EuroHip: Day 7

I was awoken early (around 6am) by a knock at the door. Snoo's taxi had arrived to take her to the airport. I said a sleepy goodbye before drifting off again for another couple of hours. At around 9:30am I'm awake again, and getting ready to go. I've arranged to meet the guys at the hostel - on todays schedule: The Heineken Experience! It's another grim and drizzly day, as I make my way to the hostel (via the bakery). As I arrive, it seems that everyone else is running behind schedule - I thought it was just me... While we wait for people to get ready, I transfer some photos off my camera to free up some space for the day (and night). The first port of call before the brewery though is for food. It's pushing lunchtime now so we head for The Hard Rock Cafe for food (in mammoth quantities! Once we're finally finished (the speed of service left a bit to be desired), we started wandering along to the Heineken Brewery. There's plenty to see along the way, so the journey is slowed down some what by myself, Trevor C and Adrian taking photos. We arrive at the experience and head straight in. We managed to get cheap tickets at the hostel, which means we don't need to queue - and we saved ourselves some cash! Winner! We collect our free beer chips and begin to look around. I have to say that The Heineken Experience is one of the best museum/tour things I've been on with loads to see and do. There's also a lot of interactive elements which makes it much more interesting than just seeing how the beer's made. We planned to be in there for about an hour and a half, but by the time we leave, we'd been in there closer to three hours! It was easy to lose track of time... We wander back towards town. Some of the guys go shopping, but I pop back to the hotel to sort a few things out, and then we re-convene at the hostel, load up the gear and head to the venue again. It's nice having two nights at the same place, especially when the place is as nice as the Paradiso! After a short stint waiting in line, we're in and fan out into our various positions. I set up shop pretty much directly opposite to where we were the night before. Matt joins me on the balcony which is nice. Once the gears set up, we relax and watch The Junes again. In between we chat about which songs we're hoping for that night - spookily enough, the band must have been listening! The first two songs that sprung to mind were 'Inevitability of Death' and 'The Dire Wolf' and sure enough, those two would make an appearance (back-to-back no less! Amazing!) The rest of the show turns out to be an absolute stormer, and easily the best of the tour so far! I had a feeling it would be...

26/09/2007 - The Paradiso, Amsterdam Setlist:

The Lonely End Of The Rink
New Orleans Is Sinking
Inevitability Of Death
The Dire Wolf
Yer Not The Ocean
Ahead By A Century
In View
Courage (For Hugh Maclennan)
Nautical Disaster
Pretend
Fireworks
Locked In The Trunk Of A Car
Long Time Running
The Kids Don’t Get It
Fully Completely
Blow At High Dough
===
Family Band
The Magnificent Seven (The Clash Cover)
Fire In The Hole

After the gig, we head out again in search of beer and food, and finally we say our goodbyes as Chris, Trevor C and Dave will be heading back to Canada the following. I make my way back to the hotel to prepare for my solo adventure down to Belgium...

EuroHip: Day 6

After another good nights sleep (I never realised how stressed I'd been recently until I went away from everything) Snoo and I were up and out in search of food. We stopped at a place called 'Pancake Corner' and had two monster pancakes. Mine came complete with Strawberries and Whipped Cream, and Snoo's with Banana and Chocolate. After that we went and met the guys at the Anne Frank House, and took a look at the museum. If you're interested in the history of the WWII as I am, it's definitely worth checking out. As we left, the heavens decided it would be a great time to open - so they did. We braved the rain, met up with Adrian and Mark and headed to a Noodle bar for lunch. We parted company again for a while in the afternoon, and headed back to our respective lodgings to recharge our batteries (both literally and figuratively). After a nap, I was ready to go! I've been excited about the back-to-back Paradiso shows since they were first announced, and couldn't wait to get there.

