lot of other guys in the front raised their hands. Alan requested everyone who raised their hands to get in front of the stage and a couple of guys grabbed us along…And then he said: ‘Let’s do what you’ll did back then at both shows! Jump everybody!’ And we did as ‘Bad Seed’ followed.
Aside from playing almost every song of River Runs Red album, they only played a couple of songs from their other albums. ‘Lost at 22 - Ugly’ (which has been selected as one of the best metal songs of the 90s by Metal Hammer) and ‘Weeds – Soul Searching Sun’ as you can see in the video below including a short introduction by Mina interacting with the crowd:
​To my surprise they only played 3 songs from their brand-new album of which Joey Z said: ‘We’ve been working on this album for 18 months and we are so proud of it!’ Just before they started to play their first new song, Mina said: ‘Now we’re gonna play the title track of our new album if you like it or not, and even if you don’t, we’re gonna play it anyway!’ And I was like, why wouldn’t we wanna hear it, those songs are awesome! 
I really wanted to hear those songs live as I was hoping they’d be even more intense then listening to those at home. And they were! Screaming along with ‘World gone madddd’,  ‘Dead Speak Kindly’ (a song that feels and sounds to me like a tribute to Lane Staley of Alice in Chains), and ‘A Place where there’s no more pain’:
As a final explosion, they played ‘Through and through’ smoothly followed by Mina singing: ‘If you don’t walk with me, I will walk alone, yeah yeah…’ and we all felt part of the ‘Underground’ by the end of the show. 

​​Yet another memorable night of more to come! But hopefully they’ll play a few new songs next time…eh next year? As I (we!) do need to get our yearly dose of Life of Agony at the least!
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My best memories of Life of Agony

9/8/2017

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This blog about my best memories of Life of Agony in the past 25 years has been wandering around in my head for quite some time now, ever since I had written a similar blog about Pearl Jam. ​A couple of days ago, I was in the right headspace finally and set myself up to start writing this blog. And just before I started to write , I received the following Twitter notification that Mina is now following me (after I retweeted a post of Mina Caputo sharing a heart-breaking video of Sinead O’Connor):

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I don’t believe in coincidences, but I do believe in signs. And this sign reassured me that I should follow my instincts and passion for LOA and get started with this blog leading up to my 8th LOA concert upcoming Monday...
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Vinyl & Dynamo Open Air ('94 '& '95)

Digging into my memories, my first memory of Life of Agony that comes to mind is me buying the vinyl of River Runs Red and playing it repeatedly on my father’s ‘old’ record player (even though CD’s were pretty common by then). This album just grew on me and never got out of my system.

​Since then, I’ve played the music a couple of times a month (nowadays on Spotify to be exact… as I don’t own a record or CD player anymore :-), and I just don’t seem to get bored of this album. 
The songs always lift me up when I need to get myself going, make me happy when I’m sad, and are great for exercising too. Keith’s* voice and his emotions are so genuine and real, the guitar riffs and the drums are really awesome, they make me wanna jump each and every time like I or ‘we’ did at Dynamo Open Air in Eindhoven, The Netherlands in '94. My first Life of Agony concert, standing side by side with 62.000 fans in a huge puddle of mud. 
* Please refer my 'P.s. 2' at the bottom of this blog why I'm using 'Keith' instead of 'Mina' in the first part of this blog)
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In 1995, we all jumped again on if I remember correctly ‘This time’ at the same spot where the crowd (120.000 people!) literally caused a small earth quake! And at some stage we were throwing all beer cup holders in the air which was quite a funny sight and quite dangerous as well. Again, if I remember correctly (please help me out guys…!). Fortunately, some bits and pieces of these concerts have been recorded by a German Metal TV show (from 53 mins onwards) and MTV:

 Lowlands adventures ('94, '97) & meeting Keith

Back in August ‘94, I saw them for the second time at ‘A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise’. I still have this vivid memory of me pogoing on ‘This Time’ again in between a couple of big guys and this time crushing into one of the poles…Again a memorable concert, even though Keith seemed to be zoning out every now and then...

