As we mentioned in the previous post, this past weekend we were going to see Ian Parker play one more time. RiverFest in Knowlton, NJ, was the main reason he came to the US. Knowlton is situated on the Delaware, in upstate New Jersey. Hard to reach by public transport, but luckily Wayne and Dana had decided to drive up to New Jersey to come and see Ian play as well.

Dana had never seen Ian play, but does like his music enough to have one of his songs as their wedding dance. And the title is actually engraved in her wedding band! So they could not let this opportunity pass meet the guy and to see him play live.

Wayne and Dana actually drove up to New Jersey on Friday night, and spent the night with Wei-li (Wayne’s brother) and Karen. We took a train in the morning (with a delay, so we missed our connection) to New Jersey, and an hour late, we arrived at Westfield train station. We said our quick hellos and gt in the car to drive up to Knowlton. It was a beautiful drive through New Jersey. It’s very hilly (accidented, as some people might call it) and green. It’s so much fun to see some of the countryside when you’ve been in the city for this long! And it’s great to see that all the things you see in movies are in fact real.

People still drive old American cars, huge billboards along the roads are hand-painted, the mailboxes really do have those little red flags on them, and there is a realty company called Buttzville Real Estate. Actually, that is because that whole village is called Buttzville. Not that I’ve seen that in a movie, but I could easily imagine it being in a movie.

Anyway, we arrived at the festival grounds around 2pm, parked the cars across the street and crossed the street to the festival, helped by some very nice crossing guards. The festival grounds had a very relaxed and family feel to it. Lots of different food, no big chain restaurants in sight and a little festival market. One of the things that immediately grabbed my attention, apart from the bouncy castle, was the little food stall that advertised Alligator Sausage. Intriguing!

We found a place to call our homebase for the day, and draped some picnick blankets to stake our claim. Wei-Li and Karen had brought their daughters, Abby and Jillian, and they had to first go to the bouncy castle of course. We tried to find a pair of shorts for me (I was wearing jeans because we wrongly believed the weather forecast yet again), but were unsuccessful.

In the mean time, we were sort of listening to the music in the big tent and the acoustic sets in the little tent. It was fun, but nothing really grabbed our attention. We just really were enjoying the general picnic-type day we were having, buying different types of food (Jamaican Jerk Chicken with collard greens, plantains and rice, corn-on-the-cob, the aforementioned Alligator Sausage (yummy!), funnel cake and crepes with chocolate and banana) and drinks (mainly water, but some lemonade, beer and wine as well). And we played with frisbees, yoyos and beachballs.

It was a lot of fun, and all very relaxing. At around 6.30pm it was Ian’s turn to play. We went up to the front of the stage, as most of the tent was filled with chairs(!?). Some girls were already shouting his name and trying to get his attention while they were still just soundchecking. Ian had been there last year, together with Morg Morgan. And they wanted him back. Unfortunaltely, Morg wasn’t here this time, so he would be playing with ‘hired hands’. To me, this is quite impressive. A band (drums, bass, keys) needs to learn all the songs from a cd, and then play together with Ian in front of a pretty big crowd.

Part of the crowd was really into Ian and the band, and they were greeted with huge cheers. After the chilled and relaxed gigs earlier that week in New York, it was fun seeing him rock out on his earlier songs with the full band.It was clear that this crowd was here for the blues, and that’s what Ian gave them. Long guitar solos, heavy rocking with the band and some impromptu interactions between the organ player and Ian. And very enthusiastic fans! Like a proper rockstar, people wanted to touch him, and one fan actually got on stage and kissed him on the cheek.

Dana and Wayne were both really enjoying themselves, and I think Wei-Li and Karen did as well. It might have been a little too loud for the little ones though, but they were getting tired as well. They left just before the end of the concert, but not before Wei-Li bought one of Ian’s CDs. That’s always a good sign.

We sat around after the concert for a bit, and saw an amazing full moon rise over the hills. Then we spoke to Ian for a bit, and made our way back to the car to drive home. We still needed some food, and found some in Westfield. We got to Wei-Li’s and Karen’s house around midnight, and were shown our room. We actually slept in the girls playroom (yes, that room is bigger than our apartment in NYC).

After a good night’s sleep, we got up relatively early, and had breakfast in their ginormous kitchen. We played some more with Abby and Jillian (maybe I should not have tought them to play volleyball indoors over the little fence they have…), and then went on our way to the station. Wei-Li had suggested to take the bus back, instead of the train, as there is no need for changing then. We had a nice drive through the outskirts of New Jersey and Newark and got back to the 42nd street bus terminal around 1pm.

That meant we still had some time for ourselves on this Sunday! We quickly went home, and met with Nick (our landlord), who came to pick up his mail. Saskia talked to Isabella for a bit via Skype, and then we got on our bikes for a little ride. We decided to go to Williamsburg (Brooklyn), and decided to cycle over the Williamsburg Bridge. That’s a lot of hard work! You get up really high, wich gives you a great view over the East River and the other bridges.

We had some late lunch (coffee and a belgian waffle) at a very trendy place in Williamsburg, and just walked around the place for a bit. It’s got an interestign feel to it. It’s kinda hip and trendy, but maybe a little too much so. People are really watchig eachother, sort of sizing them up or rating them or something. a little weird. We then got back on our bikes, and cycled down to the Manhattan & Brooklyn bridges. That was quite a ride, and took along some huge industrial areas. But once we got the the bridges, things quickly became very picturesque, and I started taking way too many pictures. They’ll be up soon, hopefully.

