A Weekend in Holland
On August 24, 2002, the Golden Years Festival took place in Egmond aan Zee. On a rainy morning, we headed towards Mönchengladbach to pick up two good friends and off we went to Holland. The highways in Holland were jam-packed and we got stuck right in the midst of all the traffic - what an opportunity to check out the scenery:-)
We finally made it to Egmond around 4:30 in the afternoon. We checked into our hotel and went for a walk around town. When we got back, we ran into Bas Siewerten and several musicians and talked a little before we returned to our room. Time to hit the pillows with our son Fabian ...
While we were snoozing, staffers worked fiercely to set up for the show. Things took longer than expected and folks were crowding the entrance to the concert hall. Once the doors opened, we walked in without any further delays. Within minutes the DJ's from Radio 192 started entertaining the crowd.
After I picked up Tina from our hotel room, the Happy Tunes (a Dutch band) were on stage. We went to the bar for while and got to talk with some more folks involved in the show, while the Happy Tunes were successfully warming up the fans. While the stage set was being changed, the DJ's came back on. I took the opportunity to get out, cool down and catch some fresh air. Backstage, the Rubettes sang acapella - "Sugar Baby Love" - p h e n o m e n a l!
Back on stage, Mud was performing. They were scheduled to play in Eindhoven but had to cancel due to an accident. The late Les Gray*, lead singer of Mud needed help to get on stage because of his injury - but their performance lacked nothing! The band was playing at their best, the audience was going crazy and several encores were given!
After a short intermission, the Rubettes hit the stage with the night's main performance. And what a performance it was!!! Tina ran off to wake Fabian - he absolutely insisted on seeing the band and was fascinated by the drums (go figure?) ...
*Les Gray, the leader and lead singer of Mud sadly lost his battle against cancer and diabetes on February 21, 2004.