Mrazmerized ~ Day II ~ a.k.a. The Longest Blog of the Year… LOL

After the first gig, it was really hard to fall asleep. I was still really excited and actually just wanted to chat with Brenda about the great night and the great show, but couldn't since we were sharing our room and you don't wake others. So I think I fell asleep around 3ish in the morning and still being excited woke up at 6.30 am. And of course wasn't able to fall asleep again. I really tried, but excitement got the best of me. LOL
Since Brenda also woke up early, we decided to just get up, get ready, get breakfast and just head out into the sun.

First stop: a stroll to the wall. Our funny map told us that the longest piece of the wall, was very close to our Hostel, so we decided to go there instead of the memorial bit. I still remember the first time I was there. I was actually looking for Club Maria, which is situated very close to the wall and I was walking around not finding it. Then I noticed tourist taking photos of these graffiti like paintings on a tiny looking wall and I wondered why. I didn't even find all the artwork that good. I think it took me half an hour before I realized that I was walking besides The Wall and felt very stupid. But hey, I just always thought the wall would be this enormous structure being very very high and strong. This looked like something you could have driven through with your car. Later I learned that some bits are as I expected it to be, but this part was just different. Ah well, learned something new that day! :)

Next stop would be Checkpoint Charlie. It was quite a walk to get there, but again the weather was great so no complaints from me. Walking around at Checkpoint Charlie really got to me. When being at such a significant place, I somehow always can feel the horror and grieve that people must have felt back then. Don't know how to explain that, but it's like I can still feel the atmosphere. I took some pictures and we strolled on, walking past the exhibition which displayed information and photos of all the important things that have happened in Berlin. And that was even more impressive. Seeing all the photos and reading about all the terror taking place in Berlin. Wow, it's a lot to take in. Especially on a sunny summer day. But I'm glad I was there to experience it.

Walking on we got to a Starbucks and since Bren never went to one and I LOVE their comfy chairs we went in for a drink. And also, I could use a bit of relaxing and winding down time after being at such an impressive place. Sitting there we decided that we actually saw all the tourist attractions we wanted to and we'd better just go and enjoy the sun and just that fact that we were in Berlin. Since I was stupid enough to put on a black shirt in the blazing sun, we stopped at the H&M were I got myself a white space invaders top. And I was happy! I felt so much more comfortable not having the feeling I was being fried right then and there. LOL

We then decided to go back to the Dom and hang out there for a bit before deciding what we would do next. Well it turned it we wouldn't be doing anything real productive after… hahaha
We just stuck around on the grass in front of the Dom to relax and make fun all day. Well at least until we had to go back for the gig… Cause we definitely wouldn't skip that! We just sat on the grass making jokes, making funny pictures, watching people…. Ok, we did leave the grass once, but that was just for getting some food and drinks… LOL

There were these 3 Dutch guys that wanted to make a funny photo and the first one went through the fountain and came out all soaked but grinning like crazy. And then guy number 2 went in… I was actually hoping for guy 3 to get in as well since he was wearing jeans and when jeans get wet, it's hard to walk normally in them. I guess that's probably the reason he didn't go in. What a shame and what a wuss… LOL…

Whilst making all the photos we were shifting more and more towards the fountain so Brenda said: I think we're gonna be IN the fountain next and couldn't stop laughing after that joke. I visualize everything people tell me. Literally everything.. So I just saw us sitting in the fountain, then look around and asking ourselves: how did we end up here… LOL
Brenda then told me to go sit in the fountain so she could take a picture and I didn't, even though I really wanted to, cause it was hot out and really wanted to go into the water… Then we visualized me or both of us sitting on the fountain itself while it kept us in the air… That would have been funny and so not realistic… But hey, who cares about realistic. We were having fun!

Of course we were watching the people around us as well and actually hoped to catch a glimpse of J&J doing some sightseeing, but we figured that if they saw us goofing around like that, they'd probably hide from us and take another road to where ever they were going.. LOL

Then this guy walks up and puts up a tripod with a little compact attached to it. So were watching that with some interest, cause we were wondering what he would be going to photograph. Turns out he just wanted to take a pic of himself in front of the Dom. To me that looked really fun. First of all, why have such a big tripod with a tiny camera… LOL, and second of all pictures of yourself are much more fun if you do the self photography thing out of your hands… Like we did… And I also made a different version of me and the Dom… Brenda and I figured that it would have been so much fun to do the feet thing with every landmark, but we were too late… We did all the sightseeing the day before… Let's keep it in mind for the next time. Then we actually wanted to borrow the guys tripod to make some more funny pictures of ourselves… LOL… Here are a few examples:

We also tried to take a shadow picture with our hands formed into symbols and I don't know how I did it, but mine looks like an aliens arm…. LOL
Mmmm.. that makes you wonder… WAS I born on this planet? I know many people who are willing to question it… hehe

