This is a site where I post reviews of CDs, DVDs, LPs, and concerts. I have been writing music reviews on and off since 1984. I ran a heavy metal fanzine from 1984-1988 called Metal Madness and have been a staff writer for Aural Innovations for many years. I have also contributed to Chrohinga Well (RIP), Bad Acid (RIP), Lowcut (RIP), Roadburn and a number of other zines as well. I recently moved to Portugal so please request the new address and do not send any music to Denmark anymore. Tak..
Go
Bananas are a band from Salszburg, Austria, who I met and became friends with
when ØSC played with Baby Woodrose in 2012 in Salszburg. They only had their
debut album out at this time. This is a super cool record. All the covers are
handmade and it is made in only 111 copies. The Banana theme is still in place
and the band has a lot of humor as well as a cool mix of serious spacey stoner
rock! The record features 7 tracks over 4 album sides. It starts off with the
track, Never buy weed from an Alien for more than 386 liters of Water! A very
nice spacey guitar line starts things off and some spacey sounds here and there
before it starts to get much heavier a stoner rock like groove kicks in. A
fantastic song.. Inna jo Inna Ging is a more uptempo stoner rock track with
some psychedelic effects and sounds thrown in and some cool guitar solos as
well as the stoned groove. The band has really grown in it’s sound and song
writing from the first record. Flip over to side B for the long Vulko, which is
instrumental and starts off with a slow building guitar line and spacey section
before it builds up with some nice bass lines mirroring the main guitar while
staying quite spacey and floating. It ends in a heavy fashion with some wah
guitar solos. SUN starts with some beautiful guitar and then really takes off
and develops into a real rocker but with a great sense of melody. BP-Black
Death starts off side C with a beautiful guitar line before the rest of the
instruments slowly enter into the mix. This track takes the entire side and
takes a dramatic and heavier turn around 3mins. The mid-section has some nice
ØSC-Hawkwind like space synth sounds as the rest of the band rides the track
through all the different changes and themes that come and repeat themselves as
it builds up to its ending. The final vinyl side has two tracks, GB and Ondas. GB
is a short intro track, while Ondas starts off with a killer guitar riff, even
though it is one I am sure I have heard before. Man the band really groove on
this one but the band brings it down and really spaces it out. I have to say I
really love this great record and cool to see the band taking a pretty
different path from their wild stoner rock beginnings. Great stuff…
The
German instrumental band Space Debris is back with another 4 track double
studio album. Sides A-C were recorded in August 2013 and side D October 2013.
The band has a new keyboard player (Winnie) from the last studio album that I
heard. Each side includes track that fills the entire song. Side A starts off
with Colossus Stranded, a piece which has some singing here and there by Magic
Petra, who did the fantastic artwork. The piece starts with a slow build and
long organ solo. Magic mixes in some singing that I am not so fond of and this
leads into a longish guitar solo and Winnie switches to the Fender Rhodes sound
and a more upbeat heavy jam begins. The band is really great at keeping things
dynamic, if they had a 2nd guitar player they could create dynamics
like the Allman Brothers. Side B is the title track and starts off with some
pretty cool and far out keyboards and then Tommy kicks in with some jazzy
guitar but the whole thing really builds up and gets quite funky and
psychedelic. What a great jam… Side 3 starts off with the Fender Rhodes solo
and then the bass and other instruments slowly enter. The piece has a quite
happy mood to it. Tommy sort of takes the lead for a while on guitar and then
Winnie switches to the organ and they do a bit of back and forth intermingling
for a while. This track is more loose and jammy and everyone plays to a really
high level, with Mitja really grooving on the bass and Christian on the drums
as the track just builds and builds. Journey back to the Moon ends side D and
is another long jamming track with a bit of an almost Spanish style theme to it
to start. The track comes to an almost complete stop where you might think it
is ending but then it slowly grows with a long guitar part complimented with
some nice drifting organ. The track does actually stop completely and start
again, which is quite strange before fading out one more time… Cool record..
Ad´Absurdum are an underground
band from Switzerland that have been around since 1991 in one form or another.
They are happy living just beneath the surface of the musical world, where
people leave them alone to make their own universe of instrumental, psychedelic
space rock.. I have reviewed quite a number of their releases over the years.
This one is coming out in May on vinyl and CD and as a digital download.
Previously, many of the bands releases have been in very small numbers,
sometimes only 50 copies. Anyway, this album has 9 tracks and a wide variety of
material. Atomonoton starts things off with a quite repetitive guitar line that
the whole track builds off and goes and comes back to. A very cool dynamic in
this track with a great mixture of cool guitar effects, synths sounds and other
oddities thrown in to make it quite psychedelic…Phosphor reminds me of Circle.
It keeps the mid-paced drive in place with the guitars playing nice melodic
lines but the pace keeps the hypnotic train on course. The train changes course
dramatically at the end with a dark strange, piano soundscape. The next track,
Deep #2 was recorded live and a bit more dissonant and challenging as far as
the guitar parts go. The organ gives the track a sort of sense of balance as it
floats and glides. There are some echoy vocals that can’t really be understood
very well but are mostly for effect. Sunshine Baby is the sort of pop psych
track on the CD with some melodic and distant vocals. Territor starts nice and
slowly with a strummed guitar and flute like keyboard. The last three songs are
a grouped together and called Suite about a Day at Home. This track has a lot
of dynamics and reminds me a bit of Hawkwind, Circle, and AdÁbsurdum. I really
like this creative band, just doing their own thing and not sounding like any
other band from Switzerland.
Acid
Elephant are a new band for me. This is apparently their third release. The CD
features 5 long songs and the band is from Pori, Finland, one of my favourite
countries ad the home of CIRCLE. The band is a four piece of guitar, bass,
drums and keyboards. They describe themselves on bandcamp as drone stoner rock.
Las noches del desierto is the first track and the music is pretty stoned, with
a cool smooth groove and vocal. Cool song but I did not hear any keyboards. Red
Carpet Lane (10mins) continues in the same vein but the guitar has a slightly
heavier tone this time but the same repetitive stoner groove with the smooth
style of singing continues. The long spacey mid-section of this track takes
things down and there is some nice hand drumming to compliment the guitar
lines, with a slight eastern feel and then they build it up at the end with
some nice psychedelic double tracked guitar for a short section (wish it was
longer). 7th Stone starts off slow, searching, exploring, finding
it’s feet, direction as the track slowly takes shape. The drums and percussion
change the feel of the song but it stays out there is experimental drone-space
land until the end (14mins). Godmason has a far out sounding intro with some
effects on the bass and guitar as it slowly drones in. Quite suddenly, you get
jolted out of your place when the drums kick into compliment the heavy bass and
the guitar line slowly develops. Finally you can actually hear some spacey
synth-keyboard sounds for a few small parts as it builds up in intensity and
into a super cool track. So far each of the tracks on this record has been
quite different from each other, something I really like about this band. BOG
is the last track to end, mostly likely your first Acid Elephant, journey.. BOG
is another trip unto it’s own, with some buried vocals at the beginning and
heavy on the distorted bass… this last track is a far out droney monster….
