I’m hyped on anticipation. I’ve always wanted to go to Amsterdam but in all my travels through Europe, I’ve never been. Now we head for the Heineken Music Hall where my imagination can’t help but run wild. Are the famous “cafes” on every street corner? Are we gonna see a zillion backpackers and tourists? Should we skip the show and explore?
Turns out the answer is No to all of the above, but we make the trek from Hamburg with high hopes. Heh.
The morning is beautiful and a little foggy as we meander through the quiet country side. The windmills guide us in through a stunning town with waterways and post card views around every corner. After some trouble finding the venue (see also: language barriers, shitty GPS, European city planning), we roll up to one of the coolest places we’ve seen yet. The only rival so far (comparing venues only) was the Saint Petersburg rock box.
The catering was in a cafeteria with pinball and video games (we’d see that caterer before and he brought us some nice beers). The dressing rooms were clean and comfy. The lobby was well set up for CD sales. The after-party lounge was legit. I’m feeling it. We even had some fans from Spain come just to see us, so we took a couple pre-show selfies with them!
The hall itself felt a little strange. You know when you get a ‘feeling’ from a room? The proportions made you feel like you were inside a mixing board. Haha I must be tripping already.
Giant Peace Sign @ Heineken Music Hall
The show felt like it really connected, and you could really sense everybody in the crowd. We signed autographs and took a bunch of pictures after the show, then made our way up to the afterparty. The lounge was quite big, but some of us really wanted to check out real Amsterdam. So after a few tracks from the Backstreet Boys turned DJs, and a beer or two, we made our way to the city center. It was crowded and I completed one of the finest parking jobs in my life, whipping that big ole van into the tiniest spot possible.
We finally got to the spot and decided to grab a drink at a bar first. We were curious if you could just order a brownie or something, woefully amateur. They pointed us to a nearby place, warning us that it may be too late. Too late? WTF? It’s Amsterdam! Legalized debauchery! The Mecca of licentiousness! Too freaking late? Damn!
Turns out that everything closes a little early on a Sunday. Cool. It’s Sunday.
Determined to see something, we took to the streets at nearly 3am. We got some beautiful shots of the tourist stops (all closed up, of course) and the waterside (a little dark), finally stumbling upon their red light district.
Not there to partake, but merely to observe, sobering up from our walking, it quickly became time to head to the van. In that walk alone we got to see plenty of the city, albeit in the dark of night. I bet it’s beautiful in the day 🙂
Back to the hotel. I fell asleep feeling as though we’d done a fair bit more than any cafe would have offered, but I.will.be.back.