Rock at Lokeren !




Lokerse Feesten has always been a fun, affordable, not-too-big festival with good acts. This year was no exception !

Sunday was Metal Day with Panic Cell, Anthrax, Papa Roach, Life of Agony and top of the bill: Alice Cooper !

We got there just in time for Anthrax, who were suprisingly entertaining ! I have to admit that I hardly know any songs by them but they were good enough live to keep me interested anyway.




Papa Roach could not interest me at all, though it was fun when the singer decided to venture out into the public. but that was about it.

Life Of Agony, naaah, I've seen them before at the AB in Brussels and I have to say that I enjoyed that show very much. Today it just didn't seem to "click". Microphone troubles and long gaps between the songs totally took the rythm out of the gig. A pity !

Alice Cooper on the other hand, totally delivered ! I believe we got the best of the best : hanging, lethal injection, guillotine, piercing,...old and new songs. Alice totally rocked the place ! The gig started with "School's Out" and ended with it, "Elected" with cheeky comments about belgian cities, waving the belgian flag about...You have my vote Mr Cooper !


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4eDapbclJgM


Monday was Rock Day with Therapy?, Mötley Crüe and Golden Earring.
Therapy? played a fast version of Diane sadly enough, I prefer the slow version.
Mötley Crüe were absolutely great ! Fireworks, flames, good songs, the lot ! Really enjoyed their gig !
Golden Earring were also very good. All the hits, in great arrangements, drumsolo's, guitar solo's...great live band !

Tour De France

Hello there dear reader(s) ! Let's see if I still know how to work this blog !

On the 4th of July, the Tour De France passed by our house ! We just had to open the window and watch the cyclists go by ! A 2hr wait and then it was all over in 1m 30 sec. lol !

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Nw9iw_7Xo

I am now a...

certified North Pole traveller ! :))

My certificate arrived today. When I visited the island Grímsey in Iceland, I walked over the arctic circle. And now I have the little piece of paper to prove it.

7 december, what a day !

My oh my, what a fantastic evening did we have ! My boyfriend came over for the charity gig that Simple Minds were going to do at the ABC Venue in Glasgow. The gig was to raise money for 'Cash For Kids'. The venue was also selling exclusive Simple Minds tshirt, made especially for the gig. It was the normal longsleeve tour t-shirt, but with a tweak ;).

We arrived just before 6pm, not that many people waiting yet. So when the doors opened, we were in the middle of the front row. Excellent ! The place was packed, it turns out it sold out within the hour of tickets going on sale !

The gig itself was absolutey awesome, 2 full hours of energy, passion and sweat. A really good setlist, no slow songs, full steam ahead, lots of good vibes and good atmosphere ! Everything you expect and hope for from a Simple Minds gig !

Afterwards, my sweetheart somehow managed to get aftershow passes. Wahey !!!!! Something I`'d never thought of experiencing ! Sharing a drink with Eddie and Andy (didn`t see the rest of the Minds, they probably had an early night ?) and making a young teenager`s dream come true (but that`s another story!).

Easily one of the best gigs I`ve seen from them and for sure one of the best nights I have ever had !

The Gig !

Well tonight was the night ! I went to the SECC during the day and heard Simple Minds' soundcheck. No way of sneaking in though...

Went to the meetup before the gig where I just missed Mick McNeill. Damn! Said hi to familiar faces then had some food and off to the gig.

I thought I had a seat all the way back in the hall but it turned out my seat was on row 14 right in the middle of the stage. Nice ! The people I knew were mostly sitting in row 2, 3, or 4. So I went over there for a chat. We asked security if they'd allow people to stand at the front of the stage ? Yes, but only the people from the first 5 rows. Aha ! So I lingered around talking to peeps, pretending I was sitting in one the still vacant seats. (people were still coming in though). Music started and Viviane said (she had been to the previous concerts on this tour) "it`s starting!" I didn`t quite believe her as the lights were still on and the music wasn`t that loud. But people started rushing to the barriers in front of the stage so I followed suit. Security tried to check tickets to determine if you were really from the first rows, but all of a sudden the lights went out and BAM... "Waterfront" was set in !

So I was able to be on the second row for the whole 2 hours ! A good set was played with "I Travel" being the hightlight for me because I really love that track ! Ghostdancing... aaah I never get tired of hearing that one ! Chelsea Girl was great, Up On The Catwalk and all those other great songs ! They had the whole venue up on their feet and during "Alive & Kicking" I watched the audience and évery single person was waving. It was great.

Afterwards there was a gig by Four Good Men (with Derek Forbes on bass) back in the city centre of Glasgow. They played their set really late, especially for us ! The gig was fun, lots of old Simple Minds songs ! Brian McGee stopped by too (after the gig), that was a nice surprise !

A great evening, one I had been anticipating for for a long time. The Minds played and looked really good. Here`s to the next 30 years of live music lads !

Glasgow !

Hello all !

It has been quiet on this page lately right ? Lucky for you I`m in Glasgow this week for 2 Simple Minds gigs so the much needed update can begin !

The trip started this morning. I needed to be at the airport at 10am. When I got there the flight was already delayed by one hour. Then another half hour. Eventually, we took off at 13.00 instead of 11.00 lol ! Arrived in Glasgow around 15.00 checked in and went shopping. I have been here before in 2006 (also for a Simple Minds concert) and I don`t know where I went walking then but obviously in the wrong part of town ! I can`t remember that there were so many shops and malls here ! OMG ! And they all have autumn sales ! And penguins must be very popular here because they pop up everywhere !

Anyway, some nice pictures to set the christmas mood...

Day 14 - Horseback-riding and hotdogs and soup...

This morning I went for a nice trip with the horses. Along mountains, snowy meadows, very nice ! My horse was called Sóki and it was lovely.

Back in the city, I went for some more shopping, a girl can never shop enough ! Unfortunately it was raining, the only day it rained in these entire 2 weeks.

I stopped at THE BEST PLACE for hotdogs, : Bæjarins Beztu. Bill Clinton and Metallica will agree with me and stop at this little place whenever they`re in town.

After that I walked past this little bistro that had "soup in bread". Curious as I was, I wanted to try this and it turned out to be very nice ! Almost a full meal, I felt really stuffed with the soup on top of previous mentioned hot dog...

So that was my trip to Iceland. It was nice, cold, a bit scary at times, but worth doing. I can`t wait till next time ! During summer, doing the westfjords and such.