Sadly, there was some glue or something on the cd so this track was skipping a
lot.. Cool trip..
Ethiva
is a new Spanish band released on the German Clostridium record label. Hope of
Lamp of the Universe, Arc of Ascent, Propane Propane and other cool bands. The
LP starts off with Forest of Pigeons. This track starts with very beautiful,
melodic and building guitar parts before the vocals come in. The track just
floats in a nice way and javi plays some fantastic guitar. Jandro plays the
bass and does the lead vocals. Clouds has this airy singing that sort of floats
over the guitar lines while Ramon builds the drums up. This one gets quite
heavy as the riff repeats itself and then comes down to a more spacey feeling. When
the Great Whale Comes is the heaviest track on the side with some more heavy
slow parts. Fantastic guitar on this track. Flip the record over for the
Eleventh. This song has a beautiful guitar line and again those floating
vocals. The end of the track kicks in with a riff a lot like Monkey3. Chemical
train is a bit more uptempo at the start but then really floats with some nice
bass playing to lead the spacey section. Great track. No Birds soars too High
ends this excellent record with an uptempo track with a rocking solo.I highly
recommend this for people who like mostly instrumental music with some really
nice and dramatic guitar parts mixed with a great Pink Floyd vibe at times. I
really love this record. The artwork is really amazing and if you get the die
hard version it includes a small puzzle. I have never seen that in any record.
Lords
of Saturn are a new band from Norway. The band is led by Mathias Lodmalm who
also wrote both the songs, does the vocals and plays guitar. The band is a 5
piece with drums, bass, percussion and additional guitars. The A side (Plays on
33rpm) starts with Black Triangles. This is pretty heavy and dramatic stuff.
The singing in the heavy part reminds me a bit of Metallica. The track has good
dynamics but I missed a guitar solo, just a lot of riffing and intensity. The
title track is on side B. It is also a slow heavy riffer with some dark
feelings and moods as the track does from dark to light. I don’t listen to much
music like this so it is hard for me to compare it to anyone I know. Check them
out on the web.. You get the lyrics on the back of the 7” to both tracks, which
is nice. Cool artwork design.
This
was a pretty cool stoner doom rock band that I caught some of their set at
Roadburn. They released this nice CD single in only 25 numbered copies in a
small case with a clear top and a sticker and info card. I got number 24 of 25.
It features two tracks. Ananta start
things off with a good mid-paced stoned groove and some passionate vocals. Hollow
has a nice melodic guitar line but then the track slowly builds up and gets
pretty intense and heavy, more heavy than the opening track. The singer is
really good and there is a guitar solo in this track. I look forward to hear
more by this band. They have already made two records.
Albino
Rhino is a new three piece Finnish band from Helsinki. They had an EP out last
year and this is the new full length record. The CD is 4 tracks in about
40mins. The Forest Prevails starts things off with 9mins of heavy riffing. The
sound is very compressed and strange with the bass and guitar mixed really in
your face. It is very repetitive and then changes slightly at times to give it
a bit of a twist and turn like some wind sweeps and the riff will change a bit.
You can tell these guys like Electric Wizard! Sanctification is next and
features Kimmo, the guitarist on vocals. The vocals are in the style of OM and
Sleep as the heavy riffing continues. There is a short guitar solo section
before back to the heavy riffing. Blue Mist is sung by the bass player Ville.
While the vocals have changed, the music stays very down tuned and heavy. This
track is more uptempo and reminds me of someone but I can’t place it? Kimmo
plays some solo guitar which really changes the feeling of the track towards
the end. The CD ends with the 14½ min track, Uphold the Light part 1. This one
starts off with a really cool almost like solo guitar riff before the heavy
stuff kicks in and it for sure brings some more light to the heavy start of
this record. Each track is a bit different on this EP, making it pretty cool.
Clearly, groups like Sleep, OM and Electric Wizard are the major influences on
this group. Check them out…
Circle
has already released 4 records this year and it is only April! This is a very
short 7”, showing yet another side of the band, the PUNK side. 4mins of total
music on this 7”. The title track starts things off and is all sung in Finnish
with a snotty attitude but the music is actually pretty melodic and like pop
punk! Liian Paljon Liimaa (Too Much Glue) is a bit longer and in the same vein
as the first track but more energetic and a bit harder edge but still that
slight melodic thread. This is actually a pretty fun track, especially if you can
understand the lyrics!
The
Socks are a new French band on the awesome Small Stone label. The band is really rocking out with a 70’s vibe for sure. They
are a four piece band that have heard a lot of the current crop of Swedish
bands like Graveyard, Witchcraft, Horisont and others, but they throw in their
own twist here and there. The album starts off slow and building with Lords of
Illusion. This one starts to build up with the rhythm guitar player Nicklas
also adding some keyboards. Julien takes care of the lead guitar, lead vocals
and can sound exactly like Eric Wagner of Trouble! This track really rocks out
at the end. Some Kind of Sorcery sounds like they stole it from Graveyard. A
high energy and passionate track but almost a cover song. Next to the Light
slows things down and shows the strong side of this band, with great dynamics
of guitar and keyboards and passionate singing. New Kings is back to the
Graveyard boogie and vocal style with a hard hitting riff mixed with slower
parts. Holy Sons is a great song and one of their most original with a heavy
riff combined with the organ in a really effective way. Julien plays a very
passionate solo and this is the most jammed out track on the record. Electric
War goes back to the uptempo Graveyard style that they emulate so well. The mid
section is a bit more doomy like Trouble. Nice double tracked wah solo as well.
Gypsy Lady has a cool footstomping groove with a nice organ line that drives
the track to start and another one of their more original sounding tracks. WE
LIVE (not the Electric Wizard song!) is driven by some cool bass lines and
aggression which comes and goes. The CD ends with another very Graveyard
inspired track called The Last Dragon. Almost a cover song, it is so close to
the Graveyard sound and feel. Anyway, despite them borrowing a few too many
ideas from Graveyard, this is a solid record. This is a record, like most, that
sound best when cranked up really LOUD… I hope to catch these guys live soon..
