Netherlands – Gig Addiction

Another one that I’ve updated (11-6-18) after finding the original write up on my old PC. Hope it brings back good memories for all my friends who were there 🙂

Travel+hotel details :
From London Stansted (STN) to Eindhoven (EIN)
Sat, 11Jul09 Flight FR9271 Depart STN at 06:55 and arrive EIN at 09:00

Number 401 runs every 10 minutes between Eindhoven Airport and Eindhoven Central Station.
Train to Weert then walk(20mins) or taxi to festival site Train costs 5.10Euro each way 15.02 Eindhoven track No.1 direction Roermond arrive Weert 15.17
15.04 Eindhoven track No.3a direction Weert arrive Weert 15.26
15.32 Eindhoven track No.1 direction Roermond arrive Weert 15.47

Hotel
Holiday Inn
1 VELDMAARSCHALK MONTGOMERYLAAN
P.O. BOX 25
EINDHOVEN, 5612 BA
31-40-2358235

Last train back from Weert to Eindhoven is 00.42 arrive Eindhoven 01.00

23.42 Weert track No.2 direction Eindhoven arr 23.59 (intercity)
00.03 Weert track No.3b direction Eindhoven arr 00.28 (stoptrein)
00.42 Weert track No.2 direction Eindhoven arr 01.00 (intercity)

COMING BACK

From Eindhoven (EIN) to London Stansted (STN)
Sun, 12Jul09 Flight FR9274 Depart EIN at 19:35 and arrive STN at 19:35

Well this one has the potential of probably being the biggest fan meeting to date on the reunion tour.Its gonna be great to see the others that didn’t manage to make any shows previously. Not only that, but a good friend of mine from the UK was also going to this show…on his motorbike! Respect to ya Allyn for the effort & welcome to the Guano Maniacs family 🙂

The idea was put forward a while back to make some new “Guano Apes Maniacs” shirts. Seemed most everyone of the old crew were interested. Problem was, there ended up being so many great designs (We’ve got some great artists in the GA community) that it was obvious it would be hard for everyone to agree on one design. We all had a couple of meetings in the GA chat room & well, lets say things moved slowly 😉 In the end, thanks to the perseverance of Joana, a combination of a couple of main designs was chosen.
The wonderful Kel got to work & printed shirts & even managed to get them delivered a couple of days before Bospop festival! Thanks so much Kel, you rock!

As ever when i have an early flight, i dont bother going to bed the night before. So my awake time starts on Friday 08AM & will probably go through till Sunday early am. I leave home around 2am & it takes just over 2 hours to arrive parking & transfer to airport. One of the advantages of travelling so late (er early) is not much traffic on roads so journey doesn’t get delayed 🙂
Flight goes well & Joana is there waiting for me @ the airport. Joana knew she’d have a real long flight/stay over so, as she also doesn’t like camping & really wanted some sleep,we’re sharing hotel room. Only problem is, we cannot check in until 2pm. Well, nothing lost by asking, we 1st go to hotel & ask if its possible to check in earlier. As luck would have it, we could. Not only that, but, we got a free complimentary drink thrown in. I had a cold Corona to start the day of nicely 🙂
We then meet Michel @ the station & go grab some food. Wonder what my choice was? 😉 Then we walk a few more metres & grab some beerz 🙂 Get a txt from Emi saying they’ve arrived @ the hotel.Walking back,Michel has to pop into an electronics shop to show them why he’s a manager! (well, no not quite that) Get to hotel & find,what we think is, Emis car EMPTY! Then they appear from the hotel…just used the facilities 🙂 Its great to see Emi again after what? 4 years? Shes still got that infectious smile. After a brief tour of Eindhoven,in search of cashpoint, we’re on our way to Bospop in the “GA Taxi” with the classic sounds of Version 2.0 blastin out.
Upon arrival @ festival i decide to leave camcorder in Emis car as i don’t know if I’ve got permission to film todays show. Was a good choice to leave it as,it looks like i cannot do this one as i don’t have a photo pass. Oh well,it will be good to experience the show different to how i usually do, but just hope they don’t do anything special (understatement of the year!) that doesn’t get captured 😉
Walking to the entrance,i’m sure i recognise someone in the distance : Its Sahnie, Simone & a couple more of the GA Maniacs. Again, haven’t seen them since the farewell tour. Have a brief chat & then we go in festival arena. First things first, we go get tokens for the beerz.
As expected, the the GA camping crew are all down on the front rows.After a short time,DJ, Marc, & Alex come to join our little drinking party. DJs also got the rest of the tshirts with him for the girls. Unfortunately Gabi couldn’t make it here due to being ill. Certainly added to the party. What about another “blast from the past” Alex was with them. I last saw him & the GA aftershow party in NL 03. Seem to recall i was quite drunk chatting to him then & nothing seems to have changed (from me) as its same again! Alex has changed though, i know he was tall before,but i’m sure hes shot up over last few years (or maybe I’ve shrunk?) Well, the drinks were flowing & we were just having our own little party only listening to the real important music from the stage : GUUUUS! It was such a fun relaxed atmosphere. Everyone just foolin around & having a laugh.

