EuroHip: Day 4

Ok, first off - I relise I have majorly slippped behind on this, due to having no internet access, and having far too good a time to worry (no offence, readers) but I'll try and give you a retrospective view of the trip...

Snoo and I landed in Amsterdam after a pretty good, uneventful flight, and were soon through baggage claim, and into the station. We spoke to the guy at the ticket desk (in English which all the Dutch speak perfectly - I do feel bad about not being able to speak their native tongue though!) and we found that we could get two first class tickets for cheaper than a standard! Winner! So, we grabbed some food and hopped on the train. Trevor had already alerted us to the fact that they had had a pretty unpleasant journey up to Groningen, having to stand for pretty much the full three hours, so we were prepared for a rough journey. Thankfully, it never came. We had to make the the changes at Amerfort, Deventer and Zwolle but other than that it was cool, and we had seats the whole way. We even got to go on the cool double decker trains they have! Exciting!

We arrived in Groningen, and after a mild panic as Snoo left her handbag on the train (but managed to retrieve it) we got a taxi to the Hotel. The Hampshire was really nice, and the staff were very welcoming. We dumped our bags off, and then headed out. We wanted to meet up with the guys, but it seemed that we were having communication problems with the phones, so we ended up in a little cafe instead. A couple of beers later, and we were ready for sleep.

The next day (Sunday - Day 4) we awoke to beautiful blue skies. We got dressed and took the lift down to reception. Bizarrely, we picked up Chris, Trevor C and Dave on the floor below. It turned out that they had been texting us (through a drunken haze) all night. I wouldn't actually recieve the messages until after the first Amsterdam show, two days later. Isn't technology wonderful, eh? Anyway, we walked along the river, I took some photos, and then Snoo and I left the group for a couple of hours while we hired bikes. Under Groningen station, they have multistorey carparks - but for bikes (Bikeparks I suppose) which were incredibly vast! It was a site to behold. We got our bikes, and rode long the river to a lake (with a windmill for the traditional Dutch experience). We stopped and had an ice cream sandwich, and continued our way round the lake and back into town. We were out for maybe an hour and a half, but stupidly we forgot to bring any water, so we decided to turn back a bit early, as the sun was really beating down at this point. We got back, dropped the bikes off and walked into town to meet the guys. We sat outside in a small square, and drank some beers and soaked up the sun. By this time, it was getting quite late, so we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the show.

The Oosterport is right on the river and looks really impressive when lit up at night. We arrived about half an hour before doors, but we got to sit inside and chat to some locals. It was here that we ran into our first (and so far only) problem with security. There seemed to be a bit of a break down of communication with security and the Hip's management (the guys were just doing their job), so we waited patiently. Finally, it was decided that the video gear could go in, but not the SLR's. So, Trevor and I walked our stuff back to the hotel, and arranged to meet in the lobby again in few minutes. I dropped my stuff off, and then, as I was leaving the room, heard a banging on the door. Snoo had run back to tell us that the SLR's WERE now allowed in! So, we gathered our gear up again, and headed back. The security guy we were dealing with was very gracious, and waved us in as if we were VIPs. We shook his hand and said thank you. He was a good guy.

We got into the venue and were shocked to see it was pretty much empty! We stood and chatted by the sound board, before we (Snoo, Trevor, Chris and I) decided we'd go up front. We got front row with no problems at all, right in front of Sinclair and Robbie. The stage was really high (coming up to my chest height!) but we discovered why. There was the solid stage, with an extra stage on legs on top of it. This was handy as it gave us a shelf, covered with a black cloth, to leave our gear on! Anyway, we stood and watched the Junes, and before we knew it, The Hip were on stange. The set was similar to London, and the band performed great as always, but it was an odd show. The crowd seemed... let's say... "more mature", but they all seemed really into it, dancing and singing along. The venue never really filled up though. I still enjoyed it, and even managed to get a setlist at the end which was sweet!!

After the show, we hung around, and managed to speak to a few of the band members (I gave one of the spare shirts to Robbie who seemed to really grateful) and then we headed into town, and managed to get a quick beer in before bed. We had a lot of travelling to do the next day, so we all turned in to get some rest. Tomorrow, we'd be off to Amsterdam...

23/09/2007 - Oosterport, Groningen Setlist:

The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking
Fully Completely
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
Yer Not The Ocean
Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
Ahead By A Century
In View
Poets
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Kids Don't Get It
Bobcaygeon
Fireworks
Blow At High Dough
===
Family Band
Grace, Too
My Music At Work