04.18.13 — 12.36 — Thursday — Hotel Mercure, Tilburg

Guess who left all of his allergy medication home? This guy! Obviously this is a major oversight and will have to be dealt with on an administrative level. Lists were made and checked off. Prescriptions were filled. There may need to be a complete restructuring of the packing process, never mind a trip to the apotheek. I sniffle to think of the worldwide implications rippling out even as I sit at the desk in my room at the Hotel Mercure — the view out the window of which (above) is a familiar one.

Here’s a disclaimer for any and all future and past bitching: These Netherlands are beautiful (and in full bloom), and whatever state my sinuses wind up in over the next few days, please consider any complaints underscored by the deep-seated knowledge of just how lucky I am to be here. If I start whining about how I can’t breathe, or how I’m old, out of the loop, tired, fat, tired, tired, lonely, tired, etc., it’s important to me that you know that I know that being here is a blessing not everyone is able to enjoy for one reason or another and that I fully appreciate it and live in utter terror of not being able to do it again next year. At heart, I’m here because I want to be.

Today is the first day of Roadburn 2013 — a fest that continues to deliver an experience unlike anything else I’ve ever seen. I have my camera battery charged, more earplugs than I could possibly need if I switched out pairs in between each band, and my notebook, which I’m going to use to take handwritten notes throughout so as to look very busy and important (also to remember what actually happened during the sets) as I hustle and bustle from one room of the 013 to the next or across the street to Het Patronaat.

The day and my running order of the festival — because with a lineup so stacked, one must make difficult choices and carve out one’s own progression of bands to see — begins in the Green Room at 013, with Portuguese psych jammers Black Bombaim at 14.30. Each day of the fest starts earlier this year, so we’ll see how that works out with getting some sleep. It was unfortunate last night when I caught a second wind at about 23.00 and was up until about 5.00, even if I did manage to listen to the whole Yankees game on the computer. They won, but it remains to be seen whether or not it was by enough to make four hours of sleep worthwhile before I had to get up and once again catch the train to Tilburg from Eindhoven.

I have no doubt that over the next four days I will see some of the best performances of my life, since that’s pretty much how it goes every year, and as I sit here and basically wait for the next hour or so to go buy so I can head over, I want to say thanks in advance for reading, any and all commenting, link sharing, plugging on Thee Facebooks or Der Twitter and the rest. It’s all much appreciated and it’s the reason I’m here. Well, that and the music.

Almost time to go.

Tags: Euroventure 2013, Roadburn 2013, The Netherlands, Tilburg

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 18th, 2013 at 6:10 am and is filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.