We got to the venue, and waited in line for the guys. There was only a handful of people there, even at half an hour before doors, which is a real stark contrast to Manics gigs. We could (had we wanted to) gotten up front every night with no problems. As it was, we both decided to go upstairs and enjoy the show in comfort. Also, I'd spoken to Mark, and decided that it was a good night to lose my video taping viginity. I was amazed at how the security didn't even bat an eyelid as we ferried in bags full of camera, mics, cables and monopods. There was a bit of a mad dash up the stairs, and as Mark and Dave set up shop at a great spot at the back of the balcony (the railings of which were perfect for clamping mics to), Snoo and I took our position on the right, opposite Chris and Trevor on the left. Adrian went down to the soundboard. The venue was amazing with three huge stained glass windows at the back behind the stage. There was a great atmosphere from the moment we entered.

After a quick 101 briefing from Mark, we were all set up and ready to go. I was really excited, and before long the Hip were in front of us again! The setlist started off similar to previous shows, but then they started mixing things up with the additions of Daredevil, Little Bones and On The Verge. The band put on a great show and we all had a fantastic night. After the gig, I walked Snoo back to the hotel as she needed to get some sleep as she needed to be up early in the morning, and I headed back out to grab some beers and food with the guys. We finally all turned in at around 2am (again) but we were all geared up for more of the same (or at least similar) the next day...


25/09/2007 - The Paradiso, Amsterdam Setlist:

Yer Not The Ocean
My Music At Work
Grace, Too
It’s A Good Life If You Don’t Weaken
The Drop-Off
Ahead By A Century
In View
Poets
Daredevil
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Lonely End Of The Rink
Bobcaygeon
Family Band
Little Bones
===
Johnny Appleseed (Joe Strummer Cover)
The Kids Don’t Get It
On The Verge

EuroHip: Day 5

We're up and ready to go (relatively) early on Monday morning. The plan is to catch the 11am train to Amsterdam. In theory, we only have to make one change on the way back which is nice. We grab our tickets and pile on to the train and head to Amersfort - So far, so good. We change onto outr new train, but after a few minutes of sitting there, the driver makes an announcement in Dutch, and everyone (bar us) gets off again. Erm... Anyway, the conductor comes through, and tells us that there is an accident ahead, and says we can either stay on the train (which will go as far as the next station at least) or we can get off. We opt to stay on in the foolish hope that the accident will be cleared by the time we get there. It doesn't. So, we have to go all the way back to Amersfort and get the train to Utrecht and change there. Oh, and we have to do all this in the rain. Joy.

Anyway, we get to Amsterdam a bit later than planned, and at this point we go our seperate ways as Snoo and I are staying in a different hotel to the others. We check in, and dump our stuff in our room. Considering all we've done is sit on trains, I'm suprisingly tired and fall asleep before I even realise. After a short power nap, we're good to go again, and we head off in search of food. We find a nice little italian restaurant, and order some pizzas and wine. After dinner, we go for a stroll into town, and I recieve a message fron Trevor, and we go to meet everyone at an Irish pub called 'The Tara'. The guys are already well on their way, but after a few more rounds we soon catch up. We stay in the pub for a good few hours, and laugh and joke with each other and our barman, Dillon. We wander down, through the red light district (that was an eye-opener!) and back up along the main street to look for food. We split up and each grab various burgers and things. As Snoo and I leave the kebab shop with our food we see the Police talking to Dave, Trevor A and Trevor C, Chris and Adrian. As we get closer, we realise what's happening. It turned out that the police car drove past Dave and Trevor A, then as they went to cross, the officer in the car put the car in reverse, seemingly without looking, and floored it backwards, slamming into Dave and Trevor! Unbelieveable! Trevor seemed ok, but Dave was noticeably shaken (understandably so!). After the police and Dave exchanged information, we all decided to call it a night. We wandered back to the hotel, and turned in for the night...

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

EuroHip: Day 3

Last nights show was amazing! It felt like a lifetime since I last saw the Hip and they didn't let me down. It was a bit of a Greatest Hits set, but We got a load of songs that we didn't get last year so I was happy. Gord was at his aminated best, leaping all over the stage using the microphone stand for all manner of things (just what I was hoping for! I can't believe I still have another four to go! I can't wait.

