Post by Esther on Apr 10, 2010 5:56:32 GMT -5
So about two years ago I started listening to Milow. They (or he, whatever) are a band from Belgium and I love their songs! So about 18 months ago I went to a concert in Utrecht and Ian Britt was supporting them. Before I went to the concert I listened to some of his songs and I really liked what I heard. And while I was at the concert I really became a fan. Ever since that day I’ve been listening to his music on and off.
Then about 3 (?) months ago he announced a Dutch tour to promote his new album, Box (which is fucking great btw, I bought it yesterday). I’d sent him a few messages on hyves (it’s like the dutch version of myspace, but cooler
) asking him if he’d come to Leiden, which is basically where my parents live and I am during the weekends. And guess what, it said “april 9th Leiden”.
And yesterday it was finally april 9th! Me and my neighbor (she’s a good friend of mine) went to Plato, a record store, to meet up with another friend of mine because Ian was doing an instore gig to promote his album. When we got there, I didn’t see him, so I just started looking at cd’s. (ended up buying a Josh Ritter and Rodrigo y Gabriela cd) Then all of the sudden I hear “Esther?” and Ian is standing next to me! I got very excited about the fact that he knew my name He gave me 3 kisses (which surprised me because people in England usually only do 2 right?) and talked a bit about his gig in Middelburg the night before and how he forgot the words to one of his older songs that someone requested. Then he went to the back of the store to grab his guitar and played us (and a few others) about 7 songs. If I’m correct the setlist was: Modern Tales of Woe, Run Lola Run, Boom Boom, The Way You Make Me Feel (MJ cover), Open Sea, Dedicate (probably my favourite song) and Free.
When he was done playing we bought his cd (for only 5 euros. I would have payed 20 for it, but he sold it for only 5. “the bargain of the century” as he said himself.) and talked a little bit more. We took a picture with his camera – actually, we took 3 because they all turned out to be blurry
and then we said goodbye and went home again.
After I had dinner and listened to his album I went back to Leiden (I live about a 15 minute bike ride away from Leiden) to meet up with the same friend as before (my neighbor stayed home because she was feeling a bit sick) and one of my best friends (the girl who went to Josh Ritter me, if that means anything to you). When we arrived at the Qbus (I’d never been there before. Never even heard of it) it was almost completely empty. After some time the first band started playing and Ian showed up and sat with us for some time. We had lots of fun laughing at the band because well… as Ian said “they’d be good, if it weren’t my grandpa sitting up there”. (apparently people in Brittain like to laugh at other people hahah) Turns out they were better than the woman who was up next.. because well….. she was just weird! But I pretended to like it and smile because Ian was staying with her that night. – Although when I talked to Ian afterwards he told us that she was “fucking weird” xD so we definitely weren’t the only ones who thought that. Luckily more people showed up.. but it was still pretty empty. That sucked because Ian is amazing and deserves much more attention than he’s getting! But he joked about it saying all his 14 friends were there. – he also joked about the Q-bus because it has sort of a 60s vibe, but not really. He actually said "out of all the places in Leiden we managed to find the only shitty one!" xD
Then Ian started playing, a longer setlist than before of course! It was the same songs + Me and My Friend Cupid, Life Ain’t Made, Sweetness, These Days and a few others, but I’m afraid I forgot! I took some picture (for the first time with my new lens, so this was really an experiment). I’ll post some of them here too! Afterwards we talked for a bit, my other friend bought his album too, and we took two more pictures together.
When the three of us had left Ian (he had to do some sort of interview) we went to a random (this was the word of the evening, so it seemed) café in Leiden I ran into a friend of mine. So that was really cool! It was nice catching up with her (her boyfriend from England just moved here to live with her!)
Overall it was a great night! I saw some interesting things (read: weird artists) and had loads of fun! Seriously, I laughed a LOT! (I always laugh a lot, but this was even more than usual. He’s a funny guy!) My friend is actually still telling me at the moment that she thinks he’s so funny and she had such a great night!
So if you ever have the chance to see him live (this is for people in Holland and the UK), go for it! Because I’m sure you won’t regret it
- he’s probably coming back here later this year. In the summer, but when I told him we’d all be in different countries he was very surprised to learn we actually have a break then! Because he hasn’t for years…
Sorry I bored you with this long story! I mostly wrote it done for myself so I can read this later and think “oh yeah.. that was a really great night!”