Following
the trends of a lot of cities in Europe (Berlin, Oslo, Liverpool, etc...),
Kasper from Levitation Records decided to organize our very own here in
Denmark. It was pretty ambitious to try to get around 50 bands, mostly pretty
unknown, underground and mostly Danish at a small venue. The web sites for
this festival were a disaster with little or no information about the bands. A
name and a link to a Facebook page is not information about a band, I hate to
tell them. Nearly worthless… You need to have a written description of each
act, a link directly to web sites where one can actually read about the band and
a place where you can hear some music or a video link, as this could really
help to bring people in. Anyway, they will learn for the next year….. let’s get to the positive side of things,
which was the cool gathering of mostly young people I had never seen at any of
the shows I go to, the great sound (thanks to the very hardworking WILL), the
bands for putting on interesting performances, cool psychedelic wallpaper
projections by the Malmö Kristallen people (although they could be more active
in changing them more often and giving some sort of light show, which was
really lacking..).. The wallpaper made the places look cool for sure.
The
main hall was where all the more known bands played, while upstairs, a smaller
scene was set up where there was also a bar, smoking room and a small place for
selling merch. This could have been greatly improved with a long table on the
wall giving each band some space to sell stuff. The merch was just chaos and
most bands never even had anything or sold very little as it was not clear to
anyone where it was, how to see it, etc. This could be improved a lot. There
was plenty of space along the wall where the smoking room is and a lot of that
was just filled up with junk, a sofa, extra tables, etc.
The schedules were off by 15mins
to an hour so it was quite hard to figure out who was playing when and then
they switched theLittle Brain Attack
(France) with the Wands and it was not posted or announced at all. Anyway, I
arrived straight from work on the Thursday and Turquoise Sun was the first band on at 16:15. This is the guys from
the old band from Jylland called Ancient Monuments. ØSC played a gig with them
a year ago or so. Very nice folks and the new band are pretty eclectic. A wide
range of songs from very dreamy pop like Tame Impala plays to more diverse
stuff with saxophone (he never really plays any long solos, just small blips
here and there), funky at times, etc.. The keyboard player is very good and
they all play excellent together and three of them sing. The last track was
called Oracle and I liked this one a lot. It started off with a theme on the
guitar quite close to One of the Days by Pink Floyd and then a funky riff
kicked in and it totally changed direction. A promising new band, pity only
about 20 people saw them play.
I
had never heard Echo Electric before
but they reminded me straight away of Brain Jonestown Massacre style material,
with that 60’s edge and good energy and a quite clean sound. They are a five
piece band and had a very passionate and excellent front singer who also played
guitar. The vox organ really gave them that 60s sound. The lead guitar player
had this twangy almost surf guitar like playing style at times. Solid set but I
did not see it all.
Set List: Nothing without You, I
fell Blue, Cruel (video), Medicine, Wanna be with You, Night Time Queen, Baby,
you’re on Fire, You don’t really care about me
Next, I went upstairs to catch Thor Bøding (guitarist and vocalist in
Syreregn), who was playing solo upstairs. He played a mixture of his own
originals (see the video for Stoffet), young flowers, and some other obscure
Danish stuff from the 60s. He is excellent. He played to maybe 15 people like
Echo Electric… not many people showing up. They had a 160 3 day tickets
pre-sold, so that is pretty good.
The Roosters were a young new band that
I had not heard of with some members for the hedgehogs (I think). These guys
were young and just did not catch my ear. They are playing 60’s inspired stuff
but it was just too straightforward, not really trying anything new or
different and not very psychedelic at all. In fact, none of the bands so far
would I consider psychedelic rock. I went back upstairs now to see what the
hell KogeKunst was and got a great
surprise! This was a duo that were really interesting, passionate and doing
their own thing. They had a two piece drum kit that he played standing so he
could also play guitar (sort of) and the other guy also played guitar. They
also had a keyboard they would use later. This is really difficult stuff to
describe but let’s just say the guys were into and giving 200% and playing raw,
messy, music with a special energy. I was sucked in and enjoyed it a lot.
Little Brain Attack
A
few more people where now around by the time Little Brain Attack(France) hit the stage around 20:30... They
were running about 30mins behind already. I had never heard of this band
before. They played to about 40 people I guess and they had a great time and
had driven all the way from Paris to play. They were a 5 piece band and
reminded me a lot of the UK band, Spiritualized. It was the same sort of vibe
with some nice spacey guitars at times but no real solos in this band either.
They played a bit too much the same to start but then got more energetic at the
end of the set, which I liked better. The band had a lot of technical problems and considered the gig to be quite horrible. Pity..
Below Dreaming switched with ET Tumason. He is a great performer and
this was the 4th time for me to see him. He is from Iceland and a
passionate solo performer like a sort of twisted John Lee Hooker or something...
I just love the guy and he is a very cool person as well. I filmed one of his
songs…
The
Wandsare one of the more well-known bands on the bill today having released
music outside of Denmark and played around a bit in Europe. I had seen them
once when I played with White Hills in Malmo and they were very good. They just
have a great authentic 60’s sound with really nice dynamics between the guitars
and the singer has cool lyric just like what they would write in the 60s’s,
even though I doubt these guys have even tired LSD.. Seems the young generation
are not into psychedelics or even smoking weed, as I don’t think any of these
bands were high. Seems they are more into speed, cocaine, MDMA, etc... much
worse and dangerous stuff and of course drinking! Anyway, this is a great band
and the best so far today. The room was pretty filled up by now.
Set List: Circles, Door, Totem,
Colours, Hello, Spell My, She’s Electric, the Dawn, Get it Out, No one,
I went upstairs and caught a
little bit of Below Dreaming, which
features a female vocalist, two guitars, bass and drum machine. This was not
really my thing but it was pretty out there and experimental for sure. There
were only about 15 people watching them. The smoking room upstairs always
seemed to be filled up there... A lot of Danes are showing up to be seen and to
hang out and are not really into the bands anyway… They are often quite rude
and just talking loudly, even when these bands play mellow tracks, not even
caring or aware that this is annoying and disrespectful for the artist. Go
outside if you just want to talk and have no interest in the music…
Fribyttedrømme
One
of my favourites on the Danish scene these days, Fribyttedrømme was next and the room was pretty packed and the band
was in a great mood. The first two songs were really energetic and the audience
was really into it as well. The band is more relaxed and feeling more
comfortable with their songs which take inspiration from the Doors, Pink Floyd
and Alrune Rød. The highlight of the show was the long spaced out Pink Floyd
piece called Fribyttedrømmen. This was a least 15mins and towards the end the
crazy guitar player, he came out into the audience and actually lay down on the
floor and then his friend laid down and suddenly, nearly the entire audience
was lying on the floor as the track just slowly came to an end. Wow…. What a
trip. Never seen that before at a show… The band ended their 40min set with
another upbeat track. Fantastic set... That was the 3rd or 4th
time I had seen the band.