21/09/2007 - The Astoria, London Setlist:

Yer Not The Ocean
My Music At Work
Grace, Too
It's A Good Life If You Don't Weaken
The Drop Off
Ahead By A Century
Giftshop
Family Band
World Container
Springtime In Vienna
At The Hundredth Meridian
The Lonely End Of The Rink
Bobcaygeon
In View
Fully Completely
New Orleans Is Sinking
===
Queen Bitch (David Bowie Cover)
Courage
Fireworks

The day time was slightly more subdued than the previous day. We started off having lunch at The Coal Hole on the strand before wandering along the river, past the eye and on to Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately the weather was against us to an extent, but we still managed to have a great time. Snoo and I are in Gatwick now, just waiting to board our flight to Amsterdam for more fun and games...

EuroHip: Day 2

It feels soooo good to be on holiday! And it's even better knowing that last night was just he beginning. I made record time from the office to Leicester Square where I met up with the guys (with the exception of Mark who arrives today) in the Yates's there. We had a few beers and a good chat! Everyone was really friendly and chatty, and it felt like I'd been friends with them all for ages (which, I guess, with the power of the internet, I have been.) We sank a few drinks in Leicester Square, before hoping on a tube two stops to Green Park. The ticket gates seemed to have it in for Chris though, as it took him about five attempts to get in or out of either station! From Green Park we made our way The Hard Rock Cafe where we were shown round 'The Vault' (and it literally is that!) by a guy called Dan. He was very cool, and knowledgeable and we chatted to him and took photos of the various exhibits (my personal favourite being Eddie Vedder's acoustic guitar with the hand written lyrics to 'Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town' taped to the side!). We were supposed to eat in the Hard Rock, but due to a few drinks, jet lag and a long wait for the table, all the guys from Canada decided to head home. Matt, Emma, Snoo and I stayed and had some food, some more drinks and set the music world to rights before going our seperate ways. It's all beginning again in a couple of hours, so I really think I should get myself motiviated! It's the London gig tonight which I'm really excited about. I'm really happy that the first gig is in London - It makes it all the more special for me. It doesn't feel like it's actually happening tonight, but I'm sure as soon as the band hit the stage it'll all become very real! Stay tuned...

(Oh, and I'll be tracking the journey in photo form here. Enjoy.)

EuroHip: Day 1

Tick. Tock. Tick... I'm clock watching. Just under an hour and a half to go before I can say "so long" to work, and head up to town to officially begin EuroHip 2007! After a few problems, I think everyone's finally managed to finally get to various hotels and sort themselves out. Tonight should be a fairly relaxed affair with the usually "getting-to-know-you" chat and general phsyching each other up for tomorrow night when it all kicks off! It's all falling into place nicely. I'll keep you posted...

(Typically, after weeks of unseasonably nice weather - the rain has come back for a visit. Welcome to England, guys...)

Pole to pole...

Pole to pole... Originally uploaded by Ben Grubb

Ben's London Adventure - Pt. 18

I haven't done of these for a while, so I thought it was about time! We've been having some really beautiful evenings recently, so I took the opportunity one night last week, as I had my camera with me, to walk home along the river down to Waterloo. As usual when I do this, it ends up being a case of not so much walking home, as going-out-taking-photos-for-what-seems-like-an-hour-until-you-realise-it's-9 o'clock! Anyway, here's a few that I was pleased with - Autumn's well and truely in the air now...

All in all it was a really good session. One downside was, that since by the time I'd made it to Big Ben is was nearly dark, I decided to stay out and try out the new camera with some night shots - However, my camera doesn't seem to want to play ball in regards to this as, after getting it all set up on the tripod, with a lovely compostion of the London Eye in the view finder, the battery decided to die on me. Again.

Ah well, those long nights are only just round the corner...

Also last week, Amy and I were sent out to take some photos for work. It was nice to have a morning out of the office, but I have to admit that the subject matter wasn't really all that inspiring. However, a few personal shots did slip through the net that I was much happier with...

EuroHip Top Ten...

