:: The Cavern Beatles Blog:: January 2008

J A N U A R Y 2 0 0 8

Friday 4th January 08

Stadsschouwburg De Maagd, Bergen op Zoom (NL).

1. Chris waits patiently at Liverpool Airport while our plane is delayed 45 minutes.

2. Finally!!!....I really understand what irony is. As Dirk pointed out...the only airport in the world named after a musician is also the only airport that charges a fee to carry musical instruments! If you can avoid travelling through Liverpool John Lennon Airport....DO. They are the biggest money grabbers on the planet and have the least friendly staff.

3. On the bus for the 2 hour journey from Amsterdam to Bergen op Zoom. Chris pulls out his i-book, gets his first "in-focus" blog appearance, and is beginning to warrant his new CB nick-name of "Brains".

4. The very nice and comfortable Mercedes bus.

5. The view from the stage of De Maagd, a converted church and a wonderful venue.

6. Ice-skating in the town square.

7. This is Frans, a Dutchman with quite a sense of humour. He is our driver for the day and definitely one of the most pleasant we have ever encountered.

8. One of the many fine stained glass windows in De Maagd.

9. From the gods of the theatre. Although the hired in back-line looked a bit shit, it all worked and was good quality. Good monitors were a blessing that Dirk counted several times.

10 & 11. A second pre-sound check stroll around the town square watching people go arse-over-tit.

12. Oh look...these posters get everywhere.

13. The sound check had been great apart from one teensy little problem... the nut on my Gretch broke causing the strings fall off the neck. Due to flight restrictions these days, we have no spare guitar and this is a real problem as the Country Gent is unplayable. The really helpful staff at the theatre took the guitar to the local music shop and were able to pick up a replacement nut. It wasn't the right one, but we were able to make enough of a modification to it to be able to get through the gig. They also managed to get hold of a Les Paul as back-up, just in case the repair didn't hold.

14. While the guitar was being looked at in the shop, we all went to eat at restaurant on the square. This time, Roy didn't settle for something small! Our food was magnificent.

15. Nocturnal skating.

16. We were all very quite on the drive back to Amsterdam, but we managed to check into the hotel, just in time for last orders. Frans got his €5 back that we had earlier borrowed for coffee twice fold in the form of Heineken, and although Eddie at first resisted temptation for Dutch lager he finally succumbed to more than his fair share.
No one slept well and we were back on the bus at 7.55 for the airport run.