EDIT - Thanks to Miriam, the friend who went to both gigs with me, I now have the exact words from what Ian said about Q-bus. Apparently she has talent for remembering funny quotes.
Me & Ian:
Ian singing:
Then about 3 (?) months ago he announced a Dutch tour to promote his new album, Box (which is fucking great btw, I bought it yesterday). I’d sent him a few messages on hyves (it’s like the dutch version of myspace, but cooler
) asking him if he’d come to Leiden, which is basically where my parents live and I am during the weekends. And guess what, it said “april 9th Leiden”.And yesterday it was finally april 9th! Me and my neighbor (she’s a good friend of mine) went to Plato, a record store, to meet up with another friend of mine because Ian was doing an instore gig to promote his album. When we got there, I didn’t see him, so I just started looking at cd’s. (ended up buying a Josh Ritter and Rodrigo y Gabriela cd) Then all of the sudden I hear “Esther?” and Ian is standing next to me! I got very excited about the fact that he knew my name
He gave me 3 kisses (which surprised me because people in England usually only do 2 right?) and talked a bit about his gig in Middelburg the night before and how he forgot the words to one of his older songs that someone requested. Then he went to the back of the store to grab his guitar and played us (and a few others) about 7 songs. If I’m correct the setlist was: Modern Tales of Woe, Run Lola Run, Boom Boom, The Way You Make Me Feel (MJ cover), Open Sea, Dedicate (probably my favourite song) and Free.When he was done playing we bought his cd (for only 5 euros. I would have payed 20 for it, but he sold it for only 5. “the bargain of the century” as he said himself.) and talked a little bit more. We took a picture with his camera – actually, we took 3 because they all turned out to be blurry
and then we said goodbye and went home again.After I had dinner and listened to his album I went back to Leiden (I live about a 15 minute bike ride away from Leiden) to meet up with the same friend as before (my neighbor stayed home because she was feeling a bit sick) and one of my best friends (the girl who went to Josh Ritter me, if that means anything to you
). When we arrived at the Qbus (I’d never been there before. Never even heard of it) it was almost completely empty. After some time the first band started playing and Ian showed up and sat with us for some time. We had lots of fun laughing at the band because well… as Ian said “they’d be good, if it weren’t my grandpa sitting up there”. (apparently people in Brittain like to laugh at other people hahah) Turns out they were better than the woman who was up next.. because well….. she was just weird! But I pretended to like it and smile because Ian was staying with her that night. – Although when I talked to Ian afterwards he told us that she was “fucking weird” xD so we definitely weren’t the only ones who thought that. Luckily more people showed up.. but it was still pretty empty. That sucked because Ian is amazing and deserves much more attention than he’s getting! But he joked about it saying all his 14 friends were there. – he also joked about the Q-bus because it has sort of a 60s vibe, but not really. He actually said "out of all the places in Leiden we managed to find the only shitty one!" xDThen Ian started playing, a longer setlist than before of course! It was the same songs + Me and My Friend Cupid, Life Ain’t Made, Sweetness, These Days and a few others, but I’m afraid I forgot! I took some picture (for the first time with my new lens, so this was really an experiment). I’ll post some of them here too! Afterwards we talked for a bit, my other friend bought his album too, and we took two more pictures together.
When the three of us had left Ian (he had to do some sort of interview) we went to a random (this was the word of the evening, so it seemed) café in Leiden I ran into a friend of mine. So that was really cool! It was nice catching up with her (her boyfriend from England just moved here to live with her!)
Overall it was a great night! I saw some interesting things (read: weird artists) and had loads of fun! Seriously, I laughed a LOT! (I always laugh a lot, but this was even more than usual. He’s a funny guy!) My friend is actually still telling me at the moment that she thinks he’s so funny and she had such a great night!
So if you ever have the chance to see him live (this is for people in Holland and the UK), go for it! Because I’m sure you won’t regret it
- he’s probably coming back here later this year. In the summer, but when I told him we’d all be in different countries he was very surprised to learn we actually have a break then! Because he hasn’t for years…Sorry I bored you with this long story! I mostly wrote it done for myself so I can read this later and think “oh yeah.. that was a really great night!”
EDIT - Thanks to Miriam, the friend who went to both gigs with me, I now have the exact words from what Ian said about Q-bus. Apparently she has talent for remembering funny quotes.
Me & Ian:
Ian singing:
