ATTENTION:
If you happen to have any photo or video material of our shows during this trip, please get in touch!
Just like when we came back from Spain, a lot of people asked us how the trip to the UK was and most of the time we responded with ‘Great, but read the little report we’ll write soon for more details…’ Well, here you go. A day by day overview of our trip to the UK to give you an idea what we’re doing when we’re hitting the road. If you get bored half way (which we can imagine), go read “The Dirt” instead (if you didn’t read it a zillion times already). Thank me later.
Because we know some people are afraid of words, we took a video camera with us so instead of reading you can also watch our amazing home videos and listen to some live tracks. Oooh the excitement!
TUESDAY AUGUST 14 (DAY ZERO)
Getting the van / last-minute arrangements
Little flyer I made for the trip, posted at various sites…
Our show in Belgium got cancelled twice and things started to look pretty hopeless… We still had to pick up the van though. So that’s what we did. First stop was Sjef Sorbet, our longtime friend, merch dude, roadie, band-beer-drinker or whatever you want to call him. He’s all of the above and more, and less. So, we cranked up the volume of our radio, pressed play and off we went. Sometime later we arrived at the renting place and they gave us the keys to a great 9 persons Volkswagen Transporter, our home for the next couple of days. Sjef drove the van home to his place, I took the car to my place and that was that. Amazing isn’t it? I think I can speak for both Sjef and me if I say it was one of the most exciting moments of our lives. And we lived to tell it! And that’s only the beginning of this wild, wild story!
As for the Belgium show, we actually gave up on it already but when I got home I got a message from Jeff, a 16 year old kid from Belgium. He thought he might be able to arrange something. So for the remainder of the day I stayed in contact with Jeff and amazingly he managed to hook us up indeed. JH Reflex in Kortrijk was willing to let us do it. There was still a need for a PA/vocal amplifcation though… Enter Didier (Losing Streak, originally we would have played at his place), he hooked us up with a PA and everything was arranged. I threw together a last-minute flyer, did some ‘spreading-the-word’ and that was it. Time to get some sleep and hoping for the best.
I have to add though, that Jeff & Didier weren’t the only people helping out. In the days before numerous kids from Belgium tried to arrange something, they contacted venues, rehearsing places, asked their parents, whatever. It was really cool to see people trying and if you’re reading this, thanks a lot! It showed how cool this ‘scene’ can be.
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 15 (DAY I)
HARDCORE at JH Reflex, Kortrijk (Belgium)
Last-second flyer for the last-second show.
Time to leave! Bags packed? Check. Everyone present? Fuck! Ofcourse not. Remco (our guitarist) was still sleeping at his home… He didn’t knew he had to be at our rehearsel space at 3 o clock… Oh well, we loaded the van with our stuff and hit the road. First stop, Remco. Second stop, Kortrijk, Belgium.
When we arrived at JH Reflex, Jeff walked up to us. Something was wrong… Apparently Jeff talked to a volunteer instead of someone in charge (he didn’t know that). So when got to the venue they told him it wasn’t happening. Luckily he still managed to talk them into it. Any money that we were supposed to get was out of the window though. Not that that was a problem to us, we were on our way to the boat anyway. We thought it was amazing we could play a show in the end. So we calmed Jeff down, because he was stressing a bit of it all. Poor dude.
Just when we thought everything was going well, we noticed a problem again. Killing Frost provided the backline, but they only have 1 guitar player… We have two… Fuck, we didn’t think of that. Classic mistake. But Jeff came to the rescue once again, one phone call to a friend (almost on his way to France to go on vacation) and the guitar cab was arranged. Time for the next problem. Drummers need a drum seat. Killing Frost didn’t take that with them and we ALWAYS take that with us, but OFCOURSE we forgot it this time… Aaargh… A normal chair it was. It worked.
Killing Frost started to set up. They’re cool dudes, cool band. We especially loved the dubs they did. Good stuff. After that it was our turn. Some people sang along, good times.
In a way it was one of the coolest shows ever. Not because of the massive turnout (because there weren’t too many people. last-second-show alert!), not because the place exploded with crazy (practiced at home) mosh moves… But because of the fact that it showed how cool hardcore can be. First people trying hard to fix the show at the very last second, arranging everything at the show. During our show people took a glass and passed it around, asking for people to throw in some money. Jeff even asked some friends (not into hardcore but at a place nearby) to come to the show and throw in some money as well. They did. So in the end it resulted in quite some money for both bands. Amazing. It was so cool.