We decided to go shopping (well window shopping since we were broke… LOL), but couldn't find the shopping area so we went back to the Lustgarten again… LOL
Since we had already agreed on walking back to the hostel in the hope to see some nice things along the way, we had to leave a bit early cause it would be about a 45 minutes walk. The funny map we got in the hostel proved to be very helpful, cause it led us straight to the hostel and 45 minutes and lots tired and sweaty later we were there. We hadn't seen anything interesting on our way, since we were just walking through a regular neighborhood, but hey, we did save on the train fare and can now buy ourselves an extra drink…Yay! LOL… Too crazy for my own good! Please someone save me… LOL

In the hostel we quickly showered and refreshed ourselves and that's when I noticed a big white round spot on my left upper arm. I couldn't figure it out. I was like, what the heck is that and how did that happen? That's when Brenda shined some sunlight on the thing… I probably forgot to rub in the suntan lotion I sprayed on my arm.. And yes, that's definitely something I would do… hihi… so mystery solved! Now I'm not only a crazy person, but a crazy person with a white spot on her arm… LOL…

After having grabbed some food we, again, made our way over to the Dachkammer and when we walked into the street we were enthusiastically greeted by our partners in crime who were having a drink at the restaurant they just had dinner at with their travel companions. :)
We sat down with them and ordered a drink for ourselves as well. We discussed what all of us had been doing that day and it turned out that we had been in the same spots that day appropiately at the same time, but never ran into each other… Weirdness!

When we just got our drinks, the doors to the Dachkammer opened and C&W, our partner in crime, jumped out of their seats to go in. We decided to finish our drinks and follow them a bit later. It didn't take long for C to come rushing back telling us the place was filling up quickly. So we downed our drinks, paid them and headed for the door. We need to have a good spot for the last Jason shot until December. And yes, we're freaks too… LOL… well at least I am… A very nice one though… most of the time… hahaha

At the door Bren was a bit afraid we weren't going to get in, cause you actually were not allowed to reserve tickets for both nights, but since so many people had tickets for both nights, I wasn't worried at all. Bren said her name and they asked her whether she was just by herself or with a +1. After she paid for her ticket, they asked her who the one was and she pointed to me and said: she's the one. The one guy also started pointing at me and said: Ah, so you are THE one. And I said: yes, I AM the one… And this went on for a little, which I found extremely funny. When we finally went inside, we went straight for the little stairs in front of the stage where C&W already had seated themselves. Then this boy shows up who had been doing audio recording the day before as well and started setting up his gear. He told us he would post it on archive.org, so can't wait to hear it. He told us to expect it in two months or maybe a bit later. He sat down with us and turned out to be good company. :)

Out of nowhere the guy who was like arranging all kinds of stuff came over to us and asked us if this were the second night we were there. And we didn't respond, cause we were afraid we were going to get thrown out because of us being there again. So the guy asks us if we speak English and we nod. Then he asked us again… And we kind of nodded in a barely noticeable way and he asked us again if we were at the concert last night, so we finally confirmed this and were afraid of what would happen next… Again, yes we are chickens… LOL
Turned out that he just wanted us to tell people that they could also sit on the benches on the stage, since we had seen people there last night. And he might even have thought that would really want to sit there, but I'm not gonna look at Jason's ass all night… LOL
Especially not with us having that great spot. If I would have been in the back like the day before, I think I would have done it.

So there I was, trying to convince the people that had a perfectly ok spot to go up on stage and watch Jason's back. Still, I got some people to go up, which got Bren and me places on this thing were we could sit on and see it even better… hehe… But most just wanted to stay where ever they were. And, to be honest, I couldn't blame then. The only one that made the best decision by going up there, was Emma, but more about that later.
While walking around telling people they could sit on stage, I got talking to this very nice girl who also went to see Jason at the North Sea Jazz fest and if I remember correctly in either the Paradiso or the Rotown. She called me a 'bitch' for having being present at the Ootmarsum gig and being in Berlin now and taking away tickets from other people. I'm just saying, if you want something bad enough, you have to go get it. We got along great and talked for a while. I always like to meet people at concerts. Hope to hear from her. :)

About a half hour later, Jason made his way onto the stage accompanied by loud cheering. He kicked of his flip-flops and started what would be the best gig of the five I had seen within a few weeks.

