Pinkpop festival

I originally posted it on June 5th, 2006.


SATURDAY, JUNE 3
Weather in the days prior to the festival was pretty, well, shitty; rain being the keyword here (lots of it). So naturally everybody attending the Pinkpop festival were hoping there would be no rain.
After picking up Kim and Marelle in Maastricht, the Netherlands (I'd be crashing on their comfy couch this extended weekend), we headed for the festival site in Landgraaf - about 20 miles east towards Aachen, Germany.
We caught cabaretesque opening act THE DRESDEN DOLLS at 3 pm on the mainstage: they're quirky and I like that about them. I don't think many people in the Netherlands have heard their music, but the audience enjoyed it. They played a couple of songs off their new album "Yes, Virginia" and old ones, including my favorites "Coin operated boy" and their Black Sabbath cover "War pigs".
Next up was Canuck NELLY FURTADO. Even though I'm not a fan I gave it a shot. Her setlist mainly consisted of her singles, but we left after a couple of songs: did they have a proper sound check? Their sound was awful, Nelly sang off key, and her voice and the voices of her back up singers did not blend well. We headed for Belgian band ADMIRAL FREEBEE instead. This band had a much better sound and the singer was interacting with the audience - who were clearly enjoying themselves.
After Admiral Freebee ended their set, we headed back towards the mainstage where British band KAISER CHIEFS took the stage; upbeat songs and singer Ricky Wilson who wanted the audience to have a good time - Kaiser Chiefs know how to party. Ricky also showed his great sense of humor.
PAUL WELLER played the smaller stage (3FM stage) where Admiral Freebee played earlier and we stayed the greater part of the set. His set consisted (as far as I can tell) off solo material only - so no "Town called Malice" or "My ever changing mood". Unfortunately for me. A total professional who still loves playing live, but I think only real Paul Weller fans thoroughly enjoyed the show.
Kim, Marelle and I left early to find ourselves a decent spot (no, not way in front) to check out PLACEBO. Normally a threesome, they are now touring with an additional guitarist who also plays the keys. Singer Brian Molko is still going for an androgynous look, and he was playing around a bit with his bassplayer when he (Brian) went on his knees in front of him during a song. That certainly got my imagination going ;p The front row mostly consisted of young women... Their performance was good, but I missed that extra spark that could make a show special. We left an hour into their set - I hoped TOOL won't be disappointing.
Festivals make good people watching events. My friend Marelle mentioned that sometimes people go out revealing too much (I'm not just talking skin here) and I agree: some things are beter left covered up. I even took a picture to illustrate what I mean...

It's a pretty grainy photograph.... but do you get the picture?

SUNDAY, JUNE 4
I had a good night's sleep (we all did) and was rested. We had a tasty breakfast before setting off for another day at Pinkpop. For all you non-Dutchies: Pinkpop is a music festival which has its name derived from Pentecoste - "Pinksteren" in Dutch.
We arrived around 2 pm, in time to catch Dutch hard core band VANKATOEN. Musically, they remind me of Biohazard (in their good old days). Just as I mentioned to Marelle Vankatoen had a number one single in Indonesia, the band played "Lef" (translated: "Guts"). Vankatoen rerecorded that number one hit in Bahasa Indonesia and called it "Siapa brani" (translated: "Who dares") and having that hit also enabled them to tour Indonesia for 5 weeks. The band played a tight set.
DREDG were scheduled to play the same stage an hour later. I was anxious to see them play live. Dredg played at two German rock festivals prior to coming to the Netherlands, where they experienced one type of weather: the rainy kind. Today, the sun was out again and at the end of the day there were lots of sunburnt people walking around. (I wasn't one of them.)
It seemed that Dredg wanted to give the audience its money's worth (they were allowed to play an hour) and they played an almost non-stop set. I recognized two songs; one of which was one of my favorite songs of 2005 "Bug eyes". The drummer was fun to watch and his style reminded me of Animal of The Muppets. He broke a drum stick with almost every song. He threw them into the audience and I guess we'll be seeing those back on Ebay ;p He actually kept drumming after everyone else had left the stage and roadies were wrapping things up. When he couldn't use his drumkit anymore he turned to his keyboard... Did I mention Kim and I managed to get a spot way in front? Also, maybe it's because the way the singer moved, but it reminded me of Keith Caputo of Life of Agony...
After Dredg finished their set we walked towards the mainstage to see Dutch band RACOON perform (I'm pretty sure my friend Astrid in Ottawa, Canada would have loved to see them play live). Racoon played most songs off their most recent album "Another day", which is also their most successful one. It was obvious they were more than happy to play at Pinkpop.
We walked back to the 3FM stage to see Canuck DANKO JONES perform. D4MN, they rocked! (That's all I can say.) Danko got the crowd going and I'm pretty sure he won himself some new fans - partly because he paraded around on stage carrying a Dutch flag. Danko played my favorite song: "Don't fall in love".
We then watched Belgian band dEUS (on the main stage) from a little distance, while we had "dinner". It was around then that soneome suddenly slapped my arm. It turned out to be Inkie who was at Pinkpop with her boyfriend and his two brothers. Funny how somehow, despite thousands of people present, you run into friends.
We also listened to HOOVERPHONIC, another Belgian band who were playing on the John Peel stage in a large tent.