Set List: Kosmonaut, Himmellegemer, jeg graver huller I Mørket,
Fribyttedrømmen, Fem er det magiske nummer
A Tree of Night
Sadly, by the time they had
finished and I had run upstairs, A Tree
of Nightwas just finishing. I saw like the last 30 seconds. ØSC played a
gig with these guys two years ago in Roskilde and they were really good with
some cool songs. I basically saw nothing... Damn… got the set list though:
Set list: Vulture, Call, Sunrise,
Absent, Raga, Tree
It
was getting quite late and Papir was
supposed to start at 22:15 and it was almost 23 now so I sadly had to leave as
I had to be up at 6:45 to go to work. So I missed Papir but was told they were
absolutely amazing and floored the place. I also did not get to see Baby Jesus, Wonderland or The Electric
Set. I spoke to some of my friends and they all left after Papir who
finished at midnight. It was a great night and a lot of young people I had
never seen before... something is happening… the scene is growing...
Day 2
I
left work about 2:45 and got home around 3:30, had some time to change clothes
and pick up my equipment for the gig later with Agusa. All the heavy stuff was
put on one day, which was an interesting choice and a pity that the great
Finnish bands, Mr, Peter Hayden and Dark Buddha Rising were so early. Magnus
was there and managed to get one of the 1 day tickets so we had a beer in the
sun with Daniel and his girlfriend from Heavy days in Doomtown festival..
Jesus on Heroine started things off
about 16:15. It was a beautiful sunny day outside so people were happy to just
hang out in the nice weather rather than be inside. I think there was like 20
people watching this band. Their opening song reminded me a lot of Sundial
(UK). IT was a big band with 12 string acoustic guitar, two guitars, bass,
drums, keyboards and a percussion guy. Some of the guys switched instruments
and vocals but more or less their sounds sounded really similar and in this UK
psych view from the 80s..
When
Mr. Peter Hayden (Finland) started
at 17:30, there was only 2 people in the room besides the staff and myself. I
even told my friends they were starting but they did not come in from the nice
weather for another 10-15mins… Anyway, the band sounded great and the set was
more or less one long 45min trip and only material from the new double CD-vinyl
release called Arch Dimension Now. This is dark moody music, mostly
instrumental but some vocals by one of the guitar players. Heavy riffing,
occasional solos, loud, penetrating… hypnotic… Not a whole lot of people
experienced the show, perhaps 20.
RA is a four piece band and I am not
really sure how to describe them. There were still very few people here yet. It
was a bit too normal or something for me. I filmed one track and you can see
what you think. Upstairs was a unique act called Jin & Daun, as Swedish synth duo with Rikard from Flowers must Die and a nice Asian lady.
I filmed nearly the entire last piece of their set (missing the last 1mn or
less). They had a lot of gear on a small table and she seem to make the mostly
deep drone stuff while Rickard experimented with some small gadgets and a
kasossolator pad, etc.. I like it..
Dark Buddha Rising (Finland) was up now
and this features two of the guys from Mr. Peter Hayden (the keyboard player
from MPH plays guitar) and the other guitar player. The usual singer, who lead
the blood ritual has left the band as he is moving to Brazil. They had a keyboard noise maker guy instead. Some people like my friend Jacob came out
from hiding to see these guys. A pretty small crowd still, maybe 30-40 people
to see this intense show. They played 45mins and it was 3 pieces of music, I
believe. Not sure from what releases. I really love the moods these guys
create. Powerful music…
I
was playing on the main stage next with the Malmö based band Agusa, who has recently released their
debut record on the Kommun2 label. I played with the band previously in Malmö
but this was the first gig with the really cool new young drummer. It took us a
while to set up but in the end the sound was great on stage and the room filled
up and two girls came and danced on the stage and we played a solid concert.
The crowd seem to really be into it. The music is like Progressive rock from
1975, with some Swedish folk music themes thrown in and me making space sounds
in the open sections…. I had a blast…
In
between a few bands were playing upstairs and I occasionally ran up there and took
a photo or shot a short video but since the schedules were all off, I don’t
know who these acts are but enjoy…
Narcosatanicos from Jylland were pretty
damn cool. They play dark, slightly chaotic, heavy spaced out psych music. They
are pretty powerful, with three guitar players, bass, drums and saxophone. They
also have their own movie projected on the screen. The lead guitar player on
the left, I don’t think he realized but he was standing in front of their
projector and so he blocked off usually about 50% of the screen with the shadow
of his head! Anyway, the place was packed and it was a really cool concert. The
first part of the show they had really short songs, one was really a lot like
1972 Hawkwind. Later they had somewhat longer tracks but nothing like a 10min
freakout… High energy dark psych stuff… Set List: Narcodoom, Vile, Voodoo Jesus, King Crust, Sax Jam, Nausea, Salt, Haunzinationsrhusch
Trummor & Orgel(Drums and Organ)
are a duo as the name suggests from Sweden. They had to drag this huge Hammond
B3 and Leslie speaker onto the stage but in the end they sounded great and the
crowd and people were quite into it. This kind of set up really limits what you
can do but the organ player was fantastic, as was the intense drummer, to
really mix it up a lot. Sometimes they were funky, happy, high energy… People
dug it.. Westerbur and Rowe, is an US drum and organ duo, but the organ player
also plays a lot of spacey keyboards.. some of it reminded me of what they can
do also…
Things
were more than 1hr behind now so it was looking like the Cosmic Dead would not
hit the stage before 1 in the morning. I was getting really tired but I had to
see my friends in this band play.. De
Underjordiske was next on the big stage but I ran upstairs and caught a
couple of songs by Danske Så ddddwho I think was Danske
Spor. This was a young kid playing his guitar and harmonica and singing his heart out in Danish. Not too many people but a few.. The Technicolor Poetshad a completely new line up from the last time I saw them at Drone. It was now a female singer, drums, bass and guitar. Previously they had two guitar players and I did not recognize any of these people. Anyway, some of the new tracks
reminded me a bit of Jefferson Airplane. The guitar player had an intense way of playing
but did not do any solos. Seems hardly any of the young bands know how to play
solos or fit them into the music properly.. I am not sure..
