After four hours of emergency rest we ventured out to meet our friends Monica and Jens from Italy. Some of you may have met them last August at the Granada. They will be here again this fall for the Bass Hall show. We walked a couple of blocks and came across one of the many downtown shopping/drinking/partying areas in Amsterdam. In case you're wondering, the people of Holland like to drink and smoke and be merry.  A lot.  24/7. They all speak English and as a whole are very friendly, (even to Americans;). We sloshed down a few brewskys and then walked a few more blocks towards the legendary Paradiso theater. Had a great seafood dinner across the street accompanied by more than a few adult beverages.

The Paradiso, on de Weteringschans street, use to be a church. The history there is amazing. Google it to see what I mean. It has three stories and two stages. When we arrived the band was just getting ready to go on the upstairs stage. The crowd consisted of eclectic mix of multinationals who did not know what to expect. At first there were about seventy five people but the small venue was nearly full by midset. The first person we saw when we walked in was the newest HS grad Melyssa, who was looking very European in her red pullover. There too was the legendary star manager Monty Hitchcock and Monte's tour manager, Klaus. The show that night was seriously amped up. All rockers with little chit chat in between. He was all business and looking back it seemed like he was ramping up for the next two gigs.

The crowd took the usual turn as newbie's always seem to do: As the trio kept pushing more and more sound they relented (or submitted) to the fact that they were experiencing the real deal. They came closer to the stage and finally let the band have their way with them. When the last note of Bringing Me Down subsided, they looked completely spent. Which is a good thing. Monte said, "are you liking what you hear?" they roared in approval. "Good, because I came a long way to play for you," he responded. The only negative thing about the venue was the smoke. Everybody was smoking cigs, handrolls and joints. Some dude planted his self directly in front of Monte and puffed away nonstop. I was gagging for air. We found out that Amsterdam is following everyone else and banning smoking in bars next week. Missed it by that much. But they are doing it with a weird twist. The new law still allows you to order up some hash or hooch and smoke away. But if you light up a cig you're gonna get busted. Gotta love it.

After the show, and with the guidance of veteran road warrior Monty Hitchcock, we made our way to the part of downtown Amsterdam you've probably heard about. Crazy place. From what I remember it was a grand time lasting to sunrise. I do recall having to requisition some of Melyssa's graduation money to keep the party going. The next day our plans changed since our schedule was demolished by the late night. We were going to take a train down to Den Hague, which is sometimes referred to as Den Haag for reasons I never figured out. But we decided to splurge and split a cab with Jens and Monica. We hopped in the Mercedes Benz (sounds fancy, but all the cabs there are Mercedes') and settled back for the 45 mile and 120E ride. The countryside was green and lush and dotted with those windmills you've seen. We pulled up to the Park Hotel in downtown Den Haag. Great place to stay and the surrounding area is upscale with weed bars on every corner. Parkpop was hosting a free out door show at a market on Saturday before the big event Sunday. So we ate a Rijsttafel at a little place next door. Really good food. Then we ambled down to the market area five blocks away. If you have ever seen Monte play the Pegasus in downtown Dallas you would feel right at home. It's sorta like that multiplied by ten. Bigger and better stage, twenty or so bars and restaurants and maybe a thousand people milling about. We showed up feeling well and were enjoying the 60 F weather. We were introduced to the fascinating man Woody and his wife Tammy whom you may have read about on the Nashville CD blog. Monte's entourage was growing (yes, he now has an entourage:).

Monte, David and Phil took the stage at sunset. Now, like you folks, I have seen these three many times. But I was not prepared for the onslaught of energy and precision that followed. Monte appeared to be in an incredibly good mood (he had done radio and TV shows all morning). The hour and a half set was flawless and insanely intense. The crowd was astounded as they should be. He was still accelerating up the ramp........

After the show my wifey and I cooled off at a cool little bar before heading back to the hotel. We tried to sleep but Sunday's anticipated excitement was making that hard to do. The next day we cabbed over to the Beach Hotel where the rest of the crowd was staying. We ate some breakfast seaside then herded up for the van ride to the venue. Monty Hitchcock and Klaus were running a well tuned machine, everything was timed out perfect. The vans left at one pm sharp. We pulled in the venue chilled out. I have seen a hundred thousand people before at football games. There were three times that at Parkpop. It was an ocean of people. The stage (one of three) was massive and had sixty foot television screens on each side. A little teleprompter above the stage scrolled the song names as played, which we though was nice touch. The sun was shining and the crowd was well behaved. The bands masseuse, Zjosque, attended to those who desired a holistic pulsing (as she called it).

Monte and band took the stage and tweaked their rigs. And then off they went. The program guide referred to Monte as the Evil Knievel of guitar, a phrase we all know well. As the band kinetically tore into the set that phrase rang true. He had hit the top of the ramp at 180 and then kept going, soaring into the blue sky, carving his track in the sound (to quote Neil Young). Here was pure clean Star Power heading into the Netherlands. It was very emotional to experience. It was a great moment.

The day wound down back at the North Sea beach. Woody treated us all to an incredible gathering of food and wine and laughter. The place was open to the sea and had a firepit in back to take the chill off the cool breeze rolling in. All in all, it was pretty good day. I felt honored to be there.