Amsterdam, the Netherlands Part 2: Jimmy Eat World

One of the reasons we went to Amsterdam the weekend we did was to see Jimmy Eat World, one of my favorite bands. The doors were supposed to open at 7 and there was an opening act, so logic would dictate that the headliner wouldn’t take the stage until 9 at the earliest (especially on a Friday night). We were running a little late for the show, but made it to the venue right about that time and were surprised to find the band already performing. Not only that, but they finished before 10pm. After checking out the setlist, we only actually missed 3.5 songs (“Always Be” was being played while we checked our coats), which just means it was a really short show. I’ve seen them 3 or 4 times previously and know they played for at least and hour and a half on those occasions so I have no idea what the deal was that night. Regardless of that, though, it was good. We managed to maneuver ourselves fairly close for such a late arrival and were treated to a range of tunes included a handful from Clarity and “Here It Goes,” my favorite from their latest, Chase This Light.

Here are a few pics:







Here’s the setlist (*=song missed):

Big Casino*
Sweetness*
Work*
Always Be*
For Me This is Heaven
Disintegration
Bleed American
Futures
Blister
Here It Goes
Let It Happen
23
Pain
----------
Your House
Hear You Me
Dizzy
The Middle

And because this doesn’t really fit with anything else from the trip, but is still worthy of sharing, here’s a bit of trend-forecasting from an Amsterdam storefront:


Apparently neon is coming back. Be afraid. (And thank God I got that out of my system in the early 90s)

[ UPDATE: The whole Jimmy Eat World concert is viewable online: ]

Amsterdam, the Netherlands Part 1

A few weeks ago I ventured to Amsterdam along with a variety of other folks: Kara (who you may remember from my entries on Athens and Madrid), Erin (from Edinburgh), fellow “intern” Steph (from Lucerne), and her friend Mikele who joined us from Heidelberg.

It was sort of a random grouping, but we had a lot of fun (and saw a lot of stuff). Steph and I flew in from Geneva bright and early on Friday morning and met up with Erin who had arrived the previous evening. Mikele soon arrived as well and we met up with him before doing a little exploration, lunch and a canal boat tour.




For the Amazing Race fans in the audience: the floating barge of thousands of parked bikes the contestants had to search through this past season. Bikes really are all over the place in the city. Pretty crazy.


Statue of Rembrandt’s “Nightwatch”


A totally radical statue of an alien smoking up that would be right at home in the mid-90s


The city’s seemingly ubiquitous marijuana culture spills over to the flower markets


souvenirs... my better taste prevailed and I passed (though it would’ve made for some great herbal tea jokes)




The Rijksmuseum which features plenty of Rembrant (including the “Nightwatch”) and Vermeer, though being under construction, we only got to see a portion of the collection



Kara joined us Friday night and she, Erin and I saw Jimmy Eat World (more on that next post).
On Saturday we started out taking another free walking tour (same company as London and Edinburgh) with a pretty amusing tour guide. We ended up missing the group after lunch, so we went off on our own and ended up finishing the day at the Van Gough Museum. Kara and Erin left for The Hague to see another friend that night and the three of us remaining in the city had dinner at the Pancake Bakery which was pretty amazing.


National Monument


East India Trading Company


Steph, Kara, me and Mikele in front of the Heineken Brewery (which is currently being renovated so we couldn’t tour it)


The whole crew (with Erin in the bottom left corner) enjoys StropWafels (a hot waffle sandwich thing with syrup in the middle).
I look kind of scary in this photo, but it’s the only with all 5 of us, so whatever.

Sunday brought a day-trip to Enkhuizen, a small shipping village that may (or may not, according to my Dutch friends) represent the quintessential Dutch town. The weather was gorgeous the whole weekend and this day was no exception, though I’ll post those photos in a separate entry.

Soon, it was time for most everyone to head home except me (I stayed through Monday afternoon), so I decided to rest my weary legs and went to the movies. The next day I visited the temporary home of the city’s Stedelijk Museum for modern art and did some browsing (I suppose it doesn’t count as shopping if you don’t really buy anything) before it was my turn to head to the airport.


Nemo, the science and technology experience (didn’t go in, but I’m guessing it’s something akin to COSI)


view down a hallway at the Stedelijk Museum’s temporary space


and because the girls were doing it and it wasn’t touristy at all, I decided to pose in these wooden shoes

All in all, it was a nice trip to a beautiful city. More photos to come in a couple future posts.

Great Scot! Part 2: Athlete in Aberdeen

One of the reasons for my trip was a chance to see London-based britrockers Athlete on their Beyond the Neighbourhood tour. The only Scotland stop wasn’t Edinburgh or Glasgow but Aberdeen which was fortunately accessible by bus and train. Pretty much my only prior awareness of Aberdeen came courtesy of the Simpsons episode “Monty Can’t Buy Me Love.” In this episode, Mr. Burns decides to capture the Loch Ness monster so the citizens of Springfield will love him. They travel to Scotland and drain the lake finding “Loch Ness High’s discarded homecoming float” adorned with a “Stomp Aberdeen!” banner. In response Homer yells, “No way! Aberdeen rules!”