De Underjordiske(it translates to the underground
people or something like that) were also very young and had a good crowd. I was
getting really tired and don’t really recall much of what they were really like
but I was not into it. They had a really good groove that people were into but
again, all these guitar players and long rhythm sections without singing and no
solos. It was one of the few bands with a lead singer and he was really into
and very good as well. The crowd liked them..
The
last band of the day was the Cosmic Dead from Scotland! They had flown over
early and slept most of the day and were pretty fresh and happy to be in
Denmark. I spoke to them on and off over the last many hours when I came
outside. It took a while for them to set up so it was perhaps 1:20 or so before
they started. They said they would play the entire new record and then the next
record which is not out but they played a very short and intense set of only
the new record and were done in like 35 mins or so. Pity they played so short.
I think people really wanted more. They technically had a curfew at 1 at the
venue due to the neighbours but it went well overtime last night and that was a
Thursday. I loved them and people were also into it… A great night.. I shot
about 10mins of video from the back of the hall.. Great 2nd day…
The Cosmic Dead (always facing the back of the stage....)
Sadly,
I could not make it to the festival on the 3rd day due to having to
spend sometime with my family. This day featured 17 bands including The
Hedgehogs (the band the organizer plays in) VED (cool Swedish psych band),
Elevatorfører, Telstar Sound Drone, Lorenzo Woodrose (solo), ET Tumason, and
the Telescopes plus many more. I am sure it was another great day.. thanks
again to Kasper and everyone at Stengade for making this a smooth and great
event. For next year perhaps they should have fewer band and start a bit later.
I don’t really see any point in having these bands come on at 16 and play for
5-10 people. No one came to see the bands before 19… I was there both
days and not a single band that played between 16-19 had more than 20 people
watching. This is not cool really. So start a bit later, have fewer bands and
perhaps let a few of the bands play longer sets. Try to get Vibravoid and make
a proper web site also.. Congrats to the organizers... KASPER..... Peace..
This
was an interesting way to celebrate Easter, with some friends and Church of
Misery singing about serial killers! Easter was originally a holiday to
celebrate the goddess of sex and fertility, before the Christians stole and
converted it into something else… Anyway, Sue and I had a nice dinner and then
showed up a bit early and talked with the guys in COM. They are such nice
people even though we struggle to communicate a bit.
Tombstones,
are a Norwegian band trio playing doom. I only have their album called Vol. II,
which we heard today but they have released 2 since, which I have not heard.
The guitar player said they were heavier, slower and more bluesy. They started
right at 21 and there was only a few people in the room but as soon as they
heard the music start they came up the stairs and I guess there was about 40
people watching them. They played a 45mins set of some pretty heavy stuff. The guitar
player and bass player did a lot of trading lead vocals. This was really doomy
but not a lot of variation, in the sense that there were no guitar solos. It
gets a bit too boring if he does not change his guitar tone (he did not use any
pedals either) or solo. They could use another solo guitarist. People gave them
a fair reception. I filmed the 2nd song Unveiling.
Set List: King of Daze, Unveiling, Obstefelder, Red Skies, Black Moon
Since
the bands shared backline, they only had to set up some cymbals and the singer’s
synthesizer and they were ready to go at almost 22. The band opened up with a
new song and the sound was very loud but great where we were standing. The
place was pretty packed and people were really into it. It was easy to make
some contact with the band as well. I filmed the 2nd song. The band
played about 75 mins and since it is nearly impossible to understand anything he
sings, it was only when they played a long jammed out version of Born to Raise
Hell, that the crowd could participate! The new guitar player is really great
and fits in very well. He is a big fan of Jimi Hendrix and likes to solo, he
told me. This is just what the band
really needed! Tom was going to be hard to replace as he was a great guitar
player. They played a total of 9 songs in about 75 mins, with some cool jams in
some of the songs. We were hungry for more and only got Candyman for the
encore. Great show and night.
Set List: Brother Bishop, ?, ?,
Born to Raise Hell, Monster, ?, Shotgun Boogie, Encore: Candyman
This is my 9th year in a row coming to Roadburn, my favourite festival in the world.
Weds April 9th
I flew out of Copenhagen about 12:30 and landed in Amsterdam around 14. It was a beautiful day and I had some really great conversations with some guys on the plane. One was from Mumbai and the other a Nigerian living in Finland for 15 years! It was quite easy to find the hostel and Lasse he was standing in the door way of the place having a smoke when I arrived. The other guys were not arriving till later so I went around to some of the local record shops after I dropped off my stuff. Record Friend and Concerto are cool stores but I did not end up buying anything, I really wanted the new Seun Kuti but they only sold it as a bundle with a free ticket to the show Friday and it was too expensive. Amsterdam is a cool town and I love just walking around and seeing all the strange and cool art, people, unique streets and canals. Very nice.. I had dinner at Meghna or something like that, an Indian place just around the corner from the hostel. Food was good and I asked them to make it really hot and they tried but I asked for some fresh green chili as well and they were pretty surprised thinking they had made a really hot dish but they had not. It was nice food. I went back to the hostel really satisfied and my Finnish friends, Santtu and Jukka, who DJ at Roadburn, they came by the hostel and hung out the rest of the night. My Swedish friends who also play in OSC and the Carpet Knights also came by and it was a cool party while we waited for the others. Their plane was delayed 2hrs in Copenhagen and it was like nearly 10 when they arrived and we were all quite happy by now and they had been drinking at the airport so were pretty drunk when they walked in the door. Far out…. I crashed out at 11:30 but some of them stayed up partying until 5 in the morning.
