^}I WEAR A COAT OF FEELINGS AND THEY ARE LOUD+"

Usually when I've been to a concert I immediately write something about it, but I guess this time I just didn't find the time yet to do so. Anyway, wavves were great. Nathan looked like a total punk kid and damn he's so small! :P The sound was nice and loud, heavy guitars, loved the drummer, met two really cool kids who rock out just like I do :p Perfect perfect night. Much better than the night before.

Here are some pictures that I took





More on my Flickr

Oh fuck. I seriously might be able to get a room in Amsterdam. Fingers crossed everyone!!!

:%YOU JUST MADE YOURSELF AVAILABLE-/

While I'm writing this the pictures I took are being uploaded onto my Flickr account, plus 'my country' has reached the final of the World Cup. Not too surprising, what would have been surprising is when we would have lost from Uruguay. But that didn't happen. Anyway, let's start with tonight's gig. First off, Broken Records. I never listened to them, no idea what they were about, the kind of music they make. Almost immediately after I walked in they started playing and it was good! Whoa. Impressed. This is one of those supporting acts I could end up really listening to. They are a big band, Arcade Fire crossed my mind, Beirut as well but with a bit of country on the edge. So I'll definitely check them out in the near future. And well, then The National appeared. An advantage of having The National play at 7pm instead of 8.30 pm, so that anyone who would like to could watch the football match, is that they had to start on time. Broken Records were done around 6.30 so the wait for The National wasn't that long. As soon as they took the stage they brought a smile to my face and to everyone else in the crowd I bet. Turned out they all dressed up in orange! :D After the first song Matt commented he was feeling like a dick wearing a completely orange suit (even his tie was orange) 'cause he had expected the entire crowd to be dressed in orange, but that was hardly the case! Not many of us were. Me neither. When I watch football I do it without dressing up. Perhaps when I would actually go to the arena and see the match then I would put some face paint on, but else, nope. It's a bit ridiculous.


So I've heard Matt Berningers' voice live for the second time! :D Many times I closed my eyes, enjoying it to the fullest. They played lots of songs from High Violet (of course, it's their latest record) and some from Boxer (the one that came before) BUT they also played Available (!!!), Daughters Of The Soho Riots, Abel and Mr. November (might be my all-time favourite!). I'll admit that even though they performed well, it felt a bit chaotic or noisy. At first I was like, hmmm, it might just be me. But then on the way back home I started thinking about Broken Records and comparing the two and when those guys played the vibe seemed better. Might have been the difference in lighting which was so much better during the Broken Records set. The National was drenched in orange for most of the time which you will be able to see on the pictures that I took.


Also, the crowd might have been a bit noisy maybe? AND I just happened to stand next to a guy who was kind of annoying. I think he was from the US 'cause he shouted a comment about Bonnaroo (a music festival for all of you who don't know). His moves were so wrong. He moved like elderly people do who think they're still teenagers, the kind you see at concerts of very bad Dutch artists that play music comparable to the German genre of the 'schlager'. HORRIBLE. I mean, this is The National, an actual band, a serious professional high quality one, moving the way this guy moves (his hand in a fist and shaking it up in the air) is an insult towards these guys! The National is supposed to take over your body, filled with emotion you let yourself get carried away. It's like going to church sharing the music as when sharing bread and wine during holy communion! You don't just move like this one guy did and he moved like this throughout ALL of the gig, plus he started yelling when the last seconds of the songs had not yet ended and a couple of times he was the one who started clapping which made other people start clapping as well! I'm sorry, but MR. you should be BANNED. I can be forgiving, but this is just one step too far. I really can't think of any excuse of why I should let this guy get away with this. But like I said, many times I had my eyes closed trying to make the moment private and so I was still able to enjoy the gig as long as it lasted. Next month I'll be seeing them again at the Lowlands festival. They'll probably play a set that's similar to this one, but I hope they put some more Alligator on the list. They should do like Bloc Party did once when they toured Australia and did a gig playing the entire Silent Alarm from beginning to end in the exact order that appears on the album. THAT would be a truly great night, just Alligator. If that ever happens I can die