At one point Jason asked the sound tech if he could still hear him, since he didn't recharge his battery in months… LOL
He shouted out to Jarrod asking him to go get his spare battery and pass it along to the stage. And along with it came Jason's camera. He used that camera later to make his own I'm Yours YouTube video. He said there were like millions of them out there, but this would be the best. It took him some time to get it ready. He tried to attach it to his microphone, which I thought wasn't going to work, but Jason pronounced himself to be the best balancer in the world and that he would do it. Didn't work though. That's when he noticed the microphone stand Sascha was using for his audio tapings, took out the microphone, handed that to Sascha and put his camera on it right in front of his face… He then adjusted it a but and stood behind his camera and microphone ready to hit it. That's when the camera went of and everyone starting shouting that it was of. So Jason turns it on again and wants to start. That's when one smart guy asked him if he pressed record, which he did not and that's the reason it went of in the first place. He pressed record and the fun was about to start. Can't wait to see that video online. Here's mine:

People shouting out titles of songs and Jason played them. There was this girl sitting on stage on her boyfriends lap and she said: Jason? And Jason said: yes? She: Life is wonderful. Jason: Life IS wonderful. And then Jason started talking about that everyone was shouting out songs and she just made the statement that Life is wonderful (LOL), which it is, he said. He started playing Life is Wonderful, the girl and her boyfriend started to kiss each other right there on stage to the amusement of everyone in the room including Jason's. The kept going at it and then Jason said: get a room, which made everyone laugh except for the girl and the boy who were still kissing… LOL.. I guess it's great to be in love… ;)
During the song the two even started to slow dance on the stage, which resulted in Jason staring at her ass… LOL… Naughty boy!

After the concert I met this sweetest girl called Emma (yeah, I mentioned her before). She's from Australia and is now living in The Hague in The Netherlands. What a great way to meet someone in Berlin… LOL… Anywayssss, she requested After An Afternoon and Jason started playing it. During the song he wanted to turn a bit around so he could see her and decided to do it differently. He picked up his microphone, went to the back of the stage and sat down beside her to sing it to her personally. That was so cool! It gave me goose bumps. Here's the video of it:

During the show this German guy gave Jason a CD and said that it was Tom's music. Jason asked him if he was Tom and he said yes. Jason: "I feel like we all should smoke a big one and chill out, listening to Tom's music… LOL
But instead Jason asked him if he wanted to come on stage and play together. So he went up very excitingly and Jason invited two more people to come on. I forgot what Jason called it, but it was something along the line of the anything goes song. Jason would be playing and each of them would take turns in singing. And the could sing about anything, use words, use sounds, use German words, whatever. The guy wasn't exactly a good singer, but the two girls that went up there did have nice voices. When Tom's second turn got up he started whispering to Jason and Jason gave him the guitar. So now Tom was playing the music, which he did quite well and explains to me that he isn't a singer but a guitarist.. LOL, and Jason and the girls were free styling. It was really cool! Check out the vid:

After this improvisation / free style song, Jason said that he didn't know if he could top that and was afraid of continuing. "I feel like I need a cigarette", said Jason. One guy in the audience offered him one and Jason told him he didn't smoke.

Whilst playing Bella Luna Jason invited the girl and boy to dance again and they did. Really nice. Maybe we all should have been dancing, instead of staring at the stage and sing-a-long. Hehe

Brenda noticed that Jason's tows curl up when he's hitting a high note. I wish I would have seen that and made a clip of it.. That's funny! LOL

During Not So Usual Jason did a bit of the Man eater song. This girls was standing right beside him filming it and Jason started singing it into her camera, making her out to be the man eater.. LOL.. It was too funny! Watch the clip:

Jason was well into an already two hour lasting show, when he asked the crowd what time it was. It turned out to be close to 11.30pm and he had promised to stop being loud at 10pm. Haha, I guess that didn't work out they way they thought… LOL.. I guess Jason did feel a bit guilty and asked the people not to shout, cheer and clap so loud. He even introduced us to the way people clap at a Golf tournament. He even suggested we would just clap with two fingers, or maybe just clap for 8 seconds and then stop… LOL.. Of course no one did, since we were all way to excited to keep our joy and excitement bottled up in ourselves.. hahaha
Jason explained about the 10pm rule and then said: Ah well, I don't live in this neighborhood. And went on with the gig… hehe

When it was time for the last song, Jason was about to play the song he has been finishing with at all the gigs and then decided against it. He wanted to play A Song For A Friend, especially for all of us, since we were now all his friends. That was very sweet and totally cool… LOL

After he left, people wouldn't stop cheering and clapping and shouting and so on… It actually didn't stop for a second, and yes, we were heard and Jason made his way back to the stage… Yay! Everyone started shouting song titles and Jason decided to go a different way and did a great medley of his well known songs. That was just the coolest. Unfortunately there's no video of that on YouTube, but if I do ever find it, I'll post it. He had us singing along in different voices, my favorite being the sing like your 4 years old voice. And Jason was great at it… LOL… Makes you wonder… hehe