Thurs April 10th
The Copenhagen Gang waiting for the Tram in Amsterdam
Magnus and I went to a great place called Light/Dark and had an energy smoothy and a great avocado goat cheese bagel sandwich. Yum…. We all met at the tram stop at 9:30 but Lasse was not up yet so we were delayed another 30 mins by the time the next tram came. Our timings were off all day. We got the central station and just missed the train to Breda. Half the group got split and got on a train to Hertbotenbosch and we took the next Breda train. We happen to meet Santtu and Jukka again, which was great. They ended up getting there about 20mins before us. We just missed the bus to Hilvanrenbeek by 5mins and so we had to wait another 30mins. By the time we got to the hotel it was 13:45. I still needed to get to the venue and sell the extra ticket that Lasse was supposed to buy from me and I held on to since Jan and then just a week ago he bought it from someone else, which was not cool. Anyway, I caught a bus within 10mins of arriving at the hotel, and it went the wrong direction and I was now 5km in the wrong direction and stuck and no bus coming for 55 mins.. I was fucking desperate and as I really wanted to see Brutus and sell this ticket, which I knew was not going to be easy. I stuck out my thumb and tried to hitchhike. After like 10mins a car that passed came swinging around and they picked me up. Some super nice Belgium guys said they could notice a Roadburner in distress and that I was! What luck..
I got there, got the wristband and then started walking back and forth down the street with the bars and by the venue. There were 4-5 others trying to sell tickets also but most just standing in one place. I need to maximize my chance of being seen and this paid off as a cool Swedish guy found me and he needed a 4 day ticket for a friend from Eindhoven! Great luck. I did not get the full price but 150€.. I learned my lesson though now. Can’t trust some of these people for shit…. I will never buy another ticket to help them out again after partially being screwed…
Anyway, straight into Brutus, which was too packed on the floor so I hit the balcony and was able to squeeze nearly to the front. Band was in a great mood and the people were totally into their rocking groove. The singer drank constantly, as he usually does and says a lot of funny stuff. The crowd loves it.. It was great to hear a lot of these new songs live and they come across even better than on the record. I think these guys are one of the best of the 70s style bands around. If they would just have 2 songs every show that they just jammed it out with some longer solos the crowd would love them even more. Especially me..
Next up was Sourvein on the big stage but I only caught like 10mins as they stopped playing 25mins early! What the hell??? I think they wanted to party some more rather than play. The singer was looking for some mushrooms! They are so heavy and intense. I like them in small doses.. Some went to see 40 Watt Sun but said it was a bit boring. A lot of intense stuff like Beastmilk (Finland) or Lord Dying (Death metal) but I next checked out Samothrace. Saw some Danish people and met Marko (Swiss band Phased) and his beautiful wife, Sand. I filmed the first number which was pretty good but I could see where it was going so I headed off to see the Shrine.
I hung out with an old Finnish friend that I also see at Sweden Rock every year or nearly. They were fantastic but the bass player had some technical problems and was very annoyed and threw his bass into the audience and then jumped in himself while the band just kept on rocking and playing some ripping solo guitar. It all got sorted out and they were back on track in 5mins.. Crazy way to start the show…
The Cult of Dom Keller
The Cult of Dom Keller from the UK. The room was totally packed but I found a place next to Martin (Litmus) and his wife Kate. We had a nice long chat while they finished setting up. I was not sure what to expect as I had never heard these guys but damn, they were great. It reminded me a lot of 90s UK psych bands like LOOP, a bit Sundial, etc.. The bass played some really tight grooves with the drummer while the guitar player and organ player played pretty spaced out stuff at times and did all the vocals. I enjoyed the concert a lot. It was really hot in there though. I was really sweaty afterward and also thirsty. Now we had to make some choices between Conan and Goatess. I met Nils and Sven outside and we decided to get to Goatess early and it was the correct decision as it was excellent….
Goatess has a great sound in the Bat Cave (Stage 01) and started off quite spacey with some really cool stuff and
Mühr
then the massive grooves kicked in. Christian, the singer is a very charismatic guy and an excellent front man. What he lacks in voice, he makes up with performance and passion in his delivery of his vocals. I know some people just think he sings poorly but it is not what you should focus on, focus on the way he puts his words into the heavy music, then you get it…. It was a powerful set with more guitars at the beginning and more riffing at the end.
Set List: Full Moon at Noon, King One, Shadow Land (new song), Tentacles of Zen, The Orange
After Goatess I took a chance and went to see a Dutch band called Mühr in the Cul de Sac. They had just started when I came in and their concert was one long like 50min piece of spaced out cosmic doom, with elements of OM, Lamp of the Universe/Arc of Ascent and drone doom like BONG. They had two guitar players and they both played really cool stuff not just what you would expect. It was for sure Cosmic DOOM..
BONG
The last band of the day was the mighty BONG on the main stage. The bands have not been that loud or massive this year on the main stage. I think they must have put some sound restriction in. Anyway, we were all totally psyched. It is really hard to describe what it is about BONG that I really love. It is very simple but so effective. One note for an hour but it is the right note, the BONG note, and the combination of straight heavy doom, one phased out cosmic guitar and Indian drone, just hits me in the right stop. Awesome stuff but again, they are given 70mins and play just about 55, which is a bit disappointing. It was a great way to end the night and day. Wow..
Day 2
This is the Mikael Åkerfeldt from Opeth curated day and it looks to be awesome. Check out the video above that was showing on a lot of the screeens in the different rooms.
Amazing set. Promise and the Monster, were a three piece all female group with acoustic guitar, flutes, hand drums, synthesizer, harpsichord and just beautiful voices. I was pretty mesmerized but sadly could only see the first two songs before MAGMA was to start. I have nearly all the Magma albums but have never seen them live. I was really looking forward to this and they did not disappoint. The bass player is just amazing. They actually all are all great and the voices in a strange made up language. Far out. Great sound and lights as well. One did not know how the normal RB crowd would appreciate Magma, if they would just not get it and leave, which Walter was not sure of either as this is a very musically challenging day. Anyway, the room stayed packed the entire show. It was a great concert and they did not just stick with old music. They actually played most of the set as recent material. Such incredible intensity in this band.
MAGMA
After Magma I managed to get a spot in the front of the balcony in the green room to catch the rest of the Harsh Toke set with Lenny Kaye form the Patti Smith band. They were having a lot of fun and jamming on the song Rollercoaster, Gloria and a lot of crazy guitar, spoken word like poetry stuff from Lenny. It was fun and crazy but a bit out of hand at times as the drummer was wanting to play all this really fast stuff like Earthless or something and Lenny was wanting to bring it down. Lenny mostly lost out! Both Harsh Toke guitar players just kicked ass on lead guitar. They all smoked a joint on stage which is something you don’t see too often at concerts. Fun show.. Crowd was into the chaos as well.
Now it was straight back to the main room and I stood with Martin (Litmus) and Kate and their friend. Comus are always so cool. Just utterly unique music and his voice is somehow in another world. I only saw three songs but it was fantastic. Even the new ones sound great. I will have to get that 2nd lp. The place was pretty packed as well on the main stage.
