So did anyone guess my F.O.D. show counter currently reads : ‘40’? Uhuh, that’s right, well you could say 42, if the last Dookie-re-enacting show in November 2012, and Hans’ solo (Han Solo, get it?) performance at the Red Cloud release show also qualify. But let’s say they don’t. Their Groezrock performance last weekend being my number 40 is a nice milestone. Also that one being the last one (for a looooong time) with Stijn on vocal harmony ‘slash’ dancing and shenanigans duties seems fitting. Some shoes to fill there, Roel! But I’m sure you’ll do just fine, we got your ass covered… or wait, no, … Whatever.
Now then, those 40 shows since august 2012 have left me with a shitload of great memories, dozens of new and awesome friends, a drumkit bargain for my 7-year old son, more goosebumps than my skin can handle, a few lumps in my throat and a teary eye or two… A few highlights you say? Well I might just do that!
August 10, 2012. The ‘Thanks But No Thanks-records’ showcase stage at Kloemprock festival (RIP), was the first time I watched them perform. Little did I know back then where this story would go, but I have to mention that one, just because…
July 12, 2013. Mainstage at Kloemprock (RIP) this time, at the final edition of said festival. At that time, their first full album, Ontario, had been released for four months, and you could tell that people had really picked it up, the atmosphere that night was great. I met ‘De Vinger’ for the first time, and got that memory on a photo by the awesome Fientje Timmermans. I sometimes find myself digging up the review I did for that night, and reading it again and again with a big smile on my face…January 11, 2014. First time I went abroad to see them. The Pit in Terneuzen, Holland it was. Not at all a memorable show when it comes to crowd turnout, but hell it was a great night. I took three of the loveliest females on the planet along with me (probably coming in at places two, three and four in the all-time-females-ranking, in no particular order…) and we got into the venue as guests. We joined the band for a meal and free backstage drinks, and we met the killer dudes in the 101’s. Who have since then also become friends! Thank you ladies and gents, it’s a pleasure reminiscing that evening… (that one fashion-wannabe-streetpunk kid moshing shit up all on his own, priceless!!) (no, it wasn’t me)
May 1, 2014. Riorock/Pre-Groezrock showcase. Hanging out in and around the venue way before it opened, with the band and a lot of friends I didn’t even know a year before that day, was great. The line up Kurt had fixed that night was also top notch, with Restorations, Gameface and effin’ Menziners playing in a small venue! Meeting the Gameface guys in real life, after I had loved that band for 15 years was incredible. Seeing them getting along and making friends with the F.O.D. dudes was the best. I’m still proud of the review for the new Gameface album I wrote a few weeks prior to that show. I’m still speechless when I think about the lovely words Todd said about it. I still get goosebumps when I remember Hans messaging me that he couldn’t resist listening to the album after reading my review. At the end of the day, everyone in F.O.D. was hooked on Gameface, and we all had great times hanging out after that show, and at Groezrockfestival itself the day after.
August 31, 2014. Paris this time, on a bill with Masked Intruder and Ten Foot Pole. Uhuh… I took four friends with me on an awesome roadtrip and we witnessed a killer show in the really cool ‘petit bain’ venue. It’s a boat on the river Seine. Yes you read that right, a boat… That performance will also always be remembered as “The Breaking Of The Curse Of Joëlle”. The people involved will know what I’m on about.
September 27, 2014. Funtime festival. Probably one of the worst shows they ever played, truth be told. But I will always have fond memories of it. It was the first time I took my family with me to see them perform, and my son and daughter got a shout-out from Hans, and a song (Counting Numbers) dedicated to them, as they requested it. Good times were had by all.
October 10, 2014. F.O.D. fest/release show for ‘Tricks Of The Trade’. One month after that sketchy Funtime gig, they totally nailed it at this special night with an all-star line up to celebrate the new album. I mean really, what a night that was… I remember screaming along to all the songs, old and new, probably so horribly off-pitch that it must’ve distracted Hans from time to time. Goddammit I had the time of my life. Not to mention a namedrop in the album’s ‘thank you list’, and in a song. How about that hey…
Welcome To The Show
January 31, 2015. Just a small show, but it was my birthday that night. I had told Pierre long time ago, right after I mailed him the very first time, that I would love to hear an Undeclinable Ambuscade song in Hans’ voice with Stijn’s harmonies, and they had played ‘Lonely And Burning’ on quite a few occasions ever since. I, however, had also been talking to Hans (bored him to death more likely…) about how I would love to hear them play ‘7 Years’. He always countered my whining with some ‘excuse’ about the song needing two guitars and such. A few weeks before this day, however, I picked up my whining again, and I started using the extra ‘leverage’ of it being my birthday and all that… And it worked! They played that song, and I couldn’t have been happier… (well maybe a little bit if they ever play it again, with Hanne on female vocals for that one epic part, and maybe even Roel on second guitar because, you know, he’ll be around for some time…) (Well there is that For I Am release show coming up in a month. Just sayin’…) (wink wink, nudge nudge)
7 Years
April 9 – April 12, 2015. Spain. Ooooowww yeeesssshhhhhh, me and five other friends (AKA ‘crewke’) joined the band on their four-day-tour ripping through the country from Barcelona to Madrid to Donostia and back to Vidreres. Those were four EPIC shows, with the crowd turnout surprising us every single night. Spending hours and hours in one van with those friends and not being fed up with them at the end of the trip, says it all really. In fact, after the tour, we all couldn’t wait to meet again a few days later for another show. Entire books can be written about those four days, but really, you had to be there to know how awesome it truly was. (Voorhuid!) Can we do that again someday? Soon’ish…
May 2, 2015. Groezrock festival. One year and one day after playing the pre-show, here they are, at the real thing. Opening up one of the stages on the second festival day, and filling up the tent, means a lot. People had to crawl out of their sleeping bags and ignore monstrous hangovers to make it in time. But they did, and they saw a great performance with a lovely atmosphere in the crowd. The smiles on everyone’s faces were a sight for sore eyes. I brought the one I love so dearly, and our son to the festival, and they both really enjoyed it. I got to introduce them to so many of my friends that I would never have met if it weren’t for F.O.D. being around.
I tip my hat to them, and say goodbye (not farewell!!) to Stijn as he embarks on a long, well deserved journey with his family. I have ended previous posts about F.O.D. with this particular line, but what the hell, here it is again, onwards to another 40 shows and more…
Carry on, gentlemen. Carry on…