This time he did end with the usual song and after that it truly was over… *snif*.. I looked at my phone to see what time it was and I was shocked! Jason had just put on a show for friggin' 3 hours! Brilliant! Couldn't believe my luck of being there.. Yay for Brenda, who's fault it was that I went to Berlin… LOL

After the gig, the hunt for the gig posters started. I asked this guy the night before if he would save me one and he did, but he told me they were all signed and they were selling them for € 10,- which I found way to expensive! And if I'm gonna have a signed one, I'll have it signed myself.. :S So no poster for me and I desperately need new gig posters, since the ones that are on my wall now are getting old… LOL..
One of my partners in crime W did find a free poster, yay, and got it signed by Jason in a very funny way. Maybe she'll post it for you in a comment… *hint*hint*

All of a sudden people in the bar starting singing happy birthday and there was a big, as Jason likes to call it, Mrazberry pie… We didn't know what it was about and the next day we found it was Jarrod who was celebrating his b-day. I know feel rude for talking to him without wishing him a happy birthday… hahaha.

C&W had to get up early the next morning, cause their trip back to Holland would start at 5am. C had to take the theory part of her drivers exam and had to be back in time. So they went to say hi and goodbye to Jason and get some more photos and autographs. Shortly after Bren and I decided to go up to him as well, since it wasn't as crowded anymore as it was when he first stood there. So we went up, but I got side tracked by a few other Dutch girls and chatted a bit with them. Later I learned that Bren and Jason were talking about what all of us had been doing during the day. Jason told her that they had been riding bikes through the town and Bren told him we walked all the way from the Dom back to the hostel and Jason pulled this tired face… LOL… He also told her that they had been swimming. And o man I was jealous when I heard that. It was the perfect weather for swimming and I haven't been swimming in such a long time. I love swimming.. Well I LOVE water… hehe… Just a few slides and I'm happy all day! Jason also asked Bren if we would come to the swimming pool too tomorrow. He even went and asked what the place was called again. He must have been a bit confused since he would be doing another show the next day in München… Would have been fun though. Even though I don't like to go out in a bathing suit… LOL

When I finally walked up to Jason, he greeted me enthusiastically with a spontaneous hug. That was just the cutest. And I kept telling him how awesome the show was. I still think about the hug. I love hugs… And it was such a nice one. Yeah yeah I'm a freak too… LOL.. There were some other people around and I don't exactly know what was said but it had something to do with asking for autographs and all, but I ended up saying: "Yeah, I know, I am 34 and still doing this crazy stuff". Jason heard me and looked at me with big eyes and said: "You are 34?" Me: "Yes." Jason: "Wow, that just blows my mind! I thought you were 24!". And thank you Jason. As you can imagine I pronounced Jason to be my new best friend… LOL…
I also asked him about the tattoo he was going to get, but he ended up not getting it because of lack of time. I then showed him mine cancerian sign tattoo and he turned around and tagged down his shirt for a bit to show me his. I couldn't actually see it, so I tagged down his shirt some more and there it was. The same tattoo on almost the same spot. So Jason and I are tattoo buddies now, even if he doesn't know it… hahaha
Jason said he now wanted to show me something and he pulled out this teeny tiny wallet from which he took three large coins that all looked very different and where from different places all over the world. Firstly he had some trouble getting out the right ones, but I helped him and then it was magic trick time. You know, I know how tricks work. It's all an illusion and the trick is usually already pulled in the first few seconds instead of the last moment when you expect it to. But I couldn't see how he did it.. He put two coins in one hand, one in the other, closed them, did some movements and there they were, sitting in the other hand. He did it twice and I honestly couldn't discover how he did it! Kudos to Jason for showing us.

I then had my pic taken with him again and the CD I bought in Ootmarsum signed and was really happy.

We sat down at the same table we had been sitting at the night before and ordered a drink. Sascha and Cecile (sp?) came to join us and we had a great time. Later on Emma joined us as well and we had the most fun. Emma turned out to be a Space Invaders fan and was crazy about my shirt. She even took a photo of me during the gig.. LOL… I feel famous now. Sascha took some photos of us pulling crazy faces and I can't wait to see them, even though I am a little scared as well… LOL. I told S&C about the funny lines on the back side of the map and they made me read the frog one out loud in German and then told me I sounded like Linda de Mol (who is a Dutch TV host who has worked in Germany as a host as well). Still don't know if that was a compliment or not… haha
I gave Sascha my map, cause I would get a new one at the hostel, and he made us sign it. There was this space left in the middle of it and he actually wanted Jason to sign there, but never got the opportunity. He might bring it to Amsterdam and try again… ;)

Emma had just told us that she didn't even have any dinner that night and just then Jason walked past and threw some grapes into her mouth. She walked up to him and asked him if he had any more food. Not too long after, Jason arrived at our table with a big plate full of delicious fruit, a bottle of water and some napkins… Aaawww… Isn't that just the sweetest thing?