We then made our way to the little park that’s right between those two bridges, put our little blanket down and did soem reading. Or, I did some reading, and Saskia just fell asleep :-). Around 7pm we packed our things up and cycled back, across the Manhattan Bridge. Another bit of hard work, and enormously crowded with tourists. But luckily most of them kept to the pedestrian side of the path, so without much problems we arrived back in Manhattan. It’s funny to notice the completely different feel that side of the bridge has!

We parked our bikes at home, dropped our stuff and walked to the a restaurant, that turned out to be closed on Sundays. We looked around a little more and then found Tre, where we had a nice dinner.

And that was our weekend.

Monday, August 11th

Last Monday, Nicole (colleague at MediaCatalyst here in NYC) called me to ask if I’d be interested in seeing a show that night. She couldn’t make it, but had two tickets. I had already read about the show, called ‘Stars in the Margin’. It would be an evening of ‘Musical Multi Media’, hosted by Martha Plimpton and Lucy Wainwright Roche. I knew Lucy is the daughter of Loudon Wainwright III, a singer/songwriter who I really like. And I read that he’d be one of the special guests.

So I definitely wanted to go. Saskia could not make it, as she’s working for the Fringe Festival. But another colleague, Ruby, is very much in to live music, and so she joined me. I did some quick research by visiting their myspace pages, and listened to some of Lucy’s work. Definitely worth investigating some more!

After a drink next-door, we went to the Zipper Factory. That turned out to be a little, very crowded bar. After ordering another drink, the doors to the theater opened and we could find ourselves a spot in the small venue. It has a sort of standard theater setup but instead of normal seats, they’ve used the back seats of old cars. Actually quite comfortable, and we could buckle up if things would get wild.

The night started with Martha Plimpton and Lucy Wainwright Roche singing a couple of sings together with their backing band. It all sounded very nice, their voices work very well together. After that, they both start to invite friends and family onto the stage for songs. Almost all the songs they perform are covers, and it becomes clear that that is all part of the plan. It is basically a night where they get to do whatever they want on stage. At some point, one of the band members shows a short movie he’s made.

It’s all a lot of fun, and I’ve been waiting to see Loudon Wainwright III, Lucy’s dad, perform live. Before he does, it’s actually Rufus’ turn to join his sister on stage. Together they sing ‘Hallelujah’, by Leonard Cohen. It’s a very special version of the song. Then Loudon takes to the stage, and after that also Lucy’s mom, Suzzy Roche, joins them on stage.

There are two Bruce Springsteen covers (Thunder Road by Martha, with some guy whistling the solo’s) and Hungry Heart which they sing together. The whole night is great fun, and I have the feeling of having witnessed something very special and intimate!

Tuesday, August 12th

Ian Parker is in town! Our friend from the UK has a small US tour lined up, and he started playing a couple of festivals last weekend. He had also secured a couple of gigs in New York City, and this Tuesday he was scheduled to appear at Rehab. He was the first of a number of bands to get on stage, and the place was still quite quiet when he started. His set was a short one, and he played quite a few new songs. These sets, where he is only accompanied by a double bass player, serve as a sort of testbed for these new songs. In these, he sounds much more like a singer/songwriter, as opposed to the blues artist he is when playing with a full band.

It is very nice to hear these new songs, and a pity that not everyone thinks the same. A number of the people in the club are clearly there for the next band, and keep their conversations going at a typical American volume. Still, Ian seems to be enjoying himself! Brian, the bassplayer, also seems to be having fun.

After the gig we took Ian’s gear to his car and looked for a restaurant to have dinner. We found a Japanese restaurant, and it turned out that Ian had not had real sushi before. This was the perfect opportunity to introduce him to this feast, and we had a great dinner, and did a lot of catching up!

Thursday, August 14th

Another gig for Ian, this tiem at the famous ‘Mercury Lounge’. He’s scheduled to go on at 8:00pm, rather early for a gig. And unfortunately, this shows in the number of people coming out to see him. In the end, we’re with nine people (and that includes Saskia, Janneke and myself). Such a shame, as this is a wonderful concert, where he gets to play many of those new songs, and a couple of songs we already know. It is very cool to see how someone like Brian, the bassplayer, can quickly learn these songs and play with Ian. It is also interesting to hear new arrangements for songs we know so well. The bare guitar-and-bass accompaniment of his songs sounds great!

Saskia did not have as much time as Tuesday, as she’s working for the Fringe Festival. I join Brian, Ian and Greg (a New Jersey disk-jockey responsible for getting Ian to the US in the first place) to Rockwood. A great place where Sas and I have been before to listen to several great singer/songwriters. Friends of Brian would be playing there, and Ian was interested in checking the place out as well.

When we got there, the place was packed. We got in through the back entrance and saw some of the gig on a TV screen. We then decided to try and get in the crowded front room, and succeeded at our second attempt. We saw Jeff Taylor and Elizabeth Ziman perform together, and that was an amazing show. Ian was blown away by the fact that we just walked into a club, didn’t ave to pay anything and then saw a show of this quality. He decided he needed to stay in New York After their concert, we met with the artists shortly as Brian introduced them to us. I thought it was very cool to see Ian so enthousiastic about the music and the music scene.

Right, that was it for the week. There is a whole story to write about the weekend as well, but I need some sleep first. Actually, Saskia has already reported on the weekend’s events in upstate New Jersey. Check out this article of the New Jersey Herald!