All pictures are to be found on my Flickr

:)HOLDEN CAULFIELD,+

Finally after all this time I've been able to start reading The Catcher In The Rye after having found the book at this second hand book store. Lately I'm getting a bit obsessed about going to those kind of places. Each time I'm in town I want to pass there to look for some books. Their bookshelves are like huge treasure chests and you just want to digg in. One day I might end up buying up the whole place! I just love that they're second hand books. It's much nicer having this worn out book in your hands instead of holding a brand new one, plus they're are much cheaper which I always find to be a very good thing. I could go to the library instead, but to own a book, to know that it's yours, to be able to write little scribblings in it and to know it will forever be yours it's just a very soothing thought.
I finished Billy Liar this morning so now I went from Billy Fisher to Holden Caulfield and boy ;) do I already love this guy. He's so dead honest and it's so funny already. This is going to be a real joy to read. It's just little things like this for example that I really enjoy:

'"Have a seat there, boy," old Spencer said. He meant the bed.'

He's visiting a teacher and he's dying to get out of there as his teacher is starting this whole lecture about Holden being dropped out of school. I love how well observant Holden is, the way Salinger really tells from the boy's perspective and keeps the reader updated on Holden's thoughts while in conversation and the fact that Holden thinks about something completely different while talking, that's so like me. My mind wanders off like that all the time too.

The Libertines are back together and it's not an April fools joke!



Again, some random images I feel like sharing ;)
































I've updated my three Flickr accounts, so if you like to have a look...

Death Is Overrated
One Day We'll Flee This Town
Ian Curtis Minus The Smoking

,*STILL GOT THE TASTE DANCING ON MY TONGUE@+

Wow, was that properly amazing, or what?! What an excellent gig. These guys played as if they were veterans, such good live sound. This might have been the second best gig I've seen so far this year. I watched some YouTube videos before I went so I kind of knew what to expect, but than to actually witness it myself. Surprisingly I was more enthralled by Tom singing than Hayden (yes, these guys share vocal duties which I had no idea of until a friend of mine who saw them live in Lille told me about it) Yesterday I watched them do acoustic versions of some songs on YouTube and after hearing Hayden sing I was like, I think I'm in love!! :))) But last night it was Tom who really got to me. I almost couldn't wipe that grin off my face, listening to him filled me with incredible joy :D It was one of those gigs where everything just fell into place. I saw one guy somewhere on the left totally in it eyes closed shaking his head while next to me there was this one tall curly guy who swayed his head from side to side and enjoyed it as much as I did. Live their songs work even better, so energetic and vibrant, their songs have such a strong beat you can't help but move. I loved the drummer and how they extended some of my favourite parts of some of the songs. Apart from playing songs of their last album Two Dancers they also played Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants from Limbo, Panto their debut, which is such a nice fun little ditty that made me so happy when they played it. A very good song to dance to. Yesterday I mentioned that I would probably die when they would play This Is Our Lot 'cause that one has a killer opener, but instead it was We Still Got The Taste Dancing On Our Tongues that nearly killed me. The recording of that song almost fells flat compared to the live version which takes the song to a whole new level! I'd really love to see these guys again so fingers crossed they'll make an appearance at Lowlands this summer! :P

Because the lighting wasn't that good and I wasn't standing at the best place to take pictures (the keys were placed right in front of me) I only have two to share (the first one you find at the top of this post). But they look pretty good so I guess that kind of makes up for it. I'll also post some from The Drums gig, 'cause remember how I went and thought I had only taken shitty pictures? Well, after turning them from colour to black and white and adding a little bit more light to them some of them look alright. For more you should visit my concert Flickrrrrrr

Wild Beasts



The Drums (February 26th, 2010)




Yesterday was the last day of March which means we're now in April which can only mean one thing...

FOAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

April 14th April 14th April 14th!!!!!!!!!!!

You can sweep me off the floor and burry me right after :D