Not long after Jason left, but not before giving us all a big hug. Aaawww... I'm really gonna miss him… LOL
Poor Cecile was at the ladies room when Jason left, so she missed the big hug. I'm still sorry girl!

We then left too. Hugged each other goodbye and promised to meet up again in December in Amsterdam… Yay…

When Bren and I arrived back in the hostel about 4am!!, there was only one of our 6 roommates asleep.. So I guess the others had a better party than we… then again, hell no!! They'd probably just been out drinking a lot…. LOL

The next day we could take things slow and actually wanted to stay in Berlin a day longer and we could have done it, since our tickets for valid for some more days. We decided we should go home anyways and did…. It was a great ride!
Thanks to all my old and new friends!

Xxx

Sandra

Mrazmerized

The people that know me well, know that I am crazy… Crazy about music most of all, but also very crazy in general. So when Brenda told me she got tickets to one of the LRC's of Jason Mraz in a little café in Berlin, I knew I would be going even though it wasn't the best choice to make at that time…

Finally it all worked out and we had tickets for both nights and also already had our train tickets for the ride back home. For the way to the concert we figured it would be best to travel to Venlo and buy a weekend ticket for Germany.... that would have been a great plan, wouldn't it have been for me not hearing my alarm, oversleeping for 4 hours and then fall asleep again whilst waiting for a text reply from Brenda on what to do next... Still so sorry sweetie! But in hindsight... you know what I've said about having things going completely wrong... It's all about balance... ;)

So we agreed on meeting at Amersfoort and taking the 5.40 pm train directly to Berlin. And luckily this time everything went according to this plan Z. ;)

We had some fun in the train thinking up schemes like the one we pulled with the t-shirts at the first Gavin DeGraw @ Vredenburg gig.

We especially couldn't stop laughing when we envisioned ourselves wearing humongous paper mache (sp) heads of Gavin and his band members like the ones you can see in the U2 video 'The Sweetest Thing'. Remember that one? Of course we could also made one of Jason, but since Gavin always performs with four that would be funnier... LOL

At around 11pm we arrived at the Berlin Hauptbahnhof and now our search of the hostel would start, which turned out to be quite easy to find and was located next to a bar called the Red Rooster. How appropriate... *grin* For the ones who aren't in the know, my last name when translated into English would say the Rooster... ;)

On the way to the hostel we found ourselves surprised at the business on the streets... Many places where you could buy food, groceries or rent dvd's and video's were still open and the streets were crowded with people going out and drinking and eating on the street. Yeah this was going to be fun. Party all over! LOL

At the hostel we had a small drink, ok mine was a Berliner beer of 0,5l, and a nice chat. Went we went to ask for our key our new roommates were asking for the key as well. They were this really nice boy and girl from Iceland that had been partying hard that night. The boy kept asking us we were from and every time I answered him again, he said: Oh yeah you've already told me that.. LOL

The next morning we got up early and met the two UK girls that we shared the room with… Both the Iceland guy and one of the UK girls was reading the lasted Harry Potter and I offered them to tell them the ending, but the freaked out when I offered? Weird huh, or is it just me… ;)

Unfortunately we had to move to another room, since we booked another one originally. That was before we knew we had to leave a day early. It was a shame since we were sharing with such nice people. Ah well, let's see what the other one beholds for us. ;) When we entered the room no one was there, so we changed the bed sheets, locked up our stuff and went outside for some very touristy sightseeing… LOL

Right after we left the hostel, we came across a festival/market looking thingy and thought it would be fun to walk over it… Well it was looonngggg… and it was a beer festival… Literally thousands of meters (at least I think so, I am pretty bad at estimating distances.. That's why I bump into doorways, windowsills and an occasional wall on a regular base…. LOL) of different kinds of beers, bratwurst, Berliner sausages and whatnot… Also very few meters there was a stage and sometimes there were German artists playing German music on them. Have I ever told you I'm allergic to Schlagers? LOL… Walking around on this very German festival I felt I needed to get myself a pair of lederhösen and should have joined the beer drinkers… haha

After a loonnnggg walk we finally got to the end of it and decided to walk instead of taking a tram to Alexanderplatz which was quite a walk, but the weather was nice and since we haven't really had summer here in The Netherlands we liked walking in the sun. We passed the TV tower, took a quick pic before we walked passed this awesome fountain with Neptune sitting on top.

And of course I had to get into the fountain, not only cause it's fun, but when it's hot out, there's not better than to walk into a fountain with cold refreshing water… LOL Walking around the fountain I noticed all these beautiful sculptures that it was made out and I actually couldn't stop looking it, but hey, we were only in Berlin for two days, so time to move on. Reluctantly I put my shoes back on and we strolled on.

