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.

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. 

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. 

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

‘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.

 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.

​‘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!)

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:

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 😊

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).

‘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:

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.

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)

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.

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!). 

​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…

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.

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.

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!

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...

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). 

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:

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! 

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.

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:

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’:

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...

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. 

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!

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.

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. 

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…

​From there, we went to Aarhus for 1 day and started at Den Gamle By. A truly amazing and authentic open air museum where you travel back in time and experience how people lived between the 1600-1975. Fully furnished houses, old bakeries with Danish delicacies, people dressed in style, a little boutique with clothing and hats from the 50’s/60’s and the kids enjoying the antique fairground, to name a couple of fun things to do and see there. Also, the girls fancied a horse-drawn carriage ride, and so we did. Not worth it by the way, even the girls were disappointed (a 3-minute ride for 18 euros/ 170DK…!).

​The ARoS museum was next on our itinerary. Unfortunately, the museum closed at 5pm and we only had 45 minutes left. We wanted to see ‘Your panorama rainbow’ on the top of the building, but they didn't sell separate tickets. Hopefully, we can make it another day and explore this wonderful museum and exhibitions as well.

Starting off as a 55-year-old diesel engine, ​gradually the oil was running through his throat and became better, higher, lower, and getting up to speed during my favourite song ‘Estranged’.  ​I used to listen to this song in bed at night, lights off and slowly fall asleep…Slash’s guitar riffs are so moving… And so was ‘Civil War’, a song that still resonates.

Loaded like freight train…Flyin’ like an aeroplane…’ Night train’ was the perfect follow up song. And then as a worthy anti-climax, the first few guitar notes of the next song gave me the shivers…’Black Hole Sun’…tears in my eyes straight away. This tribute to Chris Cornell was truly magical and sung with so much respect by Axl.

Suddenly, I found myself standing on a pick nick table, rocking and headbanging to the remaining songs with some fellow fans. Whistling along with ‘Patience’, shouting ‘Well, well, well, My Michelle’ and jumping in my pink rain boots on the beats of ‘Paradise City’, the final big bang of an awesome, amazing rock legend night!

​Thanks Axl, Duff and Slash (and Angus Young!) for this once ‘in my lifetime’ experience and I’ve become even more appreciative of your iconic music. Another great thing I can cross off my bucket list!