Thursday, March 31, 2005

Butlins Minehead: Post Script

Marillion Weekend 2005
March 11-14 Minehead England
2700 people.
No security.
No backstage security.
No trouble. Whatsoever.
We salute you. You rock.
h, Mark, Pete, Ian, Steve

I mean how many bands can claim that kind of fan base what is not mentioned is how far some of them have come to see the band. I know people from Australia, Brazil and Japan have made their way over for this weekend the first, 2nd and third time.

I often get the reaction when Marillion is mentioned of Ohh, I remember them, didn't they have some kind of hit back in the 80's? Or don't they have that big Scottish singer.. "yeah not for like the last 15 years or so.
And although that is true, there way of running a record company, selling albums and touring long after they were dropped for not selling enough records by their big name label, is being taught in some music business management schools across the world, how many bands can claim that after 20+ years in the business.

There is a reason I respect and admire them... Despite their not so huge commercial success.

The New Matthew Good Band

Oh Matthew Good listed my blog on his website.. V-kewl. I will list his back as soon as I figure out how to do it..For now you can find his here. Personally I can't wait to hear what his new line-up has to offer. And it is a pity he always gets so much slack for trying to move forward with his music and writing. And if that means changing the line up of his band then so be it. What a pity!
I am really sad I'll miss the gig in Vancouver on April 8th. Sucks for me.

Limblifter rocks and I have seen Ryan and his brother have played in several different bands over the years from Edmonton to Vancouver and am sure he and the rest of the band will rock it out with Matt when they have done their new album.
Pat Stewart is a legend in Vancouver and perhaps also Canada. Talented indeed.
Ryan's brother Kurt has played in all sorts of bands over the years but one of my very favs is The New Pornographers
I don't know much about the new bass player but she's a she and that rocks .

What happened??

I have been off work for the last 3 weeks between contracts right now.. And boy did I need the time off... Not actually having any down time since last May when I was home for 3 weeks. I have now been living in Europe officially so long that the idea of a measly 2 week holiday a year is a HUGE joke. Why is it that North Americans accept the 2 week standard? I just don't get it and 2 weeks is just not enough time to recover and be charged to go back to work.
Even with my minor contract I start with a standard 25 holidays a year, not including the bank holidays (if we are lucky). Holland has these holidays every year:
Easter Monday, Queens Day, Ascention Day, Whit Monday, (every 5 years) Liberation Day, Christmas Day and New Years Day. That's it and all she wrote folks. And to add insult to injury this year Queens Day falls on a Sat, Ascention and Liberation Day both fall on May 5th (so doubled holiday) and Christmas and New Years both also fall on Sat. Bummer. So aside from the couple of holidays in May coming up that's all she wrote.
But off on a tangent there, I was in the UK for a week, partly for the Marillion Weekend and the rest of the time to drive around and see many sights Authorian and visit some special friends in Oxford. And the following two weeks. I have done almost nothing. Its mad but I am now down to my last two days, and I have the sneaking suspicion that I have done nothing. I have gone to the gym, rode my bike around the Hague, done laundry and watched some movies and looked for a vanity for the bedroom (they don't exist here). Jacco was over on Sat where I made a Huge curry meal and we watched Chocolate.
What else? Normally I would have been off in Germany visiting some friends and spending Q-time there. But nope, here I am in my beautiful new apartment and watching Discovery civilization's Great Egyptians.
So today, I better make the most of it, even though the weather is pretty crappy I might just ride off to Delft and maybe even Ikea cause they have those ultra cute dragonfly lights again that Inga bought for me last year and I want another set.
Oh and I got my FATBOY beanbag this weekend... the coolest thing ever. On Monday I had the feeling that I was going to go crazy staying in the house one more second while Michiel sorted through his paperwork and cables (still not complete).And although apparently the Easter weekend in Holland is the absolute WORST time you can go to such a store I ventured to the Mega Stores in Den Haag because Trendhopper was having a special on the Fatboy. I could not decide on Red, Pink or Lime Green. So I went with Dark Grey.
And we had to also choose a new laptop for me, cause this little baby is just not cutting it these days... and I need some more space to be able to edit photos... another thing I meant to do while on holiday was put up my photos online.. that will happen I do promise, cause I have to sort through my 600+ photos from the weekend and edit and send them off to the Webs around the world. The latest Web NL mag came yesterday packed with my photos. Coolness.
I better go if I am going to get out of the house before noon....

