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Saturday, May 2, 2009: 
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Set off for Museumplein, but were discouraged by the sheer number of tourists (probably to do with the first of May holiday in many countries) - the lines for both Rijksmuseum and the Van Gogh museum were endless. We strolled home through some of Amsterdam's less charming areas (Leidseplein looked like a deliberate attempt to create the ultimate tourist trap) and more canals.
In the evening we met with Susanne again, found a very nice restaurant in Jordaan and ended the evening at a classic "brown" café. Over a lovely Zatte from the IJ brewery and a cold genever - while smokers climbed the stairs to the smoking room upstairs - Susanne told us the wonderful story of how the Dutch got around that pesky smoking ban...
Friday, May 1, 2009: [
Visited Rembrandt's house - now a museum. Surprisingly, in a city full of 17th century houses, this was one of our only encounters with the interior of one of these in its original state. And a fine display of Rembrandt's engravings, explaining his elegant and relentlessly experimenting technique. I was reminded again of the old artist quip that "nothing new has happened in the visual arts since Rembrandt" (they're forgetting Duchamp of course, but I see what they mean...).
Thursday, April 30, 2009: [
Koninginnedag - say no more. Anyway, we actually spent part of the day entertaining on the terrace of our Jordaan flat. First our Homeexchange friends Scott and Kern from London, then my former colleague Susanne and her boyfriend Nikolaj. In the company of the latter, we ventured into the celebrations. Crowds of people equipped with various pieces of orange wear, drinking and rejoicing in honour of Queen Beatrix. The Dutch seem to find this unique, but for me - well, if you've seen one noisy crowd in high spirits, you've seen them all.
(Sadly, the day ended in tragedy in another part of Holland - not until a few days later did we hear the news...)
Wednesday, April 29, 2009: [
Flew off to Amsterdam and were pleasant surprised to find ourselves in the heart of the charming district of Jordaan. After apple pie and cup of mint tea with our Homeexchange hosts at a local café, we spent the rest of the day exploring the area. Amsterdam appeared to be a blown-up version of our Copenhagen neighbourhood, Christianshavn. Canals, canals and more canals...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009: [
Tonight's Neon Machine rehearsal was cancelled - and the Bob Hund gig had been moved to Store Vega (thus no longer being sold out), so with short notice, I spent another evening in the company of some of my favourite Swedes.
The support band was the much-hyped Snake & Jet's Amazing Bullit Band. After hearing a couple of songs, I was actually surprised to learn that these guys are Danish. And that happens to be very high praise in my book: I didn't imagine that the mindlessly traditional Danish music scene could ever give birth to a beast like this - which is in reality a keyboard/drums duo! That - together with their attitude and pure energy - puts them in the international league. If anyone had told me these guys were the next big thing from NYC, I'd have believed it.
That said, their particular brand of loud easy listening rock - endless Vox Organ twiddling and funky drum beats - isn't really to my taste. The kitsch factor is too high, and somehow requires you to be in on the joke (which apparently goes something like "Link Wray meets The Pizzicato Five"). But I wish these guys all the success in the world - they sure as hell deserve it.
Bob Hund delivered more pure energy with their unique blend of rock'n'roll noise, indie quirkyness and a charming sense of humour - the latter not least due to the breakneck shenanigans of frontman Thomas Öberg.
These guys are so entertaining that I keep breaking my general rule about not seeing the same band again. So it's probably impressive that only now, after seeing several shows over many years, I begin to wonder: Are the songs from the new album as good as the classics? Is Thomas' voice getting too trained - not as raw as it used to be? And is his Skåne accent fading?
Anyway, these are all minor quibbles - and a great evening was had by all...
