Ahhh the Netherlands...

We're in the Netherlands, which is cool. I really like it here. I heard about a small club playing local bands and so decided to go check it out on my night off.  Stephan and I headed on over there. Of course I wore my dark contacts and a hat with my hair up in it. Often, I then get mistaken for Ian Somerhalder, an actor! "No, dude. Rock and Roll, man. Not vampires!"  hah!

Anyway, death metal, black metal and the like are common over in Europe and the Netherlands has no small population of small bands. Stephan and I felt rather old among so many kids, but I believe in supporting them. After all, we were all young once, all just starting out. But I do it without revealing my identity. Though many knew we were in town, no one seemed to recognize us. We remained upstairs in this seedy little dark nightclub, watching over the rail. Just two amongst the crowd.

Some of the bands committed, to me, the ultimate crime--stage "costumes" of jeans, t-shirts and street shoes!  Anyone who knows me is well aware of my aversion to going onstage looking as if you stepped off the street!  C'mon... imagination people! Stand out!

But there were a few kids who made an impression... some with their stage presence and costumes, others with their music. Put the two together and these kids might go somewhere. I saw some potential there. Some, I saw fear but knew when that faded, potential might rear itself.

I shot a few photos...

This kid has the look! A bit too "Gene Simmons" for my taste, but he at least had a bit of musicianship, if he can get past his obvious stage fright. And a 5-string bass... but could he play it? According to Stephan, he had improvements to make but wasn't bad.

These kids, I think, had the best potential at least as far as stage presence. They knew how to work an audience, which can get you farther than you might think. The only thing they need is practice. The drummer had talent.. definite potential there. Unfortunately, with all the screaming, death metal is not really my thing. I want to hear definitive music and lyrics--a melody! Again, these kids seemed to steal their look from KISS (They really need to retire already!) otherwise, they had the most potential.




All in all it was an interesting evening, and since this small night club was not far from our hotel, it was easy to hop on over and then  back again without anyone realizing we were with "thjat band" that was playing down the road!