Actually I was further from home at Glasto but Kaiser Chiefs at werchter were amazing
After Glasto we came back to London, chilled out for a day and just generally got ourselves clean… The next day we did more touristy stuff such as the London Eye. That was pretty cool and had some great views. Such as this. The place does make for some pretty cool photos though, here’s one of our gang, Parliament House/Big Ben, and here’s another great photo opportunity.
Later that arvo we went for a bit of a walk and I came across ol’ pal Mandela, so we had it off in a rap battle.
That night we made our way to Wembley Arena (not the stadium) to see the might Spinal Tap. So so so glad I went and saw them, despite seeing them at Glastonbury. They were supported by The Folksmen, which is the same guys from Spinal Tap but doing some weird spoof of a folk band (obviously). Harry Shearer was dressed in a skirt and heels and played a double bass. Nothing amazing, but a bit of fun.
Then came the Tap. Seriously, so incredibly awesome! Was stoked to see they had an inflatable stonehenge with dancing midgets, quite a class move, and they even got Justin Hawkins (the Darkness singer) out to play bass on Big Bottom. One of the best shows I’ve ever been to, had so much fun. Much love for Harry Shearer… he does a whole bunch of simpsons voices, just a generally great comedian for anyone who doesn’t recognise the name.
Anyway, I’ve seen a lot of people take pictures of themselves walking across pedestrian crossings when they go to London, something to do with the Beatles I hear. So here’s my obligatory photo… outside our hostel.
Bummed we missed Abbey Rd. Oh well.
So we caught a quick flight over to Brussels, got settled in and went found some lunch… at Drug Opera. The name was totally a lie. We tried some raspberry beer there, and as girly as this is to admit, it tasted great, if a little too sweet.
So we soon discovered there really isn’t that much to do in Brussels, and that their claim to fame is a 25cm tall statue called Manneken de Pis. Or pissing kid. Seriously, what the hell?! Went for a bit more of a walk and saw some pretty great views.
On Thursday we made our way to a little town called Werchter, with a huge festivall called Rock Werchter. Only two stages meant there weren’t many clashes, so it was a good little setup. The bands I caught include:
Emiliana Torini
Lily Allen
Dave Matthews Band (SNORE!)
Placebo
Oasis (incredible!)
The Prodigy
Henry Rollins (spoken word)
White Lies
Amy Macdonald
Elbow
Bloc Party
The Killers
Coldplay (ok Mel… you’re right these guys are pretty good live)
Social Distortion
Rodrigo Y Gabriela
Limp Bizkit (!!! actually they kinda sucked. So disappointing)
Mogwai
Franz Ferdinand
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
Katy Perry (looking might fine, might I add)
Kings of Leon
2 Many DJs (the name is about right. So disappointing that these guys are from such an awesome band as Soulwax!)
The Hickey Underworld
Metro Station (haha the dude kept yelling “THANKYOU GERMANY”. Such a tool)
Mastodon
Seasick Steve
The Mars Volta (amazing, as always)
Kaiser Chiefs (yes, also brilliant!)
Nine Inch Nails (for my ‘last time’… until Trent decides he needs more money and a reunion is in order)
Metallica (all of about 5 minutes before I was completely bored and went back to the tent to sleep. Seriously I’ve seen them 4 times now and they have to be one of the most uninspiring live acts I’ve ever seen. What is the deal with their popularity?!)
Ok, so here’s a few more photos:
The gang (Me, Ash, Drew)
The most awesome tomato I’ve ever eaten. Breakfast after our grocery shopping expedition.
T-shirt tan
Cocktails and pooftercakes (this one’s for you Simon!)… Poffertjes or whatever they’re called
Sweaty shirtless Limp Bizkit fan with some beverages
3D-glasses power ranger
The gang posing
Scary Drew
Leaving the campsite
So we got into Amsterdam yesterday and boy is this place an eye opener. Rad city though, really pretty kinda place. Funny, Drew booked us into some Christian hostel 20 metres from the red light district (cheapest place in town with good breakfast, so can’t really complain). That place is pretty funny and full on with the religious propaganda and lots of rules, mostly about what you can’t do.
For some reason we found boots funny. Later in the day we went to a coffee shop and uhh, bought some coffee. Tasted good.
That brings us to now. I’m sitting in an internet cafe. HURRAH!
Ok I’m sick of typing and want to go checkout some more stuff. I’m doing great, feeling great (maybe not looking so) and still having the best time of my life so don’t worry about me. Hope everything is fine back at home for you all, send me emails or facebook me or something, I want to hear from you guys.
Bye for now.