Next stop the Dom and what a gorgeous building that is. We of course had to sit down in the Lustgarten (Pleasure Garden). Not only of it's very interesting name, but what is a better place to sit on a sunny summer day than a field with a fountain in the middle and a beautiful building as a view. The Vondelpark (Amsterdam's most famous and very nice park) sure can't beat that.

After that we arrived at the famous street: Unter den Linden.

I know about the importance of this street, but to me this street is better know because it's sung about in this beautiful BEAUTIFUL Dutch song that tells about the difference between East and West Berlin and asks what all of it is worth if you can't go to the other side. If you can't say what you want when your in East or when you've got freedom in the West, but no job and no house. The chorus always gets to me most. I'll try to translate it:

And only the birds, they fly from East to West Berlin
They won't get called back, or get shot in the back
Over the Wall, over the Iron Curtain
Because they sometimes want to be in the West, and sometimes in the East
Because they sometimes want to be in the West, and sometimes in the East

That song just blows my mind! And I'm happy that it doesn't apply anymore!

(Wow this is turning out to be novel length blog… Ah well, I tend to do that… you knew what you were getting into when you started reading this.. LOL)

So on we go. Strolling down Unter den Linden and after jumping in and out souvenir shops (since I wanted a souvenir with the Ampelmann on it) we finally arrived at the Brandenburger Tor. You've got to love that one! So beautiful! I love it when you can look far into the distance. It makes me dream and fantasize about different worlds and different lives and makes me feel like anything is possible. So even though you're looking at this immense structure, you can still look through it and see beyond.

And then the Reichstag. That building has so much history to it. (by the way, I know you're waiting to read about mr. A-Z, but bear with me, I'll get there.. Can't just ignore the rest of the trip… J)

Ok, so where was I? O yeah, the Reichstag. Well there's much to say about it, but I don't want this blog to become an epic novel.. LOL Go and check wikipedia if you want to learn more about it. And if you do, check out the other ones as well! J

After that we just walked around a bit, rested our feet whilst enjoying a beer and an icecream and decided it would be best to go back to the hostel and get some food and get ready for the first of two gigs Jason would be doing in the Dachkammer in Berlin. We were getting excited now. J

After having grabbed an easy dinner at the McDonalds we went to the Dachkammer and were greeted by one of our very excited partners in crime… LOL After going in, I quickly discovered that the places we were standing at would get crowded and maybe a little pushy and since I don't like that and was definitely not in the mood for that, I went to the back end of the room and sat down on a bench I could stand on once the gig would start. I was a bit bored while sitting there and wait, so I took out the map of Berlin they gave us at the hostel and wanted to check out stuff we could do tomorrow. That's when I found out that it was a funny map. On the backside it had sentences in English that were translated into German. What's funny about that you probably think. Well… There were many funny, crazy sentences on it and the funniest one being: Watch out there is huge frog about to land on your head. That just killed me. When Brenda decided to come and sit next to me I shared it with her and we had lots of fun about it. She even suggested to give the map to Jason so he could have some fun with it as well. LOL

When Jarrod (travelling with Jason and filming the trip) came down to set up the merchandise he recognized us from the Ootmarsum party and came over to say hi. That was just the cutest! Especially since HE's extremely cute.. LOL.. He told us that they had been strolling around the neighborhood and would be doing the touristy thing the next day and also that they were going to get a tattoo.

It didn't take long for the show to start after that and we both stood on the bench which normally is a great way to see, but this time people put seats in front of us and would stand on those, making it harder for us to see the complete thing. It was a great show though. Jason did most of the well known songs and the atmosphere was very up beat. The only thing I don't understand is why people travelled from Danmark to Berlin and talk through the whole thing… Weird…

At the start of Mr. Curiosity one of our partners in crime noticed that the battery of her video camera went dead and she shouted something out of agony. Couldn't help herself, was just frustrated with that happening. But Jason heard and it got him so distracted that he couldn't remember his second line. That was just too funny and there's a clip of it on YouTube. Will post the link later… J

Since the room was small and there were these wooden benches at the sides and backside of the stage, people were invited to sit up there and Jason tried his best to include these folks into the show as well. At one point he wanted to turn around, cause they had been staring at his saggy jeans all night.. Then he thought about that and realized he would show that to the whole crowd by turning around and so decided to move to the other side of the stage instead and face us sideways… That was hilarious, but you probably had to be there… J

At the end of the show he made a polariod photo of the whole crowd and promised to put it on his microphone at every show from now one. So if he would do a show in let's say Milwaukee, he would yell to the crowd: Berlin it's so great to be back! LOL Must say I like that idea to be sung to every time even though I can not actually hear it. Which ofcourse would be way better. I need to find a way to travel cheaper. Cheaper I hear you think. Yeah cheaper, I might even start sleeping under bridges… hehehe

After the show Jason joined the crowd that was still there and talked to everyone and handed out autographs and took pictures with everyone. Of course we had to have our pic taken as well, even though I already had one from Ootmarsum. You can never have too many, right?

