Everything counts in large amounts

Tonight is the big night for Stethoscope Stewards, as me and Bart will be dj'ing at Twisted Melon in Leuven, alongside Bent Van Looy (Das Pop) and Stijn Van De Voorde (StuBru). But a couple of weeks ago, we had a great time spinning tunes all night long for the great audience at the Beurskafee in Brussels. We played before, in between and after the gigs (TV Buddhas and Harlem) and fucking loved it. We were quite lucky though, as the weather was amazing and the Beurskafee has this beautiful terrace where all sane people would love to spend hours and hours. It was a lovely night and whilst dj'ing, I managed to take a few pictures..

Marina is a diamond

It's like I'm watching the A4 paper taking over the guillotine

... and I was invited by Sony music (the label) to join them to London for a blitz visit.

Sony is busy promoting upcoming talent Hurts (very eighties inspired, rather bombastic, but very catchy electro pop), who were playing the NME Radar Tour in London that night. Hence they invited me and 3 other journalists (Tom, Hannes and Erna) to join them and write something about the band on our websites or magazines. We'd only be there for 16 hours, but how could I say no to a trip to my favourite city?

(pictures by Erna Janssens, except for pics 1/6/9 which are by me)

All of us got a lovely, huge room in the St. Pancreas Novotel. Here's me in the bathroom showing off my new favourite dress (I was initially looking for an Unknown Pleasures t-shirts, but this is so much better).














Koko, the place to be that night.













The line-up: Darwin Deez (support), Everything Everything (headliner 1) and Hurts (headliner 2).













Koko's balcony, with Tom, me and Hannes in the middle of the picture.













Hannes, one of my travel companions.




















We missed out on Darwin Deez (except for the two last songs) because of the delicious burger & beer we had before heading to Koko, but Everything Everything totally made up for it. If you haven't heard of these very talented Mancunians, check out their song 'My KZ, UR BF' (or any other song by them, really).















Hurts, the band we made the trip for in first place. They're are quite interesting with their full-on eighties sound and über-dramatic podium presence - not completely my thing, but they sure know who to write a decent song and there's definitely a big audience waiting for them.

After the gig, we went to the VIP bar for some drinks and chatting before heading back to the hotel. Sabine (from the record label) and fellow travellers Erna and Hannes went to bed early, but Tom and I decided to make the most of our stay in London. We didn't really think of the early closing pubs in London, though. When the hotel bar turned out be closing as well, we nevertheless resumed our search for beer in the streets of London. We prevailed in the end!

We are not the same

Today is the day of my last exam and I can't wait for it (the exam, not the day) to be over. I'm tired of rehearsing the same things over and over again. After that, I'm having a week off from uni and I've already filled it in with nice plans. Tonight I'm going to Ghent, have some drinks with Elise and Gui at Celtica, then head off to Hindu Nights at the Backdoor. The morning after I return home, get an hour or two of sleep, shower, watch the Australian Open women finals, then pack my bags and leave for...London (again, I know, can't help it that I love it)! I'll be there from Jan 30 - Feb 6, including 2 days of Liverpool, where I've never been before (quite a shame being such a huge Beatles fan!). I've already got heaps of plans for both my London and Liverpool stay, and I'm quite excited as well because my stay in London will be my very first couch surfing experience.

HOWEVER now I need to concentrate on that bloody exam! It really does my head in, especially because I feel too guilty to do interesting things during the time that I could use to study. Nonetheless, I had a very good Wednesday night. I interviewed Good Shoes to find out they were a bunch of really nice blokes. I watched their gig (very energetic, uncomplicated, just 40 minutes of really catchy music - that's how I like it!) and hung out with the band afterwards. They set up their ping pong table right in front of stage, which was quite funny. :) Here are some pictures..

Fool's Gold

Not much going on during the exam period, so I'm glad I finally have a good story to tell!

Two nights ago I went to see Ian Brown in Brussels and saying I had an amazing night, might be a major understatement. Ian played 'Fool's Gold' and my friend Elise and I decided to go on stage. Before us, some guys who tried to do the same thing, were thrown off immediately. When Elise got up first, they tried to push her back as well, but Ian said we could stay. So we ended up dancing the entire song next to and with Ian. :) After the show he invited us to his backstage, where we had a beer, a chat and a short photo session with Ian and his entourage. Still can't believe it!! Ian is a long-time hero of mine so you can imagine my joy! To end the night on a high note, I sang 'Strawberry Fields Forever' with a busker outside of the AB.

Someone filmed us! (I think we're on starting from 1:15 aprox.)

You don't know how lucky you are, boy

Last week I went to Cologne, Germany with Tessa, Shera and Pieter to see Paul McCartney perform. Tessa had seen him once before (two weeks earlier in the Netherlands) but it was the first time for me, Shera and Pieter. The gig was mindblowing, possibly the best I've ever been to. Almost 3 hours long and packed with fantastic songs by The Beatles, The Wings and Paul solo. Paul is still a great performer, you could never tell his age by his stage appearance. Our stay in Cologne was very nice too. We didn't get too touristy (I had been in Cologne before anyways) but spent most of our time walking around the huge christmas markets, eating and sitting at Starbucks. Some pictures of my friends (no misplaced self-portraits for once :p), the Paul gig and lovely Cologne:

Waiting, you are fading

Part two of the fantastic weekend was the Editors gig at Vorst Nationaal. It was the sixth time I saw Editors play, but I can look you right in the eye and tell you they are still getting better and better and better. Tom's voice, the setlist, everything was perfect. I got so caught up in it that I even didn't take pictures, but here's one of me and Tom on the Editors signing session earlier that day in Brussels. (fan girl alert!)

And this is Phara, Tessa and I with Felix from the Maccabees, who did really well as the second Editors support act (the first one was Wintersleep, but I didn't enjoy them that much).

The world is ours and ours alone!

Part one of that great weekend I was telling you about earlier on was last Friday, when I went to see The Rifles play in Antwerp. Been a fan of the band since their first album and even more since I met the lads, a bunch of really great guys.

They were playing the Trix last weekend, which is a rather small venue somewhere in the outskirts of Antwerp. I hadn't been there before, but telling from the website, one could get there by bus or tram. I figured the tram would be the easiest way. Horrible choice. I started feeling a little worried when the tram started driving in directions it definitely shouldn't be driving in, so I asked the driver what was going on. He told me all trams were driving to the Sportpaleis (another gig venue, but a lot bigger and most of all...somewhere very different!) that week, so I had to take the tram back to the station (where I started out) and take a bus from there on. On my tram back to the station I was joined by seven British boys. I figured out they were going to The Rifles as well and felt very relieved now I wasn't lost in Antwerp on my own anymore! We hopped on a bus (those lads were fantastic, high fiving with the bus driver etc :p), and after a very long drive we finally got to our destination.

At the venue, I met up with Rob from The Rifles. The two of us, joined by the British blokes, looked for and miraculously found a bar not too far from the (very isolated) gig venue. Not really what you'd call a trendy/charming/any positive adjective bar, but ah well. There was Belgian beer and everybody was happy.

Back at the venue I started talking to this guy from France who turned out to live very near me and was dj'ing in the Make Up Club the next evening - seriously, how small is this world?? :) The gig was really good, a long and energetic set. The Belgian crowd sucked, but I had my newly found British friends to ensure me of a great night.

Afterwards, Rob and I wanted to go out in Antwerp, and some nice Antwerp people we only just met were friendly enough to take us to a good pub. The start of a very good night out!!