​For some reason, I can’t remember or dig up if I’ve seen them play in 1996, maybe at Pinkpop, but I don’t think so…
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What I do remember is that the year after in '97, I had quite the experience with LOA…Being a student, I couldn’t afford going to all festivals and simply had to choose. So, I didn’t get a ticket for ‘A Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise’ where LOA would play again. Fortunately, I knew some guys from the record label ‘Epitaph’ (The Offspring, Pennywise, NOFX etc.) who knew some guys at Roadrunner Records, LOA's record label back then…And we ran into one of the guys of Epitaph at our favorite rockbar ‘Sam Sam’ in Amsterdam on the night before their gig at Lowlands. He said that some band members of Life of Agony were going to do a signing session that night at the music store Fame in Amsterdam.

So, I joked around saying ‘maybe we can get ourselves on their guest list…’ as I wasn’t particularly interested in their signatures, but I was dying to see them play. And as you’ll have guessed by now, for about an hour or so of walking around the music store, the Epitaph guy was trying to get in touch with LOA's tour manager. Finally, he came back saying, ‘He girls, good news, you’re on LOA's guest list tomorrow night!’ I truly didn’t believe him, but he was quite convinced, so we gave him a big hug and went back to the Sam Sam bar in complete disbelieve. 

As Keith wasn't present at the signing session, we were wondering where he would be. Knowing he loved Amsterdam and his love for smoking ‘weeds' he might as well be at a coffee shop. The bar tender had heard rumours Keith was at a coffee shop down the road and we could not help ourselves to check it out. And yes, there he was, sitting at the bar, looking pretty stoned while holding a joint…

​Initially, I didn’t dare to walk up to him, and finally I had the guts as this would be my one and only chance of ever being able to have a chat with him. And so I did, I can’t exactly remember what I said and what he said, but I do recall that he was really nice to us and that I told him that his tour manager put us on the guest list. Keith said he was looking forward to see us at the show.

But still, we were in complete disbelieve of everything that had happened that night, still not sure if we should even go to Lowlands. What if we weren’t on the guest list, that would be quite a trip all for nothing…(3-4 hrs of trains/buses and we didn’t even know where to pick up the VIP bands…). The next morning, we decided that we should take the chance, as I would regret it for the rest of my life for not trying. 
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So, we jumped on the train with our backpacks, no tent included, but we did know some friends were at the festival hoping they would give us some shelter that night… After a long ride by trains and buses and looking for the VIP entrance walking around the festival area for a couple of hours, completely drained from the rain, we finally found it.

We entered the VIP tent and said with a bit of hesitation that we were on the guest list of Life of Agony…And of course we weren’t…But I was so focused on getting to their concert and told the whole story mentioning the tour managers name etc. They made a few calls to verify our story, and then (even though they weren’t quite convinced) they ended up giving us a VIP band…We were sooo surprised and above all happy! We had to run though, as the LOA show started at 19.00 and we only had half an hour to get in and drop our backpacks somewhere. And as soon as Joey hit his first guitar riff we entered the festival tent. We made it!
And it was an awesome gig, and Keith wasn’t stoned for once as he explains on the album ‘Unplugged At The Lowlands Festival ’97 which they recorded afterwards (a show which we didn’t get to see as we were completely ‘broken’ from everything that had happened in the past 24 hours and we still had to find our friends…I can't even remember if we even stayed for the night or went back...).
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Keith has left the building…(1999)

Following the release of ‘Soul Searching Sun’ just one month later, Keith decided to leave Life of Agony which was quite the shock. But somehow, we all knew it was for the best at the time. Ugly Kid Joe singer Whitfield Crane joined Life of Agony during their Soul Searching Sun tour the following year and I saw them at De Melkweg in Amsterdam. Crane, with his great voice as he proofed once again when I went to see Ugly Kid Joe in Amsterdam last year, sung their songs with so much respect, however it wasn’t the same without Keith…And the band members felt the same way in the end according to Life of Agony’s Wikipedia page.
In 1999, Keith released his solo album ‘Died Laughing’ which I really loved. Knowing he was partially living in Amsterdam like myself, I kept on following his tracks and ended up seeing him in Paradiso Amsterdam (Friday 15th of October 1999), turning out to be a very intimate gig in the small bar upstairs. I remember being in awe for the whole time during the show. It was mesmerising to hear him sing and see him play the guitar upclose, I felt so blessed. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a setlist and I had to dig deep to find out when this concert took place, I only found one small reference online and this emotional documentary from those days with Keith by Loladamusica.