Still buzzing because of the whole show, we left for the boat in Dunkerque in France (the second time we cross through France on a trip without playing there). For most of us, the first time crossing the channel. England belongs to us, you better believe it!
THURSDAY AUGUST 16 + FRIDAY AUGUST 17 (DAY II + DAY III)
Crossing the channel, driving on the left, waking up Rob Boyce, Guitar Hero, Crazy Golf, Anchor Man, witnessing Abandon Ship at Le Pub, Newport
THURSDAY AUGUST 16 (DAY II)
Driving on the left. It’s so strange, to us atleast. In the beginning you constantly turn back to the right, like in the Netherlands. Oh well, Joost adapted pretty quick and was crowned a hero by us all. After a quick stop at a tankstation (and some horrible coffee later) we arrived in Brighton at 6 o clock. An hour too early, timedifference you know. So we had two options. Waiting in the van for an hour or wake up mr Rob Boyce. Ofcourse we woke him up. Must be great, 6 o clock in the morning. Having 6 morons from the Netherlands outside your house, wanting in. We went to sleep right away, but I think none of us had much sleep. Oh well, can’t have it all.
When we were awake enough we almost stumbled over this guitar attached to the Playstation. None of us ever played Guitar Hero before (but heard some great stories), so we wanted to try it. Well, we as everyone who plays it. We got hooked. Damn. Crazy game. Aside from playing Guitar Hero the entire day we went into Brighton with Rob as our guide. We discovered you have to be 21 to get beer from the supermarket in the UK. And even when you’re 21 all your friends have to be 21 as well. Something like that would never happen in the Netherlands. Don’t know what approach is better though. Oh well, just another difference between both countries.
Next stop. The beach. Amazing. Brighton has a great beach. We just sat around, chilling a bit. Stef & Joost were crazy enough to jump into the sea, being swallowed by the waves. After they failed to drown we went on to the highlight of the day. CRAZY GOLF! Something Rob practices on every day (he refuses to admit it though), yet we totally outplayed him. We felt sorry for him, so we went back to his place for some more Guitar Hero.
I don’t think there’s a better way to end the day then with watching Anchor Man, so that’s what we did. Said And Done loves lamp. Stay classy people.
FRIDAY AUGUST 17 (DAY III)
Flyer for the show.
So when everybody was awake, more or less, it was time to head for Newport. We were crossing borders once again, this time to get to Wales. After a pretty long drive, including some traffic jams, beautiful views, the strangest people in cars (but they probably thought the same of us) we arrived in Newport. So now we had to find the venue. Luckily some lovely ladies in the post office were able to give us directions. When we arrived at the venue we found the dudes from Killing Frost (& Didier from Losing Streak) waiting for Kai (the promotor) to arrive. In the meantime Joost (our drummer) started to get sick quite a bit. So he layed down in the buss and we stood outside, waiting. Luckily some people from the club arrived pretty fast and we could get in. A bit later Kai arrived with some good food. After eating a bit of it, Joost started to feel a bit better already and we were looking forward to play.
First up was Losing Six Seconds, Kai’s band. Good stuff, some great guitar riffs. Next up was Misuse, another band I’ve never heard of before. Fast, heavy, pissed off stuff, two girls (bass & drums), you already know it’s going to be good. It was. Our turn. We ripped through our set, because the show started to get behind schedule. It’s always cool to see people singing along and dancing to your songs, especially when you’re in another country. This was no exception. Good show, we loved it. The place has a great sound as well, never hurts. After us it was time for Killing Frost again, this time they amazed us with an Iron Man intro during the soundcheck (flashbacks to Guitar Hero). So then Abandon Ship took the stage. We were told in advance that this was the best band from the UK, so were excited. We met their singer Rob at Rob’s place (does that sound confusing enough?) already (we also met their drummer Matt, but that’s not confusing enough) and they were cool dudes. The place exploded. Newport is down with Abandon Ship for sure. PISSED OFF, a message and lots of fun. We loved it. Reminds me, while I’m writing this, I have to still pick up the vinyl somewhere. On it. Suggest you do the same.