I had to rush for lunch today, so instead of buying bread and some cheese or meat like I have gotten used to doing, I went for a ready-made sandwich from Jubilee Marketplace on Broadway. I thought the sandwich felt quite heavy when I got it, but didn’t pay any further attention to it, until I started eating it.

This sandwich was heavy. And full. And after eating the first half of it (!), I decided to tell you all about it. And I know that if I would just tell you about it, you wouldn’t believe me, so I took some pictures (with the crappy Blackberry camera, apologies for that).  I have probably grossed out Sandra by deconstructing this sandwich right next to her, and for that I apologize too.

So, what you see here is half (!) a sandwich, for which I paid $7.25. As you can see it is nicely wrapped and sliced in half. The other half, as mentioned before, was already devoured by me. Be aware that it was actually wrapped pretty tight. You can still see the bread, but you can also see it’s been compacted quite a bit.

OK, let’s start deconstructing this sandwich. It’s about three inches long, which means the full sandwich must have been close to 6 inches. On top, we find four slices of tomato and some lettuce, plus some sort of yoghurty dressing.

The next two layers consist of cheese (Provolone, if I’m not mistaken - two slices) and a boiled ham. I think these call it Danish or Virginia ham over here. About three slices of that.

Next up are two layers of salami. The first is a sopressata-type salami. there are two large slices of this, plus some additional bits. Then there is a chorizo-like salami, with an interesting flavor, that includes a hint of aniseed. About 8 slices of this.

The last layer consists of a dry-cured prosciutto. There is a lot of this on there. This is actually the best-tasting bit of the sandwich. With the chorizo and the sopressata as close runners-up. The cooked ham and cheese are not that impressive, and neither are the watery lettuce and tomato.

Again, I’d like to stress that what you see in these pictures is HALF A SANDWICH! I already ate the other half.

Now, I like meat. And I like sandwiches. But I believe it is actually possible to have too much meat on your sandwich. I also believe that I could easily do a whole week with the cold cuts on this sandwich. I would probably just use one type of cold cut a day. It would be more than enough for a six-inch baguette or hero. And I would enjoy the individual flavors more. I am not complaining! I am just noticing these facts and telling you about it.

By the way, I have placed most of what you see in these pictures in the fridge, and will use that to create two sandwiches tomorrow

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while. Before I will write about the festival,…did you see the temperature icon? It’s nice outside! Sunny and fresh…we sleep without the a.c. on, just with an open window and we love it! In the evening we even need a vest and yesterday I wore my jeans…didn’t thing I would touch them before the end of September. I know. it can change in a day but for now it;s nice, nice, NICE!

The festival,… for those of you who I didn’t tell, I’m working for the International Fringe Festival. It’s a multi-arts festival (I believe the biggest in North America) with performances of over 200 companies. It started last Friday and runs untill August 24th. I am the box office manager of one of the venues. This is a fancy title for selling tickets but I guess that’s very American. As soon as you have some responsibilities they call you a manager. Any way, my job is to sell tickets on the day of the performance and only 15 minutes prior to curtain. This can get somewhat hectic as there are between 4 till 6 shows a day per venue and if a show does really well people are lining up to get inside. My venue has about 65 seats so it’s easiliy filled. Apart from a few most visitors are very easy going. For example, after the doors close there is no late admittance. In Holland you would have a lot of troube with ignorant, angry people but here they understand and blame themselves for being late which is nice for a change! The amazing thing of this festival is that there are so many performances in just 16 days. Some of the companies have rather extensive decors for their performances and they have to be able to set up and break down in 15 minutes! But I heard that that is what Fringe is all about, doing the most with little. Most groups are American but I’ve also met actors from Canada and Britain. The nice thing about this job is that I get to see some of the shows in between my shifts.

One of them is named Hot Cripple, a one woman show about a model/actress who gets run over by a car and her struggle with hospitals, doctors, health insurance and the way you are treated in this country when you don’t have an insurance. If it wasn’t for the humor in this piece you would cry the whole way through. Especially the way she describes the indifference of the health benefit organizations is scarily gripping. Apparantly it’s her own story which made it even more intriguing. In the end she is bankrupt and lives of foodstamps and doesn’t believe in the health and legal system anymore.

Last week I experienced myself how easily you can loose a lot of money in the health care system. I had to get my B12 level checked since it was very low before I left for New York. Since I couldn’t just get a test I had to see a doctor, 250 dollars for my first visit. Then I got my test and had to come back to the hospital to hear my result, another 150 dollars. When I thought this was it I received a bill in the mail of the lab,…another 355 dollars for the labtest! Apparently the doctor tested for all kind of things while the B12 test is only 80 dollars. And today I got another bill, this time a ‘modest’ amount of 25 dollars for the needle or something!? It took a trip to the hospital and a discussions with two managers to learn that a) always be carefull when you are examined by a intern (?!), b) always ask how much everything costs beacuse they won’t tell you upfront and c) just call the lab when you need to hear a test result. Aaahh! I got them a far as to reconsider the lab test bill and see if I am intitled for a discount. Now I understand why people who barely can make a living and do not have the resources to pay for health insurance can get in serious trouble very easily. Land of the free…

By the way: my B12 was fine now.

Hi there all you loyal blog readers!

It’s been a while since our last contest update. So without further ado: The winner of the last picture contest is Wayne! He has managed to correctly identify all of the pictures, and was (only a little bit) more detailed in his answers than the close runner-up, Martijn. For all of you here are the pictures, with Wayne’s descriptions.

Picture 1

Bicycle path signage on the Brooklyn bridge.

Picture 2

Close up of the bow on a really big hello kitty parade balloon in the DC 4th of July parade.