Finally: TOOL. Fashionably late (as Kim said - they made us wait fifteen minutes longer, but ended up playing for lost time...) the band played a mix of old and new songs. Singer Maynard James Keenan was sporting a mohawk (covered by a cowboy hat during some songs), a couple of pounds heavier and he was doing his weird little dances.
The visuals supporting their performance were incredible! A couple of the songs Tool played were "Lost keys (Blame Hofmann)", "The pot", "Stinkfist", "Schism", "Lateralus", "Ænema", "Vicarious" and my all time favorite "Sober" :) If I were to go home I'd be happy: Tool totally rocked and made my weekend. They will be playing Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam, the Netherlands on June 27 and I'm trying and hoping to catch them again, then.
MONDAY, JUNE 5
Kim wanted to see SOULFLY, but we ended up leaving the house a little later than planned. That was alright... Till we got stuck in a serious traffic jam. (Later, my mother told me that Monday was sold out solid, which came as no real surprise since the Red Hot Chili Peppers were headlining.) I started kidding that we might be able to make it in time to hear Soulfly frontman Max Cavalera say: "Thank you!" But time went by and we weren't making progress: I wanted to see SKIN, but we had to let that go by as well.
Kim called some friends from The Hague (if I recall correctly) who were already on the festival site and they suggested a tiny detour; we managed to avoid the traffic jam congesting the roads the last several miles leading to the festival site. Marelle and I joked that we might be able to catch Skin's last words "Thank you! I'm Skin and I hope to see you next time." *lol*
By the time we reached the festival site we'd probably be late for singer/songwriter David Gray's set (he played the 3FM stage from 13:30 - 14:30 and we arrived about ten minutes before the end of his show). Thank you, I'm David Gray. Enjoy the rest of Pinkpop! *lol* Since we were hungry we went for chicken wings instead ;) and the first performance of the day we saw was from Dutch band BLOF on the main stage - we were enjoying the sun sitting on the grass. (Astrid, you'd surely loved it.) I finally had the opportunity to meet up with my brother Arnold and his girlfriend Joyce.
We went to see EDITORS play the John Peel stage together. I admit that their songs sounded better live. And somehow I half expected them to suddenly burst into Joy Division's "Love will tear us apart" - that's how strongly they reminded me of the late Ian Curtis and his band. They didn't. Editors did play their version of Talking Heads' "Road to nowhere"! Excellent performance.
Kim went to check out Deftones on the 3fm stage, but walked away after a few songs: they sucked.
By the time I exited the tent with Arnold and Joyce, Brit band KEANE were playing on the main stage. It was hot in the tent and Arnold and Joyce wanted to get some beverages. I tagged along. Marelle and try to establish contact, but somehow my cell gave out and I was unable to call her (or Kim) nor send them text messages. That was really strange. (I did receive their text messages after Marelle called me; Kim let me know they were going to see The Flaming Lips. Unfortunately, I couldn't reply I was going to see Canucks Nickelback.)
NICKELBACK played a predictable set and I learned that they recently did a concert in the Netherlands as Bon Jovi's supporting act... Arnold, Joyce and I watched the band from a distance and had a little fun in the sun. (I hope that didn't come out wrong.)
We parted after Nickelback; Joyce was supposed to meet a friend of hers. I found Kim and Marelle basking in the sun, while Brits FRANZ FERDINAND were playing the main stage. I'm no fan of them after having seen one too many televized live shows on which I heard the singer sing off key.
Again, Marelle and I noticed a lot of people with sunburn... By the time I introduced Kim and Marelle to Arnold and Joyce it was time for me to head towards the 3FM stage where Morrissey was to perform. Joyce and Arnold came along with me. Arnold made a wise ass comment about the avarage age of the people coming out to see the former frontman of 80s band The Smiths.
MORRISSEY and his band walked on stage, made a bow together and then took their places. They launched into "Panic", an old Smiths cover - with the infamous line "Hang the DJ". I got the idea that the greater part of the set list consisted of songs off his last two albums ("You are the quarry" and "Ringleader of the tormentors") AND they also played two other songs by Morrissey's old band The Smiths: "Girlfriend in a coma" and my personal favorite "How soon is now?". I enjoyed the show, and for me, this was today's best performance (with Editors on a close second).
Then it was time for me to part ways with Arnold and Joyce and meet up with Kim and Marelle. My brother and his girlfriend were spending another night at the camp site, I was going to drive home after the festival was over. Walking back towards the mainstage I felt someone slap my arm and scream "HEY!". Turned out to be Elisabeth and her boyfriend. *lol*
Kim, Marelle and I were watching RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS perform on the main stage while enjoying some more chicken (no wings this time, though). Their performance wasn't bad, but it quickly sounded a bit uninspired to me. I saw the Peppers perform at a Belgian festival a couple of years ago and it wasn't good (and Anthony Kiedis sang off key - I learned today that they now use a gadget to minimize off key singing...). We left after finishing our chicken - tired but content. Well, I had a great weekend! (And thank you Kim and Marelle for having me crash at your place.)