Sunday, March 27, 2005

Naoise Sheridan

You ever have one of those experiences in your life or met someone which makes an impression on you and you think back to it from time to time with fondness? Well anyway my story goes back many many years. I believe I was about 18 living in Victoria. Working some dead-end job and going out to watch live music was my biggest past time.
I used to hang out at one of the bars, The Forge, where every week they had live music. It was great. Anyway one of these weeks I met a guy in a record store and we were both looking for something the store did not have. So seeing as he was not from Victoria I offered to show him the next record store as we left the shop we started chatting about music and he invited me down to the bar that week to watch his band play, Brent Lee and the Outsiders. And flattered that he asked and offered to put me on the guest list, even though I knew everyone who worked there I agreed to come.
Anyway Naoise had a way about him of being able to pick you out of a crowd from the stage, unnerving and yet makes you feel special, and he managed to do that every single night I came to the club.
I won't go into to many details but we had a great time getting to know each other and hanging out all week. Seeing as I was never into the groupie thing I made it pretty clear that I was there to hang out. It was a pretty cool week for me and the last night he and the band were playing I stayed for an after hours party. There was a misunderstanding with the arrogant lead singer and I told Naoise I was going to leave, he persuaded me to stay and hang with him so we stayed up all night hanging out it really was Fantastic! Saying goodbye in the morning was bittersweet and he said that if I ever saw him playing again to come and see him.

Fast forward a year and a bit and I am living in Vancouver attending recording school when I notice in the local paper that the band were playing the following week. Can you imagine? How scary and exciting was. Would he remember me, was I just a passing distraction. So I made plans to go and see them, had the waitress send up a note to Naoise to let him know that I was there. To make a long and nerve wracking story short he read the note, laughed jumped off the stage and ran over to see me, after the show we hung out and chatted and caught up on the years before his new life in Toronto mine in Vancouver. Again he left to follow the rock and roll lifestyle and it was another year or two before again he was playing in Vancouver at the Town Pump. Which was a club that was longer than it was wide with arched doors leading to the stage and quite cozy. I arrived late and was standing under one of the doors just watching the band when I caught his eye, it felt like he had been watching for me to arrive. What a great feeling. So strange to have a connection to someone who you have only met once or twice and feel like old friends. Of course feeling very special that the moment that the band stopped playing he jumped off the stage and ran over to me to give me a hug. What a crazy life I have lead. Catching up hanging out and saying goodbye again.

Now more than a few years have passed and welcome to the world of internet and one day at work for the worlds biggest online bookstore I am suddenly thinking of Naoise and wonder just what he might be up to and Google him (the name is rare enough). What do you know?! He has won awards for best Country Music song-writer in both Canada and the US, played guitars and co-wrote songs on several albums and has moved to Nashville. Good for him I only wish I could be in contact and see how he is. From the photos on the Socan website, he has not changed a bit, must be the Irish blood in him. Maybe someone else will be googling one day and find a way to put me in touch with him again.
Then you might ask, why have I written about him now after all these years? I am reading a book called the Seduction of Water and one of the Stories in the book is about Irish Folk tales and enchanted places. And one of the main characters is called Naoise... So if you are out there drop me a line at the hotmail domain under the name berlinergirl.

Saturday, March 19, 2005

Butlins III: The Dutch

Sunday was what Sundays should be... Lazy.
We went out for a walk and decided to visit the museum on Colin's recommendation. I have to say and please don't take this the wrong way but some of the people in there were really SCARY!!! I saw people trying on h's stage clothes and I swear I saw some shuddering as they slipped the gold lamé jacket on....and it would not surprise me if some people were sniffing the clothes to see what h smells like. I will not go into how strange some of it was. The instruments were great the fact people could play them is fantastic.
We ran into Henk, Peter, Marco and Michaela outside and decided to have a coffee together and watch the every growing line up of people waiting for an autograph. And trying hard to get Marco to join the square/ line dancing that was happening in the centre court. For those who don't know that side of the Web Holland Team, Peter and Marco run the website for the Web Holland and Henk, well he just like to film the show and enjoys the gigs.
I must say, the boys, Peter and Marco and Henk are very funny guys, we laughed and laughed for quite awhile then Henk and I decided it was time to finish his bottle of vodka and start the afternoon off on the right foot. As Ces was still sleeping we took it back to our slightly bigger place and settled into the afternoon before heading over to the pub quiz final.
and afterwards back for a spot of dinner and the final night.
Richard Barbieri opened the night, with some new solo stuff which I thought was great some kind of techno ambient music with the percussion all done by that amazing Andy Gangadeen. The second act was the not so interesting Pineapple Thief.
The Marillion set that night was a nice and mellow set of old favorites that we just don't get to hear that often. It was mellow and sweet. And all together to short.
I finally saw Andy, said goodbye to the Crosslands and hung out with my sweet Web France friends Laurent and Wibke. Saw Jeorg and Stephanie from Web Germany (Thank you so much again for the swag!) And then wandered back to the Chalet.
It was one of my most memorable weekends, I was happy to see the boys again from the crew and even though I did not actually speak to anyone in the band but Mark the whole weekend it was nice to be part of it all again. Now one week later I am back in Holland and have several hundred photos to sort through and send off to the webs and websites to use.
I guess we will have to wait and see what the rest of 2005 holds for us now.