Set List: Song of Comus, Diana, Out of the Coma, The Herald, The Bite, The Sacrifice, Drip Drip, The Prisoner
I was very curious what the Nicklas Barker (Ankedoten, My brother the wind) and Reine Fiske (Dungen, Elephant 9) were going to do. It was two of these modern mellotrons and some other desktop synth gear. Nicklas said they had no plans, just freeform. I watched about 30mins and it was really cool dreamscape stuff a lot like mid 70s Tangerine Dream. Great lush sounds and cool movies. I filmed about 5mins but did not have a very good spot. My friend Anders, a big guy was right in front..
Anyway, next up was Änglagård, whom I had seen at Sweden Rock a couple of years ago but their sound was being blasted by Michael Schenker on another stage and plus they choose to play this really mellow laid back set and it was raining so it was just not that good. Today, it was something completely different! The band seems to be totally energized from having been invited and also recently playing in Japan with the Crimson Projekt. They were really intense but great moods and dynamics. IT was a new keyboard player and he also played saxophone. I was pretty blown away by this concert. I was up on the balcony with Magnus for the whole show.
I think we missed the last little bit as Claudio Simontetti’s Goblin was on the big stage with a tiny overlap.
Claudio Simonetti's Goblin
We found a great place on the left side of the mixer. The sound was very good but sometimes the keyboards were a bit too loud. Overall, it was great. They played 3 tracks before they started showing any movies along with the music. I was a bit worried it was not going to happen but they started with two tracks from dawn of the Dead. This was the Romero version for sure as I had recently seen the Argento version ad it was different from this. There was bits from roller, Demoni, Phenomenon, Suspiria (of course) and others. It was a fucking cool show. A great band. All great players. with a few guitar solos and a great bass playing.
Sula Bassana
We could have gone to see 30 years’ war, just the end but I had been inside and seen band after band with no break for 4½ hrs and I need some air and some food so Magnus and headed over to a Turkish place. We got back just a few minutes before Sula Bassana started in the Het Patronaat (the church). The crowd filled the place up but not totally packed, which was nice. I saw Santtu and my other Finnish friend. I was curious what this was going to be like but it was not what I had hoped actually. Sula Bassana solo band is Electric Moon but Reiner from Zone Six and the Pancakes. They started off with some quite heavy stuff that sounded just like Electric Moon freakouts but with more guitar. The sound was not very good to start as it was mostly bass and drums. Way too much bass. Pity. The synths were totally lost in the sound. They played Dark Days, maybe The Night?, and some others from his albums but I had hoped for some of the more cool 60s like stuff from Dreamer, more spacey stuff but it always ended up with heavy fuzzed out phased out electric moon style psychedelic, which is not what I really wanted to hear. I can see Electric Mon for that and I had hoped this would be different but it was not really. The dark days track with the mellotron was the best as it was a real space rock number. Great guitar playing but both Rainer and Dave. People got a heavy psychedelic experience for sure. I just had hoped for something different. Seems all of Dave’s bands end up sound the same now, pity, as can make such a diverse range of cool music. He is giving the people what they want though. I think he will one day get tired of this as well.
Most of the people I know were at Candlemass which were playing the entire Ancient Dreams record. Seen them many times and knew exactly what to expect. I had hoped for something different with Sula Basssana but also got what I sort of expected. I caught the last song of Candlemass, Solitude but that was it.
Papir
I tried to get into Papir but the room was too packed so I sat down for a while in the big room and spoke with the photographer, Jacob Denson (dk) and rested my very tired legs and had another beer. I saw one track of Opeth and that it not my kind of music. I managed to get into see the last 30mins of papir and they totally killed it. Nicklas was on fire and the sound was great. I had never heard a Papir show with the guitar so loud but that is the way it should be. Fucking killer stuff. The best guitar playing I heard all day.
Last band of the day was Elephant 9 plus Reine Fike. I had heard the record at Øyvin (Black Moon Circle’s) place and it was cool. Very spacey and then very intense dynamics and that is exactly what it was here as well. This show started out very slow, Reine almost not playing at all. The organ player was totally amazing.I loved his style. Amazing drummer and bass player. It took them 20mins before much happened but when it did that was it. Just incredible intense drumming, bass playing, organ and finally super cool guitar. It took him forever to decide what he was going to do and where but eventually the Richie Blackmore in him came out and the other strange talents he has as well. It was a great concert. One of my favourites today in the end. I was pretty exhausted in the end though.. Great day. One of the best in Roadburn history perhaps!
Day 3
10:15 Got a bit less than 8hrs sleep. Up and had as shower, juice, tea and a small sandwich.
12:15 Sitting shoeless in the sun in the garden at the hotel. The weather is great. Cannot see the computer screen so it is hard to see what I am typing. My feet are sore but I had such an amazing day yesterday… Wow… Today will be a lot less intense but also some cool bands.
14:00 I am sitting and have some ribs and fries to start the day. I had just met and spoke to Walter and it was a like a dream for him that everything went so smooth yesterday and all the bands were so excellent. Magma.. who would have ever though at Roadburn. … It really opens up the possibilities for the future.. Roadburn is already almost limitless anyway in what styles are allowed. It is more or less only pure pop, country and hip hop.. just about everything else goes…
16:00 I started off near the front for 11 Paranoias and that was loud and intense stuff. Mike Bong, plays a not very complex guitar but man, the sound he gets, he chooses the right chords and effects combination. Massively spaced out. They had a guy doing some electronic drones and he also played the saxophone. It was pretty cool. I caught about 30mins of the this German electronic group, E-musik Gruppe Lux O … Three synthesizers and one guitar. It was nice cool music a lot like mid-70s Kraftwerk or Tangerine Dream. The guitar player hardly played anything very interesting which was a bit sad and no lead guitar really. They played it a bit too safe with the grooves.. a bit too predictable. They needed some cool visuals. I like the Nicklas Barker- Reine Fiske better. Same kind of vibe.
Circle… wow.. what the fuck.. how to describe that. A simple drum beat starts the show off while the band gets undressed and then dressed in their spandex and spikes and then into a long repetitive track that morphs into and out of Heavy metal, and just strangeness and back and forth for an hour. What a mind fuck and unique concert. Totally blew us all away! There is no other band quite like these guys. Utterly unique and talented..