So after the show we drove back to Brighton right away, we had to help Mr Boyce move some stuff the next morning so… We had some problems with our GSP on the way over to Newport but it did knew the way back. Still Joep had some problems with it in Brighton and wanted to throw it out of the window (although he clearly took the wrong turn himself haha). Oh well, things never change 🙂
SATURDAY AUGUST 18 (DAY IV) + SUNDAY AUGUST 19 (DAY V)
PLS MSH 07 and the Dirty Money mayhem, Happy Gilmore, more Guitar Hero, Oldschool, Burger King/McDonalds, a castle and crossing the channel again
SATURDAY AUGUST 18 (DAY IV)
Flyer for the show. Not up-to-date with the latest info. Lots of last-minute changes.
After the essential games of Guitar Hero and good breakfast (eggs! no bacon though), Sjef and I went to a rehearsel/equipment renting place with Rob. We picked up the backline and drove it to the venue. The venue was great! An old church, including jesus on the wall. Amazing. Hell was about to break lose in it and there he hung…
Pictures by MattWBPS
There were LOTS of bands playing and I didn’t manage to see em all. From the stuff I saw and remembered I especially liked Cold Ones (and their umbrella), Bases Loaded (a band with Rob & Rob in it + Iron Man (again hehe) as an intro can’t do wrong), Dirty Money (the mayhem!! CD’s/vinyl flying through the room, all merch got put away haha) and Justice (lots of people left already, but it was really cool, good vibe. Only Living Witness and World Collapse songs through the PA before they started playing didn’t hurt either). Props to Rob for putting up this great show.
So after the show we dediced to find ourselves a pub, hell we’re in England aren’t we? Apparently pubs close really early though. So we were there for an entire 15 minutes, amazing. When we went back to Rob’s place we witnessed a pretty heavy fight, nearly got ourselves into it. But since we’re not that good fighters (haha), we managed to stay out of it. “Brighton is really peaceful” according to Rob though. That’s what he said, while we heard sirens in te distance. We loved Brighton, that’s as much as I know.
We all took turns to sleep in the van and this night it was Sjef and me who were being banished to the van. So in the middle of Happy Gilmore we took off to the van. Sjef was sleeping within seconds I think. I tried every position out there (to sleep, mind you) I think and in the end I managed to sleep an hour something because I was exhausted. Oh well, it was not like we had a lot to to do the next day…
SUNDAY AUGUST 19 (DAY V)
I couldn’t wait to get out of the van. Finally freed we fixed ourselves a great breakfast again. Rob already left for some lunch (but we wouldn’t see him again, he had to meet up with a girl, oooooh shit). We watched Oldschool (You can never watch too much Will Ferrel movies) and then it was time to play some more Guitar Hero. We had a couple of tracks to go if we wanted to finish Medium before we left. So that’s what we did. Sjef, Joost and I managed to finish the tracks. We’re true rockstars, no doubt about it.
Time to leave. We did set the house on fire, closed the doors behind us and drove off. Bye,bye Brighton.
On our way to the docks, we drove by a McDonalds. When we took the next turn we couldn’t find it anymore. We did pass a Burger King though. So the stupidest plan ever came up. We were going to ask directions for Mc Donalds at Burger King. As you might have guessed, they refused to give them out. Oh boy. We’re such retards. Interesting sidenote: The other visitors in the joint were Dutch as well.
We were an hour too early to catch the boat to the UK (we got sent back by NorfolkLine) so we decided to check out the castle we saw near the docks. It was closed so we couldn’t get to it, but hey, atleast we tried to do check out a bit of the scenery. We encountered a drunk lady at the parking lot there, who said some strange things about sleeping in the castle (atleast a part of her she said??) and stuff like that she know and saw things we couldn’t and whatever. We enjoyed the view on the city, Dover I think, for a bit and then returned back to the boat. We did cross the channel one final time. Out with the UK, in with the mainland. A long ride later, we were home.
MONDAY AUGUST 20
Returning home, sleep, sleep and sleep
We slept. A lot. That’s pretty much all we did on monday. Exciting huh? We’re so rock & roll.
And that’s it. Another amazing experience added to our life. We can’t wait to hit the road again. We’ll see where it takes us next time. But we’ll be going back to the UK someday for sure. The same goes for Spain (remember our trip in February this year?) by the way. Be prepared!
PS > If anyone reading this has any pictures (or video) from our shows there (or know people that do), hook us up!
PS2 > In case anyone is interested, we’ve got a couple of those UK editions of the LP left. Check the shop.