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If you see Jeff “Tain” Watts playing the drums you understand why he earned his nickname “Tain” which is short for mountain. Like a mountain he sits relaxed behind his drum set while his arms seem to be all over the place. In the meantime he’s looking around and gives a big smile when one of the band members is giving it all.

I’ve seen every tour of U2 since their 1989 “When Love Comes To Town” tour and have all their albums so maybe I can be considered a fan. Although I have to admit their last meaningful album was “Achtung Baby” it’s always a big thing when they play live. And of course the “360° Tour” was no exception.

A few years ago the North Sea Jazz festival moved from The Hague to Rotterdam. Some said that it never got the same but I liked it. Better ways to move from one gig to the other and you were able to do some band hopping. But things changed…

A big line-up and four days of lots of sun shine definitely made me looking forward to this edition of Rock Werchter. To avoid traffic jams we did the whole trip in two parts and left early for the final stage.

Before their record was even out I decided it was probably worthwhile checking out the new band Chickenfoot. I didn’t find their album disappointing at all so I was looking forward to this gig a lot. You don’t get to see musicians like Joe Satriani, Chad Smith, Sammy Hagar and Michael Anthony all on the same stage every day!

This year was the 40th edition of Dutch festival Pinkpop. And of course this called for a celebration so organizer and Mr Pinkpop Jan Smeets was able to book no one else than The Boss himself as the headliner of the first day of the three day festival.

During my teenage years I grew up in a small town called Cuijk that I still visit occasionally. A friend of mine there told me I should really come over 25th of April when John Hayes would play a local bar. And so I did!

I recently heard a song “I’m On a Train” of a new band called “Drive Like Maria“. It was a very catchy rock tune. When I listened to their debut album “Elmwood” I was pleasantly surprised. Great grooves and good rock songs inspired by 70s Led Zeppelin rock mixed with Queens of the Stone Age type riffs and vocals. So it was time to check them out live.

Whenever you’re feeling down put on one of The Presidents of the USA’s albums. It’s a definite upper. Their music is full of positive energy and so are their shows. So it’s a no brainer when they visit my town to go see them.

Busy busy busy. Busy going to concerts and releasing new versions of our nice Collectorz products. So I’m behind on my concert posts. But that means you get four nicely packaged in one go: Chris Cornell, Johan, Eagles of Death Metal and Los Van Van!