Picture 3

Close up of the Rockefeller Center in NYC

Picture 4

Green M&Ms from a bag of oddly colored ones…

Picture 5

Mmmm, some nice baby back pork ribs…yeehaw!

It’s funny how some people mistook that last picture for something sweet. Roland, where did you get the Salt Water Taffy idea from?

The prizes are on their way! Yes, Martijn, also your prize from about a month ago. We had some difficulties in the shipping department, but the people responsible have been fired, and we think shipment will be normal from now on.

Our creative department is working hard on the next contest. In the mean time, we have a request for you. We’ll be visiting the Kuntry Karaoke again pretty soon. And we’d like to hear from you which songs you’d like to hear us sing, who shoudl sing it, and why. Choose from their extensive set list, and who knows, the next movie on the blog might be your requested song…

Cheers!

The blog editors.

Hi there everybody!

Last week & weekend have been relatively quiet. Tuesday Saskia had her songwriting class, very exciting as she had to recite the first part of her song! It was received well, got some good constructive criticism! In the mean time, I went to see a movie (’Wanted’, worth seeing because of Angelina Jolie, but wait for it to come out on DVD and rent it).

We went to Fanneke’s goodbye drink in Harlem on Wednesday, and had some wonderful food there. We also met a few people that are going to be in New York for a while, so we might run into some of them in the near future. Saskia will miss her, it’s nice to know that there’s someone around to call and have a cup of tea with whenever you feel like it. But luckily, another colleague of Saskia is arriving in New York on Monday, for a whole year!

On Thursday, we had reservations for Megu, a posh Japanese restaurant. This was part of the Restaurant Week experience, otherwise we would have probably never gone here (very expensive). We found the place (in a cellar of an officebuilding) and had a drink at the bar, as our table wasn’t ready yet. The reservation was for 10 pm, and we got to our table around 10:30. It was fun browsing through the whole menu, but is was also quite clear that we needed to stick with the Restaurant Week menu. Wow.

There were a few choices we needed to make for this menu. Saskia chose the soft-shell crabs. We’ve been seeing them advertised in many restaurants, and this seemed like a good opportunity to finally try them. Unfortunately they had run out of the crabs, so it was replaced by shrimp tempura, which was very nice. I chose the cobination of a Kobe beef croquette and shrimp cocktail. The skrimp cocktail consisted of two large shrimps with some chili sauce. The croquette was a little more special, with an interestig combination of different flavours in the beef ragout, and encased in a good, crispy enveloppe. We’d call it a posh bitterbal back home.

The mains were a miso-glazed black cod for Saskia and a Kobe steak for myself. Both portions were rather small. My steak was nice, but nothing special. I was hoping for an interesting new experience, trying the famous Kobe steak. Of course, it’s not Wagyu yet (the sake-drinking, massaged cow-meat), but it’s supposed to be better than ‘normal’ beef.

Oops. I just did some research, and apparently Kobe beef is the same a Wagyu, according to Wikipedia. But I am pretty sure that they are different in Megu. On the menu, is had Wagyu steak. A 6 ounce steak (that is a mere 170 grams) would cost 120 dollars. I’m pretty sure that my piece of meat, maybe about 4 ounces, would not be on the Restaurant Week menu for 35 dollars, including the starter and desert. And again, it wasn’t that special, flavourwise. Hmm…

Anyway, Saskia’s black cod was nice too, but also not too special. We both were not too impressed by the desert either. I had opted for the wine pairing option (a bargain at 30 dollars for three glasses), and they were great. So all in all, we had a nice dinner, for an affordable price, in a very nice location. But we didn’t get blown away by the experience at all.

I was already feeling a little under the weather that night, and Friday I felt sick enough to call in sick at work, and stay in bed. And did so for most of Saturday as well. On Sunday, I felt much better and after breakfast, we hopped on our bikes to follow the Hudson up north. We ended up at the top end of Central Park, where we bought some goodies and spent a couple of hours in the park, on our little blanket.

We then cycled back down along the East River, and had drinks in a posh place called the Water Club. We felt a little out of place, but had great views over the East River!

That was it for the weekend. And during last week, nothing really exciting happened, I think.

This weekend, Saskia is working. She started yesterday (Friday) as Ticket Manager (or something like that, Sas, correct me if I’m wrong) with the Fringe Festival and she’ll be doing that for the next two weeks! And furthermore, Ian Parker is in town! Or in the area, at least. He’ll be playing in New York City on Tuesday (Rehab) and Thursday (The Mercury Lounge). And on Saturday he’s playing at the Knowlton Riverfest, a blues festival in New Jersey. We’ll go and see him play, together with Wayne and Dana! So, a busy week ahead of us!

As you may or may not know, Bruce Springsteen is from New Jersey. So when I found out that he would be playing in New Jersey while we were in New York, it seemed only logical that we would try and get tickets to see him play. We found our tickets through Craigslist, and hoped that they would turn out to be valid!

Bruce and the E Street Band would actually be playing three concerts at the Giants Stadium (Sun, Mon & Thu). So in the morning, before went to work, we checked the reviews of the first show on Sunday. They were ravingly positive, so even more excited I went to my meeting in Midtown. Luckily, this meeting didn’t take too long, so I got home in time to change and get ready.

After checking about four times whether I really had the tickets in my pocket, we left for the 42nd Street bus terminal, from where buses would have a regular service to the Stadium. We bought some lunch and some water, found the ticket booth (scary people behind the ticket booth!) and then found our way to the busses. It was still very early, and therefor very quiet. I’m pretty sure things would have been completely different in Holland!