Of course, my best friend Zach and I were pretty big Simpsons geeks and I can remember him quoting this line as a complete non sequitur on random occasions. Hence, upon my arrival in the city, I began a hurried search for any sort of Aberdeen gift shop that might have a t-shirt or shotglass emblazoned with the immortal phrase. Alas, it was not to be. The “Granite City” must not be quite the tourist attraction that Edinburgh is because I couldn’t find souvenirs anywhere. I did, however, find some nice looking buildings and a pretty sweet statue of William Wallace (you know, from Braveheart).











Finally, once all the stores had closed and after I’d found a place to grab a quick bite, it was showtime. The concert was held in Aberdeen Music Hall which might normally hold anything from orchestras to choirs to popstars. Seeing a rock band in such a venue was really cool, especially since the last time I caught these guys was literally at a bar in Boston.





Their music is somewhere in the realm of Coldplay with a twinge of electronica with swelling melodies and sing-along choruses. Their most recent album (aside from having a great cover) has really grown on me and it was great to hear many of the new songs live, especially the encore opener “Second Hand Stores.” British bands really know how to do lights, as evidenced by these photos, and the whole evening was great.









On Monday morning I awoke way too early to get the first train back to Edinburgh where I caught my return flight. It was a nice little whirlwind trip and I really hope I am able to return to the country so I can visit the highlands and maybe some distilleries…

Great Scot! Part 1: Edinburgh

I have to admit that there’s something really comforting about traveling to an English-speaking country, especially in terms of ease of getting around. Maybe that has something to do with why I enjoyed my Irish and English adventures so much. However, I have to think that the natural beauty of the land contributes a lot as well. A few weeks ago I finally made it to Scotland and I honestly can’t wait to get back.

Having heard Edinburgh was quite nice (and since EasyJet flies there from Geneva), I decided to make that my primary destination. As luck would have it, a friend-of-a-friend is studying there so I even had a de facto tour guide and place to stay.

I arrived on Friday January 25th to rain and wind (big surprise). I met up with Erin and wandered around the city for a bit while she went to class. We then headed for dinner and spent the evening at an Australian bar with some of her friends to celebrate Australia Day (which is comparable to the 4th of July for us Americans).


The Merkat Cross in front on St Giles Cathedral


The Cathedral by night


John Knox, a reformer who spent a lot of time in Geneva, is still buried near the cathedral. Of course, the cemetery is now a parking lot (that yellow square marks his grave)


Edinburgh Castle

On Saturday morning we took a free walking tour from the same company Joe, Brian and I used in London. Erin came along and got to see a few things and learn some history she hadn’t known before. Lucky for us, the rain subsided, though the skies were still plenty gray. While Dublin is rather industrial, Edinburgh is very much a medieval city with lots of amazing old buildings infused with magic and majesty. After walking around for a little while, it comes as no surprise that this is where J.K. Rowling invented Harry Potter and wrote the first book.


Herriot's School, allegedly J.K. Rowling's inspiration for Hogwarts Academy of Witchcraft and Wizardry


The Elephant House, the coffee shop where J.K. Rowling allegedly wrote the first Harry Potter book


Me in front of the Elephant House. Gotta love display fonts...


Greyfriars churchyard


statue of Greyfriar's Bobby, a terrier who wouldn't leave his master's graveside and became a local legend


Deacon Brody's Tavern, named after a prominent citizen whose double-life of crime and lechery inspired Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde


a statue of Deacon Brody


window from the Scottish National Gallery featuring one of my favorite pieces there


preternaturally green grass in one of the city’s parks



Following our tour, we toured the National Gallery and did a bit of shopping. Unfortunately, the castle was closing so I wasn’t able to actually tour that, but perhaps another time. By the time the sun went down, we were pretty exhausted so we decided to grab some dinner (Mexican!) and a catch a movie (the excellent Dan in Real Life which still hasn’t made it to Switzerland). All in all it was a great day.

After finding some breakfast and wandering around the shops of Princes Street on Sunday, it was time for me to take MegaBus up to Aberdeen where I would spend the rest of my trip.

Paramore and New Found Glory in Zurich

One of my favorite albums of 2007 was Paramore’s Riot! so I was thrilled to hear they were coming to Switzerland this winter along with New Found Glory who I also enjoy. Thus, yesterday afternoon I embarked on a 3-hour train ride to Zurich to attend the show. After getting a bit lost trying to find the venue, I managed to make it in time for Paramore’s set. The club hosting the show, Abart, was tinier than I expected, giving it a basement show vibe (albeit with better sound and lights).







I was not disappointed. Frontgirl(?) Hayley Williams may be small but she has an amazing voice and can certainly work a crowd. The set was high-energy and a lot of fun. One of the highlights of the night had to be their cover of Jimmy Eat World’s “Sweetness” (one of my favorite JEW tracks which also happens to be my US cell phone’s ringtone). My only complaint was that they finished too soon.





Having been to 3 or 4 New Found Glory shows in the past, I know what to expect. I was resolutely planning on not doing any moshing, however resistance proved futile. The crowd was more energetic than rowdy or violent which was a plus, so I joined in the mass of bouncing bodies for a number of the tunes. Hayley joined the band on a Johnny and June Carter Cash cover and the rest of the set was high-octane fun. There was no barrier between crowd and stage so the crowd surfers ended up on stage which was pretty entertaining.







I cut out a bit early to catch the last train to Geneva (so I could avoid sleeping a train station like the night I saw Snow Patrol), but I was completely fulfilled. A little punk rock was just what the doctor ordered.