The new Guano Maniacs shirts were a hit for sure. We had a few people approach us asking where to buy them from! Maybe they should be added to the offical merch 😉
The weather was a bit strange. It was nice & warm but a couple of times the heavens just opened up with a quick downpour that finished as quickly as it started! Not that the weather was bothering me. Hell no, i was pretty drunk having a laugh with my friends & waiting to see Guanos! Well, after some time i noticed i’d got a txt. It was from Henning saying that a photo pass was waiting for me. Fantastic stuff, but i wonder how i will cope fiming as i am a little drunk 🙂 Emi takes me back to her car & i collect my gear in preparation for an “interesting” filming experience 😉
Was quite funny coming back into festival as of course the guys searched my bag again. After pointing out to him i’d got a camcorder (& maybe he noticed i was somewhat “refreshed”) he asked if i had any guns or bombs with me !
Once back in i pop backstage to try find the guys. I bump into Dennis as he goes to check something on the stage. I tell him i’m a bit pissed. To which he replies “Why what happened?” Haha hes thinking of the American version of pissed (Angry) & not the English version (Drunk) 🙂 Well, i didn’t see anyone else so had a quick look onstage & then went back out to the front & waited for the show to start. I’ve got to admit,with this being a short, non-headline, set, i wasn’t really expecting too much. However Henning had posted on the GA site to expect some surprises. But damn, we got more than that!

As ever, the band come onstage with no great fanfare or anything. Sandra asks “Are you ready for some rock show”? I think its the affirmative for the first few rows of the crowd 🙂 After Money & Milk, Sandra says “How you doing tonight?…Well its not night yet ” 🙂 During Quietly she struggles with the high parts so sings it differently (think it happens most times nowadays)

After Quietly, Sandra says “No Speech baby!” & the band go into… “Open your Eyes” I dont think many noticed that though 😉
Looking out into the crowd its entertaining to see Benoit just losing his mind & getting totally lost in the moment. He has his own special moves for each song it seems. it’s quite funny to see 😉
As the photographers have all left the pit i’m the only one left in there (apart from security) & i decide i’ll try filming from the podium @ side of stage. I think if it wasn’t for the fact i’d had a few drinks, i would have stayed down on the floor. Normally i’d feel very self conscious in that situation but not now. I’m just pleased i managed to climb up without falling down lol. Filming when have had a drink can be “interesting” 😉

Next, we actually DO get No Speech. What a surpise that is! Fantastic they brought it back,but i do think it needs a bit more rehearsal. Pretty In Scarlet goes well & then we get the mother of all surprises!
Sandra : “So the next song is a song we really haven’t played in a very long time”. Then there’s a cry from *someone* in the audience shouting “Cuts! ” Sandra “No its not Cuts !” Then Henning starts the intro… my god? Really? Can it be? Hell yeah its Never fookin Born. As Henning plays the intro he looks over to me with a knowing smile. He knows how much I’ve wanted to hear this song live. I just get totally lost in the song & truth be told kind of forget that i’m filming.Yup, its one of those moments where i get all emotional. I start thinking how not only have we got GA back, but how amazing it is we also get new songs,old songs that haven’t been played for years & a renewed vitality within the band that is infectious. Life is damn sweet! (& yes, there was a brief tear of joy). Ok,if ya wanna be picky, technically Never Born wasn’t perfect, but who cares? We got to hear it!