We got on the bus and after a short ride (15/20 minutes?) we arrived at Giants Stadium. It was amazingly quiet there. Hardly any people were at the stadium. Most people that were there were still on the parking lot, barbecuing and listening to their radios. Lots of Springsteen, of course. So this is what the Americans do on a concert or game night. They go to the stadium, and have a party in the parking lot. Sounds like a lot of fun!

We walked around for a bit, and then sat down in the shade, waiting for the gates to open around 18:00. A couple of dutchies sat down next to us and we kept quiet. Didn’t feel like mingling. Amazingly, a little later, two other dutch guys sat down between the other Dutchies and us. We still kept quiet while they chatted. How on earth does this happen in New Jersey?

When the gates opened, we got up and very easily made our way into the stadium. Turns out our tickets were valid! We had to leave behind our umbrella, but were allowed to bring a bottle of water in. Except for the cap, that had to be tossed in the bin. Interesting concept.

In Holland, by now everybody would be pushing to get in and run to find their spot. Of course, i have only been to the General Admission area in concerts, never had an assigned seat before. But everything went so incredibly smooth here, I was amazed. We both were.Very nice though. I guess this did show our non-nativeness off a bit, as for the next hour-and-a-half, we basically were some of the very few that actually entered the stadium, except for the people in the GA pit. This GA pit (General Admission) is the only place in the stadium where people do not have an assigned seat. It is a very small area in front of the stage. I think it will not hold more than a thousand people. Everybody else is seated. This is so strange. In Holland, the whole floor area would be General Admission, which means a lot more people would be able to fit into the stadium, I think.

We waited in the sun for it to go down, and towards 20:00 saw the stadium finally fill up. Around 20:30, The lights went out, the stadium started roaring and the band came out. Goosebumps from the noise of the crowd, and the realization that we were going to see The Boss play in his hometown!

Their opening song was “Out in the Street”. While I’m typing this, I realize that many or our readers are not big Springsteen fans, and many of these songs might nolt mean anything. But I’m going to write my whole review anyway, maybe I can convert some of you. I’ll be setting up a playlist in YouTube with all of these songs, so you can have a look ‘n listen…

One of the cool things of a BS&TESB concert is that you don’t know what you’re gonna get. In fact, the band doesn’t know it either. As Nils Lofgren, one of the guitarists, recently put it:

“I know that I’ll get a setlist that will surprise me the first night. And I know that Bruce won’t follow it. I know that the entire night will be one big audible (= leader changing things while playing [JN]), and I’ll be freaking out, and having a ball, and being extremely challenged. But as someone who is very comfortable in front of an audience, with an instrument, that’s a very exciting challenge.”

To illustrate this a bit more, from the 28 songs Bruce would play over the course of this concert, only 13 were played on Sunday! This keeps things interesting for the band, as well as for the people that come to see all shows. And there seem to be quite a few of those. As you can see from the written setlist here on the left, and the actual setlist, changes are being made while playing.

Anyway, on with the concert. It was great to hear the sound quality. Being this far away from the stage, and in such a stadium, I wasn’t expecting too much. But it was actually quite good, and most of the little talks between the songs could actually be understood.

The band regularly plays a cover or two, and ‘Summertime Blues’ has become a regular on the tour. This brings Clarence Clemons, the sax-player into the spotlight, doing the low-voiced lines in the song. It seems that nowadays, Clarence is not as lively as he used to be. He moves slower and just doesn’t go out into the big sax solo’s as much as he used to.

“Held up without a gun” is a very rare song to hear in a concert. In fact, they’ve only played it once or twice. It is an old song (1980), not on any of the regular albums, and deals with the price of gasoline. So it is very topical, as there is a lot of fuss about gasoline prices here (imagine, $4 per gallon, that is almost 70 Eurocents per litre. Tough times!). Sort of a punk-like, very short thing. Fun for it’s rarity-value rather than for the actual song.

After this they played ‘Hard to be a Saint in the City’. Another indication of the ad-hoc-ness of the concerts, as Bruce wasn;t sure in what key to play, trying some chords, and statign “We’re playing this in C tonight”. After some feedback from his band: “Yes, I know it’s in A. We’re playing it in C tonight. Let’s see if I can sing it that way. And If not, we’re gonna go back to A!”. Some might consider this unprofessional, but I just really like the whole feeling of this. It sort of creates an intimate atmosphere in a stadium with 40.000 people. It actually sounded a bit messy, but when Steve Van Zandt and Bruce start battling it out on their guitars, everything is cool again!

‘Sherry Darling’ was another one of those songs that hardly ever gets played, cool to hear that live. In ‘Because the Night’, Nils Lofgren got his two minutes of fame, going completely wild during his guitar solo. He even pulled of a summersault while playing (see the youtube video). Saskia’s neighbour actually asked her “Who wrote this song?”. I knew it was Bruce, and Patti Smith used the song and made it famous. But after some investigation back home, it turns out they co-wrote it. You learn something new every day!

WIth ‘Drive all Night’, another rarity from ‘The River’ was played. An emotional song, that had me covered in goosebumps again. After about two-and-a-half hours, the band went back to their dressing rooms, only to come back out again after 30 seconds or so. This is when the encores begin. It actually started with Bruce announcing that his wife Patti (also in the band as singer/guitarist) would be celebrating her birthday tomorrow, and let the audience sing for her. It turned out a lot of the family was present, as in the next song (’Girls in their summer clothes’), he came down to sing and dance with his daughter.