My ‘break up’ with Life of Agony

And then there was silence, at least from my end…Life of Agony toured for quite a while and all of the members took on various side projects, and to be reunited for the first time in 2003, but I didn’t get to see them. In 2005, I migrated to Australia and to be honoust, I had lost track of Life of Agony and Keith by then, still listening to their music though. 
In 2011, I returned to The Netherlands and a couple of years later in 2015 I was listening to Life of Agony together with my brother and then he mentioned that Keith had gone through a transgender transformation and is called ‘Mina’ now. I must admit, I was quite surpised, but somehow the music, the lyrics and his behavior back then all made sense now. I did some research and saw some interviews with Mina and initially, it was a bit weird to see her, but somehow it all felt very natural, also because she was looking very happy and embracing herself. ​​

3x Life of agony @ Eindhoven (2015, 2016, 2017)

Then I decided to find out if they were heading over to The Netherlands for a show and to my surprise they were! I bought tickets for their show on the 15th of June at the Effenaar, once again in Eindhoven. A wonderful small venue. Although her voice was a bit different, I guess a bit higher, it still felt like Life of Agony. I was so excited to hear their major songs live again after all those years (see pics and review by Rockportaal). Mina said a big thank you to the crowd for embracing her for who she is:
One year later, we saw them again in Eindhoven. This time at the old Philips Klokgebouw as they were headlining ‘The Sound of Revolution’ in front of a much larger audience. Somehow, we had this stupid idea of walking all the way to the front row, not realising the crowd was already pumped up by the likes of Madball and Ignite. During the first song we lost each other, got hit in the heads and with beer poured all over us we found each other again after a couple of songs. We decided that we’re not up for this stuff anymore and went halfway in the back, just behind the pit. Being afraid of losing my Iphone while recording, I only dared to make one video during the slow part of 'Bad Seed.' The crowd was so excited and so was I. And I decided to stay in the moment and scream along with the songs.
 As LOA already mentioned at their last concert, they were working on a new album. In april 2017, they released their new single ‘World gone mad‘ and I loved it straight away with the full blown guitar riffs and Mina’s fierce voice and lyrics.  I just couldn’t wait for the whole album to be released. This album has been growing on me ever since. Bits and pieces keep on popping in my head ‘How long, how long to right this wrong…’ is one of them…
In this exclusive interview with Mina about the new album she says: ‘This album was my way of making up the lost time…make amends with my brothers and my friends for all the troubles I’ve caused them throughout the years…’ And this is where my memories end for now and will continue next Monday! Really looking forward to hear you play all the new songs!
Here are some of my favourite quotes from Mina, she just gets it, what life is all about in this wicked world:
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‘I am not gonna let the cruel world let me stop from being me’


‘The more you walk into your fear the easier life becomes, because then you realise fear doesn’t even exist…’

 ‘I live to live dreams’

‘I don’t see the problem of being honoust…’


‘If you wanna see change in the world you have to become that change…’

P.s. 1: 

I really would like to thank Life of Agony for their awesome music and for loving and reaching out to the fans. Always staying true to their themselves, their feelings and acting accordingly. You are such an inspiration to all of us!
​

P.s. 2:
@Mina, if you ever read this piece: I wasn’t sure what to call you in this blog, it just felt like I should call you Keith up until my own memories of you transforming into Mina. I hope you don’t mind, I don’t mean to be disrespectful.

@Joey Z: In an interview with KindaMuzik you mentioned that you’ve got a video tape of your show at Dynamo Open Air back in 1994, just wondering if this footage is publicly available? Would love to relive that concert again!

Continue to read:
Our yearly dose of Life of Agony (@Effenaar Eindhoven, 14th August 2017)
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