Photo by the extremely talented Trevor Connell

As anyone who reads this blog regularly (or indeed, at all) you'll probably be aware that EuroHip begins this Friday in London with the first show at the Astoria! I'm currently feeling like a coiled spring at Christmas (imagine that!). It's been over a year since I saw the Hip last (at Shepherds Bush Empire) and in that time, I have gone from casual fan to obsessive - What a difference 365+ days makes, eh? This time round, one show just isn't enough so I'm (along with Snoo and a bunch of die-hards from Canada) heading off to mainland Europe to take in another four shows over there - I. Cannot. Wait.
I've decided to complile a list of tracks that I'm hoping to hear across the next week! Some are fairly safe bets I reckon, and some are a bit more left field (based on what they've been playing recently). They are a band that are full of suprises though, so never say never ('We'll Go To' at SBE, anyone?!). So, here (in alaphbetical order) are the top ten songs, which weren't played last year, I'm hoping to hear over the next week or so - I hope you enjoy them...
1979 (Smashing Pumpkins cover)
Chargrin Falls
Escape Is At Hand For The Travellin' Man
Family Band
Fiddler's Green
Inevitability of Death
Pigeon Camera
Silver Jet
The Dire Wolf
Vaccination Scar

Of course, I'll be happy with whatever they play...

Not long now!!

Banksy...

Farringdon is a bit of a hotspot for graffiti (or more accurately, the "street art" end of the spectrum as opposed to the pointless "tagging"). Wandering around, surveying the landscape (along with my trusty Banksy books) has meant that I have found and photographed all of the "Farringdon four" Banksy placard rats, as well as a couple of others which have luckily been spared by the council whitewashing. I've started to assemble them into a Flickr set as well for those that are interested. I've got the locations of a few more around London as well, and I'm determined to find them!

It seems that Banksy's not the only one plying his trade around the Smithfield area either. At the beginning of last week, a fairly sizeable section of fence panelling, right by the meat market, was being repainted. I noticed the council workers doing it, but paid them no mind. It wasn't until Amy and I were walking past last Friday that I noticed that it had been freshly adorned with what looked to be (after reading this blog) the work of a guy called Eine. It seems that he's responsible for a lot of typography based street art, especially around the Brick Lane/Whitechapel area. It seems like another trip down there is on the cards again soon. How will I ever manage...

Joining the Kew...

Yesterday, Snoo and I ventured out on the District Line to Kew Gardens. I'd been recommended that I go there on account of it's photographability (I'm claiming that as a word!). It certainly didn't let me down...




There's some more in a set on Flickr.

We were there for about three hours, and barely scratched the surface really - The place is huge! We were certainly all walked out by the time we got home. We also brought a little piece of the Gardens home with us (not literally, I hasten to add!). Say hello to Vera (Snoo's) and Milligan (mine)...



It's like having a inanimate and spiky pet which is quite exciting.

Mug...

I have no idea why, but this dis-used cup and plate in the Window of Starbucks really caught my eye...

AOTM - September 2007: Will Barras

http://www.willbarras.com/

I'm a bit late again, but here's Septembers AOTM. This guy has been waiting in the wings for months, so it's about time I gave him the credit he deserves. I've been a fan of Barras' work since I found a 'Discover Young Hackney' poster, and a brochure (see above) at The Castle. The beautiful, sketchy cover caught my eye straight away, so I picked up a copy to take away for closer inspection. It has been sat on my desk at work ever since, and is well thumbed. I've spent ages studying his very loose, flowing pencil lines, and mix of media to create really captivating! The brochure features a huge selection of his images, as well as a photo of him in the back showing his work to a group of young Hackney residents (which I assume he has just discovered... Taking his own advice, I like that). Anyway, if you like what you see, have a look at his site, and you'll see just how diverse and experimental he is. I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

Busted, Broken, Forgotten...

A triptych of broken windows from a derelict building we saw will on our walk along the canal near St. Johns Wood last Saturday...

Speaking of Photography, Lorna's hubby Steve has got himself a new (and very interesting) photography blog - Check it out! http://photographyisforlosers.blogspot.com/