Then the band played ‘Thunder Road’, possibly my all-time favourite Springsteen song. Goosebumps again. When the band got ready to do ‘Born to Run’, a sure hit with any crowd, he brought out a guest drummer. This was actually Max Weinberg’s son, and he played a very energetic set on his fathers drums. After that they played ‘American Land’, and that seemed to be the real end to it. After three hours, that wasn’t bad at all.

However, Bruce escaped from the rest of the band doing their bows and waving to the crowd to pick up yet another sign with a request for a song. The crowd started going crazy, but Bruce said that he thought we couldn’t take it anymore. More crazyness. “But I don’t wanna hurt anyone” - “Are you sure” - Etc… But in the end, I think the whole stadium convinced him that there was enough energy left for one more song. Jesse Malin and Marah’s Dave Bielanko (whom I’d never heard of) joined them on stage (to make for a total of six guitars!) to play ‘Twist and Shout’. And his daughter joined her mother on stage, with some friends, to make for a strange, homely-feeling ending of the show.

All in all, they played for more than three hours. At the risk of sounding old, I would say that there are hardly any bands touring nowadays that could (and would want to) do the same thing. And then change the setlist dramatically every night, to keep it interesting for all. Every Bruce Springsteen concert that I’ve seen so far has been great, but this was by far the greatest! Check out the YouTube playlist for more impressions!

There really is live music to be heard very day of the week, without much trouble. When Yvon was visiting, we went to Rockwood Music Hall on Sunday. We walked in, and just like last time we were there, the band stopped playing. That was a pity, as they sounded pretty good (and slightly country). We ordered a drink and waited for the next band to start.

The next act was a singer/songwriter who had a couple of musicians around her. Although her voice was cool, and the songs were kind of nice, it didn’t do it for me. Saskia and Yvonne seemed to enjoy themselves a bit more. After her, a guy took to the stage with just a guitar. He had a strange, high-pitched voice and sang a few songs to an almost empty bar. I liked that gig a little more, but we’ve seen much better!

On Monday night, we were supposed to go and see another night of Kuntry Karaoke. However, we were all a little too tired, and decided to stay on Manhattan. We had dinner at a noddle bar, right across from Arlene’s Grocery. And that is where, every Monday night, they host the Hardrock Karaoke! So, after dinner we really had to go and check it out.

The show had already started when we walked in, and the place was full! The band (same line-up as in Pakhuis Wilhelmina, 2 guitars, bass, drums) was great, and played with ease. Their songlist contains over a 100 songs! The MC was not the most energetic man, but he kept things going. And the performers were all amazingly good, with only one or two exceptions. Definitely NOT a place to just get up and sing. At least, not for me. That will have to happen at Hank’s Saloon at some point, I guess

Th elast bit of live music reporting is about this Saturday., We saw that the River to River festival had an schduled an evening to celebrate the music of Johnny Cash. Since we both like his music a lot, this sounded like something we should check out. It was going to be held at the Winter Garden in the Financial District. We got on our bikes and cycled around the southern tip of Manhattan towards the Financial District. This is a very new area, along the Hudson, and has a nice bike & footpath.

We relaxed for a couple of hours, enjoying the sun and reading a bit. We went in around 19:00, the show would start at 20:00. It was already relatively packed, all chairs were taken so we found ourselves a spot on the marble stairs. And this is when we started worrying. Not only the staircase, but everything (walls, floors) were made out of stone & marble. And the place is covered by glass. This makes for sub-optimal acoustics…

When the show started, it was immediately clear that this venue is not meant for live, amplified music. The sound quality was really poor. We liked some of the performers, and their interpretations of Johnny Cash’s songs. But the quality was so bad (and the stairs so uncomfortable) that after only 45 minutes we decided to leave.

Now it is Monday, July 28th. And we’re about to leave for New Jersey. East Rutherford, to be precise. Giants Stadium at Meadowlands. To see Bruce Springsteen! We’ll have an update soon!

Sunday was going to be Museum day but first we had breakfast at the Pink Pony, a lovely French cafe with dreamy French waitresses which gave the place an over relaxed atmosphere. Yvon and I had yoghurt with granola and fruit (we had eggs and toast yesterday) and Jacco had strawberry pancakes which were very good! Then Jacco wanted to see if the guitar shop next door had a dobro guitar which he could check out. They had one but he was immediately warned by a blond long haired sales guy that it wasn’t a good one (very honest). Jacco tried it and the guy was right, it wasn’t good, for 400 dollars you expect a honky tonk sound you want to yodel too…or at least Jacco wants to.