I was up for some straight up stoner rock and got that with Gozu from the USA. I really liked the last record and the singer has a cool voice and they have the stoner groove down. I really could have used some more guitar solos and a bit more variety on the riffing but damn solid band just delivering the goods for 40mins and rocking out. I liked the last song, Alone quite a log. The crowd was not packed but into it…..
I watched the first few songs of Scorpion Child and man I was so disappointed. The singer has an amazing Robert Plant like voice but their songs are just so generic and Led Zeppelin want to be but the players are just not up to that kind of standard. Not interesting or inventive bass playing, very normal guitar riffs and hardly any solos….. They want to be like Rival Sons or the Answer, etc.. I left after 2-3 songs..
Rich (Carlton Melton) and Mike BONG
18:00 I went out and got some air and ran into the Carlton Melton guys and Glitter Wizard guys and had a nice chat. Everyone was doing great. Rich and Mike Bong were chatting. Nice to hang out with those guys for a few minutes before back into for some more intense music.
YOB
I checked out one song of YOB… the place was totally packed to the brim and the bass sound was just too much. I could hardly find the guitar sound. Super cool visuals while they played but I don’t like there new direction at all. I did the first couple of records but not much else by these guys.
Carlton Melton started off with a killer heavy hard rocking piece and Rich just killed it on the guitar. Andy next switched from drums to guitar and the band spaced out for 20mins or so and then back to some heavy space rock. I think people were pretty blown away. I think we will have a pretty cool show tomorrow. Even more spaced out..
I did manage to catch some of the Age of Taurus set and they rocked like hell. They remind me of a mix of Candlemass and The Sword (first album territory). They have some really great songs. Huge guys in this band.. After these guys it was into the green room to catch the Finnish band Mansion. I really liked their EP. They played a cool set but I only got 20mins or so before going to see LOOP.
LOOP was for sure the best thing so far today. The sound was so amazing and the sound guy used a lot of effects on the PA, including extra delays and panning effects. It was a super psychedelic sound and they really rocked and he played great spacey guitar solos for the first half of the concert. The last few before the encore was more hypnotic and loop like stuff. They came back and did two encore songs including Mother Sky by CAN.. They played it a lot like Vibravoid does.
Set list: Soundhead, Nail, Pulse, Straight to the Heart, Fade Out, Collision, Vapour Arc Lite, Feverknife, Afterglow, Buring, Breathe, Mother Sky (CAN)
Harsh Toke
I just hung out in the big hall after loop and talked with the guys from Papir, while Harsh Toke set up and soundchecked. I stayed and saw the first two jams. I really like this stuff a lot. The guitar player on the right, he also played a great keyboard solo in the 2nd track.
Glitter Wizard is a band I did not want to miss and I needed to get there early to make sure I got in the room. I have known the synth player, Doug Person for many years. Super talented guy. They were running behind and were late getting everything set up. They started at least 10mins late. They totally smashed the place. Huge energy in the room as they played their super cool and unique brand of high energy 70s rock, humor and psychedelia with a bit of space rock thrown in! Fun… They even played my request, Wizard Wagon, which he said they had not played in a couple of years. We were all singing along. The new songs where really excellent as well, especially this one called Atlantis. What a great band. Wish they could have played longer.. That was the end of Day 3. I will play tomorrow so have to keep my head together and get some good rest.
Glitter Wizard!
Day 4
14:00 We had a relaxed morning and are sitting in the sun at a bar across from the Cul de Sac with Mogens and the guys from Papir. Mood is really good and it is beautiful weather. I will soon go get my artist wrist band, food coupon, drink tokens, etc.. We are supposed to load in and set up and soundcheck at 15:30. People at the venue are really cool and a German guy named Martin asked if he could do the sound and it was all ok with us and the venue so that is great. A lot of cool bands again today but I will not get to see much today, which is a pity.
17:00 All went well with the setup and soundcheck and I was very happy with the sound and my equipment was working as it should. The Aqua Nebula Oscillator concert was too packed so I could not see or hear any of it but I heard they were pretty cool. A six piece line up, which was different than what they normally have.
Avatarium
18:20 I had dinner with Clint from Carlton Melton and then ran off to see about 15mins of Avatarium, the ex-Candlemass bass player’s produced band. They were really excellent. Very cool songs, a great female singer who also played some acoustic guitar. They had one really cool video during the song they said was their new single. Cool band.
19:30 I caught the first 20mins or so of the Papermoon Sessions, as these guys are all my friends and all of them except Lulu, have played in ØSC currently or in the past. It was long spacey stuff with cool guitars and two bass players, which was nice. I could not hear Nicklas’s guitar almost at all, which was a bummer. The place was packed and people seem to like it a lot. I will play with Carlton Melton in the Cul de Sac bar at 20..
22:00 Wow.. that was an amazing concert and experience. I had so much fun playing with these guys. The place was packed and hardly anyone seem to leave so I think they were really into it. It started off very slow and space with me and rich doing a lot of synth stuff and then Andy on guitar. Real Scum Beat was a heavy jam and Rich just ripped it up on the guitar. He was totally into it. Palmer was also with drums but not so intense a track and then Andy just played great guitar in the droney spacey new track called Tilburg Blues. I had fun playing this one. The last part of the concert was really intense with a heavy version of Pink Floyd and then Hawkwind. People seem to love the show… I was pretty exhausted afterwards. We recorded both from the audience and soundboard so maybe people will get to hear this again.
Set List: Country ways>Spider Webs, Real Scum Beat, Palmer, Tilburg Blues, When you’re in (Pink Floyd), Time we left this world today (Hawkwind)
There was some other cool bands playing like Harsh Toke and the Luminerians but I was pretty done for so I just hung out and talked with the guys in CM and fans on the street, a bit with Sula Bassana and Lulu, Mike Bong and his girlfriend, etc… It was a great but intense way to end Roadburn. I did actually hear the last 20mins of the LUmierians while hanging out with Rocksanne, Sabine and a few others that came by like Martin (Litmus).
Day 5
Why are the trains just fucking chaos in Holland every fucking year???? I am on a train now finally going to the airport and it is 12:39. I was supposed to arrive at the airport a bit before 12! The train we got on at Tilburg (met Santtu and Jukka) went to Breda and then we switched to a train that said Amsterdam Central-. Schiphol. When it got to Rotterdam, we sat for a while and then it started going back the direction we just came??? They had cancelled it and rerouted it. All the messages were only in Dutch so what the fuck???? I will not miss my flight but still I will only have 1½ hrs max or less if this train makes..