Friday, March 18, 2005

Butlins II: The Welsh

Having only had a few hours sleep and having to get on with the day I floated around in a great and very buoyant mood, lets face it I was probably still drunk. We went to the beach for a look, a trip back over to Tesco's and ran into Finchy outside the merch hut and we sat in the cold sun and had a nice little chat before we headed back to the chalet to have a bite to eat and get ready for the gig. As for Finchy it was his last live gig with the band it was a little melancholy even for me who have known him for ages and always found him to be such a sweetheart. The Melancholy feeling was even more so on the Sunday when he handed over the proverbial reigns to the new lighting guy to see how he would do.
I did not see the other guys from the party till later that night but Stein told me that they to had made made it to the beach like myself and unlike myself got stuck in the mud.
The first band was Erik's band who did well, but I think they had never played live before so seemed a little stiff and to be honest although I thought the songs were good, they really could have used someone in the lineup who can sing.
Kid G were Amazing! I really thought they were one of the best opening bands Marillion have ever had and I could easily see them becoming HUGE in the future. We made a deal with the singer to Swap some photos for some music. Good deal for us. After that was a really bubbly singer songwriter. you could see h sitting on Marks riser enjoying the show both for her and Kid G.
Then came Swap the Band, where there was a great rant on h's part about everyone being Welsh.. the first guitar player was really cute. 20 years old and his knees were knocking like crazy, the highlights were for me, that guy, the Armstrong's, and of course the killer of the night... The guy who sang Fugazi.. holy shit nobody could believe it including the band how well the song was sung including the band.. I have heard comments from some mentioning that even back in the day the BIG man could not have sang it so well. And WoW was the crowd amazing, I have not yet had a look at my photos but I can bet that none of them are in focus because I could not hold the camera or myself still.
When that was all over, the band came back and did a few really nice numbers and called it a night... Eventually. After being threatened that they would close the place down because the ceiling below us was bending and throbbing like it was alive and they were afraid that it might come crashing down on the square dancers below.
I considered going back to the Norwegians but called it a earlier night so I would not waste the whole day on Sunday.

Butlins I: The Norwegians

We left NL late in the afternoon of Thursday to get to the Ferry at the Hoek of Holland because we had heard there were some problems with the Calais ferry service.. and boy did we make a good choice.. Friday turned out to be a strike in France and many of our friends traveling from the continent ended up getting chucked on the Chunnel.
But we spent the night in a little travel lodge and were well rested for the weekend ahead of us. En route we stopped for lunch at Glastonbury where we promptly ran into Henk & Ces at the same cafe.
And then got towards Minehead where the line up of cars was quite scary, so we stopped at the Tesco to get it over with and ran in to Angie. The store was crawling with Freaks so we did our shopping and headed back to sign in and get our selves settled in made some chow and headed over to the gig.
After taking some photos from the opening bands, I went off to the bar where I promptly ran into Karen & CO. from DC who then informed me that my friend Andy (from London) was also there. Then I ran into my favorite Norwegian, Andreas. Who gave me a invite to one of their legendary afterhour parties.
The Marillion gig was great to hear and see Marbles again, I had heard the set so many times last year, but as always it is nice to see them do something you have not heard ever.
I must day after meeting with some people and catching up I went back to the apartment left my camera gear and headed off to Lagoon bay and who knows what to expect. Got there and people were already spilling out of the apartment onto the sidewalk. Now I am not sure if it was on purpose that they were at the farthest part of the resort and next the the chapel but it was a rager. I went inside and was introduced to Stein Andreas's cousin who was mixing the cocktails. Great guy, and a good laugh.
I met people from the all walks of life and strangeness and a sweet young couple from Scotland who are the newest converts I have met in a while. The music was a mix of OLD and new. Even though I was trying to play the devils advocate and telling them to turn off that shitty old proggy music... (You can guess what it was I am sure) but the crazy thing is I meant every word. But it was great to see these guys really uninhibited playing air guitar and singing full blast along with it. I happened to be the last person there who was not Norwegian and headed home as the birds were chirping.

Tuesday, March 08, 2005

Almost Butlins

So leading up to the weekend is very busy busy busy. In fact so much so I feel like sitting in a dark closet and laughing hystericaly. But hey the Tuesday night television has brought back Everwood so Yay for me! How SAD am I that I get that excited about television?
Work and play, but it should be good. In fact it should be great. Even if Stu is not there again, why Stu why?
Just got a three line email from Mark.. busy busy as well. Looking forward to seeing him and the rest of the crew again. and only a few days to go.. I had hoped to post the photos from the tour but the move took so much time and effort. I did however manage to send them to the Web France magazine people who are going to apparently publish them and some of the Blog in their next Magazine. If I can get it togeather I may even manage to send some to the Web UK and NL as well. For those of you who are not interested in sorting through the 20+ blogs I have rambled on and on with.
So those of you who will be in the UK this weekend... please let me know if you have read and enjoyed (or not) the blog. I will most likely be the only girl walking around with the big camera around her neck.. come and talk with me.. I'd love it.
So my friends I shall be off for now. See you hopefully soon.