We left and as we walked back to Rivington Street where a band was playing we came past a hairdresser where Jacco went in to ask if they, by any chance, had time to give him a haircut. They did and and while Jacco tried to explain about his desired rock and roll ‘kuif’ (Roland, what is that in English?) Yvon and I suddenly heard the owner say ‘warm weer vandaag he!’…turned out to be a man from Crooswijk, Rotterdam who left Holland 37 years ago and now lived with his wife in NY and owned this salon. He still had a Rotterdam accent and it was nice chatting with him. After a about 20 minutes Jacco was finished and very happy with having less hair (this weather makes you want to go bald!). We then decided we would finally go uptown to go to the Metropolitan Museum. I don’t know how we did it but when we arrived we had about an hour so we decided we would only see the Turner exposition and the roof top with the Jeff Koons sculptures and of course the amazing view. When the museum closed we left for a shady space in Cental Parkand Jacco offered to run to a deli and get us some drinks and chips. You know how you sometimes end up somewhere close to perfect for that moment? Well, this was the spot, just on the outside of the park, thick grass, beautiful trees, quiet with still a lot to see and a cool breeze to lighten the hot and sticky day. We lay and sat there for about two hours…mmmm. But we had another goal for that day…before you think that’s all we did that day, we wanted to show Yvon some more live music! So Yvon hailed her first cab home, we changed and left for the Living Room, one of the live music venues in Lower East Side. Unfortunately the band hadn’t started yet so we just drank a Margarita (Yvon’s first one!). We then decided we would first get some dinner before going to another live venue and ended up at a fusion/mexican place Jacco and I had been before. Despite the fact the place was almost empty (last time it was completely packed) we had a nice dinner and a another (bad) Margarita. Finally we were ready for live music and we went to Rockwood, a cosy venue where about 8 bands per night perform. We saw two completely different acts. The first was a girl on electric guitar with a bass player, drummer and another guy on electric guitar. Her music and voice were nice but it was hard to understand her lyrics and we wondered why she didn’t use an acoustic guitar. That would have given it the warm sound we missed (as if we know anything about it…). The last act was a guy solo on guitar who sang Bob Dylan like songs. He looked quite shy but at that time he was playing before an almost empty bar and thanked us several times for staying and listen to him. Tired but satisfied with our ‘cultural’ day we walked home where Yvon now had the whole apartment to hearself.

Monday we started the day with a skype call with my mother and Teun. They found it very special to see both of us on the NY web cam now. Because I had to prepare for an interview I had that afternoon we went to the Orchard cafe for breakfast and wifi. At two I went to my interview in Chelsea and Yvon went to buy new sunglasses (hers kept dropping a glas) but after half an hour we met up again because due to some misunderstanding the two managers I had a meeting with weren’t in the office. At the Apple store I send an email to arrange for another meeting (so easy being able to do that at the Mac’s there) and Yvon and I went to the Bus Stop Cafe for lunch and to 11th Street Cafe for coffee. We then wanted to go to the river and took a subway near to Pier 17. There we boarded a free ferry to IKEA. I know, it sounds weird but it’s a nice ride to the south of Brooklyn and upon arrival you can immediately take a ferry back,..and again it breaks the heat because we were still in the middle of our heatwave. We then strolled along Pier 17 a bit and went for a drink at a cafe next to Fulton Market where Jacco joined us. We wandered what to do that evening and decided we would like to check out the Hard Rock Karaoke near our place. After a wine at the Marshall stack and noodles at ?? we went to the karaoke bar. They had just started and it was already completely packed. It seemed quite similar to the one in Amsterdam, relaxed atmosphere, extremely good band, mixed crowd, with one apparent difference,…every act was good! No way one of us thought we could go up there, they were all professional singers or very, very good amateurs. So we enjoyed another night of fun live music.

Tuesday we took the the subway downtown and went on a one hour boat trip along the south side of Manhattan. A very good start of the day. It was a bit foggy but we still had the nice views. After that we strolled along Wall Street and visited the Trinity Church. Out on Wall Street again we got a bit nervous of the huge amount of fire trucks and policemen in bomb suites. Yvon asked what was wrong and apparantly there had been a fire in one of the sky skraper’s elevetors, but it was under control. Relieved, we walked to the west waterfront where we had lunch at cafe alongside a small harbour. The spot was lovely with beautifull view on Jersey and in the shade,…so we thought because when we got up Yvon was heavily sunburned. We bought soem Aloevera and tried to take a cab home but this time it wasn’t that easy. We finally got on and this was one of those suicidal trips again. When he dropped us of about half a mile from our place and said that we could walk from here I didn’t know what i was hearing. I told him that I wanted him to drop us off where we had aske him too but he looked at me with a ‘couldn’t care less’face and said he already turned the meter off. Yvon gave him the tipp less money and left his cab when we saw a girl approaching with a large suitcase. We had been dumped for a airport ride! Up till Yvon’s apartment I was fuming and coming up with thing we should have said. To late of course but at least I know what to do next time. At the apartment Yvon covered herself up so she wouldn’t be exposed to the sun anymore and decided she wanted to go to the movie (Tell no one, a mystery drama) while I had to go to my writing course in the West Village. We met up again at her place and luckily her skin felt not too bad. After a quick shat we called it an early night.

Wednesday, after breakfast at Orchard Cafe (of course) we took the subway to Bryant Park to search for a theater book shop we found on the internet. It was just 10 minutes walk from the park and what a perfect shop! I think we spend around an hour there and Yvon looked like a little girl in a candy store! With a full bag we bought a juice at Jamba Juice and sat in the park still gleeming over our purchases. Well, mine was just a ‘boring’ book about ‘the new rules of marketing’ but Yvon bought plays of Becket, a book with monoloques for women and a guide how to study for an American accent! We then briefly visited the old Library where Yvon took some arty pictures of me before we had to run to the subway to be in time for one of the Summer Play Festival plays. It turned out we had the last two tickets to see ‘Future me’, a very impressive play about a guy convicted for pedophilia. Because we didn’t know what the play was going to be about it took us a bit off guard and it got me thinking about it for quite a while. The strenght of the play was that the play was written from the man’s perspective, which it very honest and trouble some. Although Yvon and I could have used a drink after seeing this I didn’t have time because I had to go to a training at the Fringe Festival, where I will be working as a Box Office Manager from August 8th until the 24th.
The training was more an introduction to the box office system during the festival but it made me very enthousiastic! After the training I met Jacco and Yvon at a bar near the restaurant ‘One if by land, two if by sea’ where we had dinner reservations. For a description of that evening; read Jacco’s blog entry.