From the old to the new,next up is Hyves song. I just love this one & its so obvious the band have such fun playing this one. Seems to go over well with most crowds & the Bospop audience are quick to pick up on the audience clap along section. Then another surprise : Wash it Down ! Hell this is really turning out to be an amazing gig. Shame on me for even considering thinking earlier that it might not be up to much (I must remember this is the “new” Guano Apes,so should expect great things!) This really is old school GA. Bloody great. Sandra seems possessed as she goes to the floor & out come the guttural roars lol

Couple of songs later & we get another surprise : LIAL !? Good to hear it again. I wonder if this is being played more as a warm up for when they visit Portugal next week? After that,when Sandra says “This is Sugar Skin” there’s one hell of a scream from the front row. It sounds like they’re screaming “Myyyyy sooong”. I still think it was Pezi,especially judging by her freaking out at the beginning ! 🙂 There was a lovely little moment when Sandra went over to Henning & they shared a smile *find photo*

Another fun live song, “Underwear”, is up next. Sandra says “..this is about Underwear…boys who like to wear girls underwear. I know there are some..even in my band (said as she looks over at Stude) I just love this song. As Miss Gogan says, “Its a good one to shake your ass too”. Not that i did though i’m sure a few down the front did for you Nadine 🙂
Henning has a little laugh doing a riff as Sandra says “4 more songs”. Henning then goes to the mic & says “Big in Japan!”. *find photo* He smiles over to the band & says to the crowd “Sorry, i’m wrong. Once in a while i wanna make an announcement & i’m totally wrong,so…i’m sorry, my fault, its Break the Line”. (Well at least it wasnt captured on film eh mate ?) They tear through the song. Interestingly, on one of the lines of “We have to go” she changed it to “I have to go”.
As they then start into “Big in Japan” Sandra says(laughing) “So Henning its your turn!!” All right guys are you ready for 2 more songs? These are the last 2 for you. Dennis starts a kick drum clap along & after a bit the audience seems to have reacted enough so they’ll start the song. It is of course,the killer new song “All i wanna do”. This is such a fun song for everyone.

Before Lords, Dennis asks the crowd “Are you tired or what?!!” Here’s the last chance to freak out with us,cos this is the last song. As expected, the crowd just goes off. There’s a real funny moment near the end when they’ve (mostly) finished the song. The guys carry on a little jamming & Dennis says “Are you ready?” to which Sandra replies “Cmon lets get it on one more time!” Dennis : Are you ready? Sandra- yeah Dennis- yeah! Sandra- you really ready? A small thing but such fun interaction between them. When they crashed back into the final refrain, Sandra had a bottle of water in hand which went all over the place. Good girl that she is, when they finished,she got a towel to slightly soak it up 🙂

After the gigs finished, i have a small moment of paranoia! I *think* i might have filmed the show without my external microphone being switched on! Problem is, cos my camcorder is really on its way out, i cannot playback the tape to check (Yeah i need to buy a new one for the next tour lol)
I go see the Maniacs & everyone is just elated by the show. No one expected so many cool surprises & was just bowed over by everything.

Final thoughts :
So this is the 3rd show ive been to since the reunion & again everything is so positive. From the news posting before this gig we knew it could be an interesting set list,but i would never have expected this!
For myself, hearing “Never Born” was worth the price of admission alone! That was just a dream come true to finally see them play that live. But also the surprises of No Speech,Wash it Down & LIAL was very cool. So not only did we get a set with the “newer forward thinking Guano Apes”, we also got some old school classics. Damn, the best of both worlds 🙂

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Anansanity/Bospop/story