Buenas - COUGH!! - Noches

I just got back from Spain with a hefty dose of the flu and lots of stories. Even having been there for a mere three days was enough time to experience the most bizarre, lame and outrageously funny - not to mention contracting the spanish version of the influenza virus. Due to the lateness of the present hour, the lack of sleep of the past days and the clogged up nose and obligatory sore throat, I leave you with three clues : Gringo Formaggio, Woman Toro and Revoltallo XIII. That should do it for now. The rest is for tomorrow, providing I'm able to get out of bed, that is...

Observations At A Three Day City Festival

It once used to be a free festival and it's called Marktrock. Why? Because the main stage is situated in what is called the largest bar (as in the furniture you sit at and place your drinks on) in Europe, if not the world : Leuven's Old Market place (De Oude Markt). Once upon a time, there were merely a few commercial interests to be taken into account and unfortunately, when they started charging, the prices went up. On a more unfortunate note : it also meant that if the marketplace was full, no one was allowed in and once you left the venue, you had to pay again to get in. Nevertheless, there are other stages spread all over the city center that were free and still are to this day. Today is : paying 25 bucks to get in, a €10 increase due to a hefty taxing of festivals and a few bad years. The upside : a bracelet that allows you to only pay once (per day, no three day tickets for sale here!) to enter and leave the Old Market freely. What a bargain, I say! Me being one of the lucky ones that actually didn't have to pay since I was working (I'll get to that later) doesn't change my view on the fact that this is typical for the hometown I love and loathe : when they charge or jack up a price, from festival tickets to parking tickets and rent prices, it's usually twice what other cities would consider to be fair. The result was rather unspectacular : fewer people than usual made their way to the market, to be fair, also in part because of the bad weather, especially on the second day. And, by the way, who wants to see Starsailor headline the final day anyway? A nice band, don't get me wrong, but rather a case in point : an unspectacular finish to an unspectacular festival (I promise to refrain from the word 'unspectacular for the remainder of this post). Or was it?
Because there was, in my not so humble opinion, enough spectacle to be seen and heard. The first day was a winner, with three great gigs in a row. Tell me you don't like the Aussie - with - fake - Swedish - accent ABBA clone Björn Again, and I tell you you're even more of a cynic than I am known to be. Not only do they do the ABBA thing to a tee - kimonos and all - but musically it's as perfect as the original once was. Not to mention 'Anni Frid' and 'Agnetha' look even better than the real ones did way back in the 70's. Nice leg work, lassies. This was the second time I saw them and I still couldn't get enough.
Next up : eternal frat boys The Bloodhound Gang. Yes, the roof was on fire; no, Chasey Lain still didn't show her titties to mom and dad (I suppose they'll have to download her latest porn flick instead); you and me, baby, will always be nothing but mammal and the drummer from Def Leppard still only has one arm. And the band rocked the market. On the screen, they had a nifty comment generator that spewed some hilarious comments. While it was obvious it was planned, TBG still had taken the time to get to know some things about Belgium and some recent local and national issues and events, on which they commented. Oh, and Dubya got a big finger too, of course. Twice. Of course.
Next up, Iggy and The Stooges. He's past 60, but he still looks like the wrinkled teenager he is. I know 16 year olds that are outdone by Mr. Osterberg when he's on stage. This is Punk the way it should be, my friends! And fIREHOSE's Mike Watt on bass? Hell yeah! Needless to say, the set was a best off from start to finish. And for those who still think 1969 is a Sisters of Mercy song, think again. Mr. Eldritch knows who to pay homage to.
Since the second day was rained out, and I was not really interested in the bands that day, I shall forego any commenting on the bands playgin that day, other than the Pet Shop Boys. This is as gay is it gets, and I mean that in a totally awesome way. Never hysterical, but a trés faux show with glitter, glamour, dancers, a cube screen, costumes and the obligatory fag hag backing vocalist. And the songs, of course. Another greatest hits show and hit it did! Glad to have seen them, even though I spent the day remembering a friend of mine who died in a car accident exactly 15 years before. Needless to say, I felt a bit elated all day.
Bodycount's in the house, motherf**kers! Yeah, the third day had The Band Everyone Wanted To See. Ice Motherf**king T B*tch - as he still keeps referring to himself - may not have been aware of it, but the guy's some sort of a legend on the Old Market. Once upon a time, all bars played Cop Killer and The Bodycount Anthem. They all came together under the murderous sound of Bodycount. And for a brief period, it seemed as if the Old Market had turned into a violent mosh pit and I thought myself at another festival, where demin, leather and long hair are de rigeur.
As usual when Sarah Bettens (for those unfamiliar : the female half of K's Choice) plays at the market, you can rest assured that it's one big party. The market crowd loves her and she loves them back. We even witnessed a K's Choice reunion of sorts at the end. Very, very nice.
Did I mention I was working these past three days? I was. I slung beers and pop to those regulars of my favorite waterhole who chose to have a window seat to watch, instead of being out there with the great unwashed. Actually, I wish I had been working outside, because I had very little to do. Eight years ago, I manned a beer stand with a friend. We worked our asses off, but we also had lots of fun. I missed that this year.
The moment of the festival for me, was when I noticed a guy wearing a t- shirt that said 'THIS IS WHAT GOD LOOKS LIKE'. Another universal riddle solved : God is a t- shirt...

First Post!

Born out of the need to observe and relay some observations I make in this rat race we still call society (or lack thereof), here's to hoping it'll all turn out well and fun mightbe had by those visiting. It might not be the most fashion- sensitive blog; the colours might look generic, the font might be dime - a - dozen, but who cares? It's the content, right? Right. So, on to the first observation...