Thursday, Yvon’s last day! Because I had a n early morning appointment at the doctor to check my B12 level I met with a very fresh and non hang over Yvon at 11:30 at the New Museum of Modern Art. The week before we didn’t see everything so we wanted to see the remaining exhibition. We then walked met up with Jacco on Grand Street for lunch and goodbye and afterwards I showed Yvon the Pearl River, a huge Chinese shop with many affordable gifts. Because Yvon had already packed her bags we had time left to have our last drink at the Orchard Cafe where we briefly wrote down what we did during the past week took (a lot!) and where Yvon showed me some Photoshop tricks. At 18:30 it was time to get goning and Yvon hailed her last cab. Turned out to be rush hour so it took a little bit longer than expected but she still had enough time to check in her bags and prepare for the flight home. We said goodbye at customs, looking back on a wonderful time together in NY!

Our fourth guest arrived last Wednesday, my sister! Despite the fact that she is not too fond of flying (understatement) she got on the plain, crossed the ocean and arrived safe and sound at JFK airport. It was very good seeing her come through customs and to be able to hug her again! We took a cab to the Lower East Side where Yvon got to see her apartment for the next week. She was able to rent a room in a apartment of a Swedish girl. This girl has two bedrooms but because she was going on a holiday to Sweden she rented out both of her rooms, one to Yvon, the other to two Austrian girls. The latter departed on Sunday so for the rest of her stay Yvon had the apartment all for herself. After she left her bags in the apartment we walked one block (!) to our home where Jacco was. By that time it was already 22:00 so after a small half hour I took Yvon back to her apartment where she could finally go to sleep.

The next day was the first of a NY heatwave but Yvon seemed to deal with it quite well. She had a good night rest and looked very energetic. I took her to my favorite breakfast cafe and afterwards she had a haircut at my very weird hairdresser. She was already warned through my stories about him so when we entered and he, without saying hello, asked her if she was married, she loudly said ‘Yes I am!’. I stood behind her, wandering if he really said that when I heard him, a little of guard now, asking her again; ‘No,…are you Mary? Hahaha! This seemed more logical but when he told Yvon that Mary was a colleague we lost him again. I think he’s one of the the weirdest men I have ever met but a very good hairdresser. Yvon looked good and much more suited to the hot weather for the next couple of days. We then went walking through Soho, had some lunch on the sidewalk, went to The Strand, a book store that resembles De Slegte and took a subway back. In the evening we met Jacco and went to Lombardi’s, supposedly the oldest pizza place in town, where we shared a mega pizza. We ended the evening with a 23:30 coffee at Think Coffee at Bleecker Street and a stroll home.

Friday started with a subway ride to Brooklyn where Yvon came with me to the Arabic American Family Center where I help women with their understanding of the English language. We were assigned to two girls who were studying for their immigration exams. Amazing to hear how good their English was considering the fact that one of them had arrived 8 months ago (Iman) and the other just 5 months ago (Marocco)! You could tell they were educated girls and they were (again) very motivated to learn. It was nice having Yvon next to me in this class and she had some good teaching tips. Especially about asking if they know certain words they read. This gets you in the difficult situation where you have to explain words like ‘politics’ and the difference between ‘President’, ‘represent’ and ‘House of representatives’. By the time I get back I will know the whole political system in the USA.

After class we bought some lunch and went to Prospect Park, a beautiful big park with large trees that give you plenty of shade. By then it was 95 degrees Fahrenheit so we had to take it slow. At about 16:00 we went home, changed clothes and the three of us went to Brooklyn again. This time to see a film which was part of a festival. Althought they call it the Roof Top Film Festival they arrange spaces out side on whatever level so this Friday it was on a lawn next to a Automotive School. We sat on one of the folding chairs but there were also people picknicking on blankets. The evening started with a band who will probably sound a lot better when they are not drunk. Then the films started. There were about 6 short films about the country side of the US, some of which the writer or director was present. I will take too long to explain them all but they were very entertaining although the last film was mostly gross. It was sort of a documentary about an elderly lady that had a lavatory outside the house and for 10 minutes she only talked about…shitting. The term she used several times was ‘deliver the ashole baby’ while gleeming over her last toilet visit. Very ‘ehw’ but funny. Having seen that we could use a good drink and luckily for us the evening was sponsered by a liqour company called ‘Cabana Cachacha’ so Yvon had her first cocktail at Bar Matchless. A very nice and local evening that ended with a cab ride home over the Willamsburg Bridge.

Saturday started with laundry and breakfast at Olympia, our Greek diner. At midday we went to the Meatpacking District where we showed Yvon the Apple Store, Chelsea Market, some Meatpacking streets and the building of our first NY home. At the beginning of the evening we went to 42 Street where we saw a performance of Studio 52, the project that makes theater with children. The evening was called ‘Act your own age’ and plays were written specifically for each child by a professional actor. Then the performances were rehearsed one on one during a week outside NY and tonight we could see the result. There were eight very funny and crafted plays. Some children were too shy to really act but most of them did a very good job. It certainly served it’s purpose of placing the children in the spotlight. Again a very local evening which we all enjoyed very much. At the end of the plays we took a cab (death ride this time) to the East Village where we had Italian cuisine at Frank’s. Jacco and I had been there the week before and the food was as good as the first time. Another late night stroll home. This is so nice about NY, you walk home at 2:00 and it’s as busy as the same time during the day.

Rest of the week will follow…