Summer Tennis Tournament

July 25/26 we (the Events Committee at DDV tennis club) organized a tennis tournament for those members of the club who were not away on Summer holiday. Together with Anouschka I created all the schedules for the event. The weekend itself was perfect, great weather, lots of great tennis, good food and drinks afterwards...

Circle of Light

Taken at the U2 360° Tour

THE U2 360° TOUR

Crazy Night in Amsterdam 20 July 2009...

* Ninth show of the tour and the first time that 360 has come indoors. The Dutch were some of the earliest fans of the band outside Ireland and the UK and have always been some of the loudest. Louder still when there's a roof overhead.

* 'See the world in green and blue/ Larry Mullen right in front of you'.

* 'Some funky stuff please..' Nothing is funkier than Mysterious Ways and as the groove gets going and a stadium gets moving, Bono pays thanks to this city and country. 'Thank you for so many nights in this city, the mysterious and magical port of Amsterdam. We've a lot of history here...' Some of that history, like photographer Anton Corbijn, is here for the show.

* It's the fortieth anniversary of Neil Armstrong's walk on the face of the moon, a moment that impressed itself on a 9 year old future rock star. 'I remember it so well, an image of making the impossible possible and I've held on to that with more earthly problems...' Fittingly the astronauts from the International Space Station make a brief cameo on screen, holding up signs reading, 'The Future Needs A Big Kiss.'

* 'Keep On With The Force Don't Stop/Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough.' Angel of Harlem, first written for Billie Holliday, is back in the set tonight, a playful acoustic interlude and a tender tribute to the late, great Michael Jackson.

* 'We were teenagers when we first played the Paradiso, Larry still is a teenager. Apart from that everything's changed. Still got a long way to go, Adam, Larry, Edge and myself...' Bono's Auntie Eileen is not a teenager. She is in fact 80 years old and at the show. 'All the Hewsons in the house tonight!'

* What's the betting that with the down and dirty dub remix of 'I Know I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight' we are witnessing the birth of a stand-out track in the pantheon of great U2 songs. When Larry arrives on the b-stage with the djemba, it's the cue for all four band members to perform to all four quarters of the house. While Larry and Adam and Bono complete a lap of the b-stage, Edge goes one better, completing a double lap.

* Something of the Vertigo Tour about One, when the lights go down and 50,000 people take out their phones. 'There's planet earth... and here's the Milky Way...'

Here's the set list -

Breathe
No Line On The Horizon
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Beautiful Day
Mysterious Ways
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Angel of Harlem
In A Little While
Unknown Caller
Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding LIghts
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy (Remix)
Sunday Bloody Sunday
Pride (In The Name of Love)
MLK
Walk On
Where The Streets Have No Name
One
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Ultraviolet
With Or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Tesla Concert

Saturday July 11th I went to see Tesla live in concert. Tesla plays a bluesy Hard Rock and they really know how to put on a great show! I have liked Tesla since I got my hands on Mechanical Resonance (their first album) in Hong Kong and I played it repeatedly during the holida in Hong Kong wiht Stephane. So after many years Tesla is still going strong and their latest album Forever More is excellent. The show was excellent, they rocked the hosue and I even got a Tesla Guitar pick at the end of the show!

Queensryche Concert

For the 3rd time in my life I went to see Queensryche in concert. I first saw them in 1984 as opening act for Kiss in San Francisco. I was amazed how many fans at the Kiss gig were Queensryche fans. After the gig I was hooked, they were bettter than Kiss that night and I went out and bought their first EP and the first album "The Warning".

I got another chance to see them in 1990 in The Netherlands during the Empire Tour. This time they were the headliner (opening act was Lynch Mob - the band created by Ex-Dokken guitarist George Lynch) and Queensryche was amazing. They played their concept album "Operation Mindcrime" from beginning to end...

After the album "The Promised Land" they changed musical direction and I did not really like the music anymore. Each album I hoped they would return to form but they never did for me.

So a little while ago I noticed that they had a new album out called "American Soldier", an album about war from the soldiers' perspective. I did not expect much but they album was great. The amazing melodies and melodic guitar solos were back and they had finally created another good album.

So I started looking if they would play concerts in the Netherlands and got tickets to the show in Zoetermeer. Queensryche would do a solo show, no openign act and they would only play songs from 3 albums; the new album American Soldier, Rage For Order and Empire. Wow, those are 3 amazing albums so that garanteed an amazing setlist!

Setlist:
Neue Regel
Whisper
Screaming in Digital
I Dream in Infrared
Walk in the Shadows
I Will Remember

Sliver
Killer
If I Were KingMan
Down
Dead Man's Word

Best I Can
Thin Line
One & Only
Jet City Woman
Silent Lucidity
Anybody Listening
Empire

They played for 2 hours and it was obvious they had a lot of fun on stage. Sander and I were only about 5 meters away from the stage and we rocked out!

Long live the Ryche!

Child's Play

Lenny Kravitz Live at Westerpark

On the 4th of July I went to see Lenny Kravitz open air concert in the Westerpark. This is an amazing open air venue and Lenny was unbelievable. He was really enjoying himself and it was an amazing concert.

I was there with Marieke, Sander, Cynthia, Marc, Claudia, Simon, Lara, Nadege, Max and a number of others...

Photos:

Below you can find a video impression of the gig:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHNlEt7bgpM&feature=related

Kings of Leon Concert

Thursday July 2nd Fran and I went to see Kings Of Leon at the Ahoy. They played a great set with lots of energy and the place was boiling.

Setlist:

Notion
Be Somebody
Taper Jean Girl
My Party
Molly's Chambers
Red Morning Light
Fans
California Waiting
Closer
Crawl
Four Kicks
Charmer
Sex On Fire
The Bucket
On Call
Cold Desert
Use Somebody