Since I am always very random and never know anything intelligent and interesting to say to people whom I don't really know, I started telling Jason about the fact that he has his b-day 3 days before mine and that we are both Cancerians… Yeah, I know.. but I don't know why… I just get very random sometimes… LOL… He told me that he had written a song about Cancerians and I suggested that he would play that the next day, but it couldn't be done without his band, he said. So I made him promise to play that in the Paradiso in Amsterdam when he returns in December. He said he would, but he probably has already forgotten that.. That's ok though… I'll remind him.. hehe.. LOL

He told us about him and Jarrod getting a tattoo the next day I suggested that he should get the sign for Cancerians, yeah yeah I couldn't let it go LOL, and he told me he already had one. So I told him I have one too and asked him if he too always gets the questions why he's got a tattoo of 69.. All the dirty minds out there.. ;) And he said yes. Well I've got a great answer to that question, I told him. Just say that that's the way you've been conceived. J

(oh my dog, this blog is transforming into a bottomless pit. You know what… I'll make two parts of it… Day 1 and Day 2.. Pretty smart for a blonde one ey? Well dark blond.. hehe… but being a true blonde is on the inside and not on the outside… ;))

As we went outside for a little air one of us said something loud in Dutch about Jarrod and while I looked around I noticed his feet a few yards away from us. So I told her: he's right there and I ran off.. LOL… So we all ran off and we're afraid to return even though he can never have know what was being said, since I think he doesn't speak or understands Dutch… Well at least I hope so.. LOL I've waited my entire life for the moment that you can tell someone who's speaking of someone else that that person is right behind them… LOL After walking around in circles around the Dachkammer we noticed Jarrod was gone and went back inside. Yes, yes we are chickens..LOL

We had a great time at the bar and before Jason left to go to his hotel, he said goodbye to everyone that was still present. He put a bag on our table that had some ad for clementines on it, so I, again very randomly, said 'Clementines! Do you like those?'. And Jason told us he had a clementine tree in his back yard and I warned him for not letting me near, cause I would steal some… Again, I made another brilliant impression… LOL

I asked him if he would do another improvisation song like he did in Ootmarsum and he looked like he might. I told him I was glad that he also loves the word flabbergasted, which I yelled out in Ootmarsum, cause I always figured that I'm the only person crazy enough to have flabbergasted as a favorite word, but that I would yell out Bamboozled if he would do another one of those. He told me he would make a list of rhyme words for it. J

We then said our goodbyes and see you tomorrows and went to our hostels.

One last thing: I like a good hostel since they're cheap, they're everywhere, but you can't get 'home' all excited and chat all night about your experiences… J

Well I'll leave you with this for now… Until shortly!

I LOVE the internet

I do, I really do. I know I lose a lot of hours of my life being here on the net, and I blame youtube ;), but I have gotten to know so many great people and music because of it.

Yesterday I received a friend request from this band on YouTube and I started listening and actually really liked what they are doing. So I looked them up on MySpace and added them... The only bad thing about it is, their cd is not for sale here and also... they don't play outside of the US... yet....

But go check them out, they're worth it.

Moses Mayfield

Black Eyed Peas

Was just browsing through all the old, well ancient would be a better word -LOL-, blogs and noticed that I was really promoting BEP back in the days. And to be fairly honest, I was a fan from their first cd, but I also have to admit that I no longer am that fond of them these days.

Their music is not up to par, their whole attitude seemed to have changed. They were just nice guys that were in for it for the music, but everything seems to revolve around money these days. They're music just sounds like cheap empty melodies just created to become big hits. While the BEP were known for their sincerity in their texts and music... I don't know, it all has gone down for me after Elephunk.

I hope that they stop being so popular and start doing what their best at again.....

Oh, and also, really want to know why Taboo is scared of me... Anyone got a clue?

More ticket hoopla

Jason just announced through his Myspace that they've got so many messages of people who couldn't get a ticket and that the gig was sold out within minutes that they decided to move the concert to the main hall in Paradiso...

That's kind of a dissappointment, not being able to see him in that small room... And also the others... Well they do have tickets now...

At least I got an invite to a house concert and they haven't... So it's all still good..

