Just back from the glorious Netherlands at the weekend. Roadburn Festival 2009, what a blast, absolutely the best rock festival I have ever been to, just wonderful in every way, from the weather to the venue to the vodka to the bands to the t-shirts to the talent to the heroic facial hair. Clearly such a fantastic country as well, 'tis a total pisser that I've eventually had to return...I'm not going to waffle on as I'm getting a bit cheesed off with the whole blog update thingy, too bloody busy doing a billion other things. Don't know how those bastiches on Twatter have the patience to update the planet on the intricacies of their bowel movements when I can't be arsed filing a brief status report every coupla months. Anyhoo, here are my semi-salient recent observations...
- KLM's aeroplane of choice for GLA - AMS was a lovely little Fokker. No, Boardman, keep away, keep away !!! I'm so glad I finally got that DS. Big Bang Mini, World Championship Poker, and Tetris DS made the journey(s) mercifully quick.
- Holland is like some parallel alternate Scotland where the streets are clean, public transport is both utterly reliable and plentifully available, and the town centres seemingly aren't chock full of either gormless fucking automatons or vicious, sub-human chavscum. Cyclists are still ignorant, reckless cnuts (sic), though at least they are confined to their own specialist (as in special school) lanes where they can, in theory, only injure each other. Generally a wonderful place, I do so want to move there, really. Shame it'll be under the North Sea by 2030, niet goed.
- I spoke as much (little) Dutch as I dared but they are all so damned multi-lingual over there that they can't help but interrupt your struggle through Nederlands and happily continue on in English of a standard way more intelligible than that of 95% of the populace of Greater Glasgow. Indeed, I stopped all the spreekt u Engels stuff whenever I struggled as most folk I talked to looked offended at the thought that they might not speak English.
- Roadburn represents the boutique festival concept done right. Indoors, in a lovely venue like a three way between the Barras, the ABC and Embra Playhoose, well organised, safe and well catered, despite being totally sold out, there were no queues for the bars or the toilets, plenty of space to chill out for watching bands like Amon Duul II or Mono from a prostrate position (as directed by your general practitioner). I've wanted to go to it for years and now I want to go back every year. Bloomin' heck, Cathedral and Saint Vitus on the same bill, one after the other, where else is such a thing even possible ? Only way they could top that would be getting Trouble and Sabbath together - hey, a chap can dream, can't he ???