Wonder how many shrieking baby girls will be at the gig now they all can get tickets... might make it a less enjoyable experience... :S

Chasing Tickets

This thursday I heard that Jason Mraz was going to do an acoustic set in the small room in Paradiso. And the small room in Paradiso is like a small club that you might hang out at during weekends listening to some nice unknown live music while you're drinking your beer. But it's also a place that many soon-to-be famous artists have played before they started selling out bigger venues in Amsterdam. The place to be for discovering new artists and to see artists that you know are going to be become big. Like John Legend, Gavin DeGraw, Maroon5, Juliette & The Licks and so on... So since Jason is already well known in the USA and the UK it's pretty special and I guess it would be hard to get tickets. I even have friends, or are they, who didn't inform me on him coming to the Paradiso to play, cause they probably figured the less people that know about it, the easier they could get their tickets.... Not proper friend behavior, but will remember that for a next time and treat them the same way.... I'm usually not an eye-for-an-eye kind of person, but hey.... a girl's got to do, what a girl's got to do.. ;)

So me and my friend made sure that all people we know that we're gonna get tickets, would get us two tickets as well and promised them to do the same..
On saturday, bright and early, we were sitting behind the computer right before the tickets would go on sale and discovered that ticketmaster wasn't selling any... so we grabbed our phones and tried to get through which turned out to be pointless since the line was busy the whole time... Which makes me wonder: if the line's always busy how do other people get through... :S
But then I got the magic text message: one girl who actually went to the ticketoffice managed to get tickets and she did get us the two extra! How happy were we. Finally Jason was coming to Amsterdam and play an actual gig and we have tickets! Yay again.

Later I found out that the two friends I mentioned earlier didn't have any tickets since they only relied on their pc's and phones. I am usually not a very mean person, but this time a big evil grin appeared on my face... That's what you get for not being honest... LOL

But what a hassle to get tickets... I guess The Netherlands is a crazy kind of place.. ;)

Secret gig

Usually I'm very good at knowing the 411 when it comes to announcements of new gigs or secret gigs. But this time my good friend B was the one that told me that a secret Avril Lavigne gig was announced on the radio. That's ofcourse why I didn't know, since I hardly ever listen to the radio. ;)
But because Rodney Howard, Gavin DeGraw's old drummer, started drumming for Avril on her new tour, we really wanted to be there... Not to see Avril, 'cause I couldn't care less, but it was such a long time since we saw Rodney last, that we couldn't miss out on Rodney playing somewhere in Amsterdam.
So I contacted Rodney and he was happy to try to get us in. He said he would love to see us again too... So that was cool. He also asked who was coming and I decided to also ask J & M to come along, since it didn't matter with how many we came.

We didn't actually know that it was going to work when I got the final message telling me we were on the guestlist, but also that they had to leave straight after.... Which was a shame, but Rodney promised to come and say hi to us before they left...

When we arrived at the venue there were many teeny-boppers waiting outside... Well teeny-boppers.... They were actually not very fashionable at all and to say that Avril is still in fashion is also every questionable..... But I guess the Dutch word wipkipjes wouldn't mean a thing to you... LOL
But anyways...

We went up to the door when most of the kiddies where already inside and found out there was this other entrance for invitees. Ofcourse there would be one. How much experience with guestlists I need before I remember? LOL
So we walked up and I told my name... The girls looked through the list but couldn't find it. I told them that I should be on the band's guestlist and then they looked at this tiny messy looking paper with handwritten names on it and yes, there were our names. That paper looked so cute, that I actually wanted to have it, but there was still one name on it of a person who hadn't come in yet... I'm crazy I know... but it's these tiny things that make things special.

So we put on our red wristbands and went inside. We found a place close to the bar and right behind the soundtech. We, well I, really didn't want stand in between all the baby fans... ;)
When I went to the bar and ordered a drink, I was trying to find my money when the bartender said that I wouldn't be needing that... All drinks are free when wearing the red wristband.. Thank you mr. Howard... Will be saving that wristband for other occasions..

The show went really quick, they only played 6 songs, and it was strange seeing Rodney drumming on stage without Gavin, Brian (guitarist) and Wijnand (bass player). But it was good to see him again...
After we were being directed out of the building, whilst I had already told Rodney that we were standing at the bar... LOL
So when he walked outside he looked all confused and said: there you are! So I told him we got kicked out and he thought we got kicked out during the gig or even before. We explained to him that that was not what happened and we all hugged.. We had a small talk and were sometimes interupted by teeny-boppers wanting to have their picture taken with the man himself.. LOL
And ofcourse we helped out with taking the photos and stuff.
Rodney showed us his new hairdo and the bit that Avril did and we had a laugh about it...
That was when he really needed to leave... aawww... We all hugged again and he promised us that next time he would have some more time to hangout.. Go Rodney!

So all in all, an hour later we were on our way back from the venue... Another small gig.. LOL

And I'm so happy that J &M thanked me for asking Rodney to get us in.... NOT.. :S
So no more deals for them then.... You're either grateful and will get more, or you're not and you'll get excluded..