Before every show I play in the Knoflook in Den Bosch I pay a visit to this little statue. I’m not sure who he is but it must be maritime related. Anyway I quite like the guy. We get to the venue. Vince goes to sleep. Me, Will, and Dave listen to some Black Flag, Traffic, and Butthole Surfers in the newly redecorated living room. Tonight’s show at Knoflook will be different for me as I will be playing in the brand new venue downstairs with full P.A. System. On Fridays at Knoflook they have a kitchen and people are served a beautiful three course vegan meal for a couple of euros. Diners are expected to wash their own dishes and also help with the kitchen pots and pans. Will and David offer to clean the kitchen pots.
At dinner I sit with my friend Lotte a.k.a. Bettie Akkemaai. I toured with Lotte in July. We have a good chat and a catch up. She even helps me finish my meal. I was struggling with the spices in the main course. It was based on an Indonesian recipe. Inbetween courses a guy called Ivo who was dressed in traditional Dutch clogs, a red boiler suit, and some shades asked me if I would like to play his violin. I struggle to even hold it. People around the table are laughing at my struggles. I ask Ivo to join The Yallas later when we play. He agrees.
After the meal the bar closes and we all move downstairs to the venue. I must admit it’s pretty cold. I’m not looking forward to playing barefoot on the cold tiled floor. Vince and Dave go about their sets and the crowd are enjoying both and the room begins to warm up. I get behind the stage curtain as Dave recites the Keith Moon poem. I take off my shows and socks. The floor is so cold that I can feel the tendons cramp a little in my feet. I take a swig of rum and honey. Bam They drums, bass, and guitar kick in. I burst to life and charge through the curtains. I’m impressed with the sound. During Kaassouffle I somehow manage to get everyone in the room to crouch down and jump up to the chorus. Insane. A Finnish girl in the crowd hears me talk Finnish at the end of SBHC. She shouts out “Ma rakastan sua” which means I love you. During The Sound of the Kraken I climb over the bar to Lotte who is working. She sings along the chorus with me. I accidentally smash my head on a light above the bar and they all go out. Ivo joins us during Credit Card Cunch to play some really dirty violin over the top. It’s just how I like it. I invite Lotte to join us for Retaliation. She belts out the chorus with her beautiful voice. She adds in little bits of support in the verses. I somehow end up wearing Ivo’s traditional Dutch clogs. Dancing around wearing only my pants and clogs is possibly the most bizarre thing I’ve ever done. The room is no longer cold and we drink in the venue for about two hours before we move back up to the main bar. I only have one more beer. I mainly spend the time talking to this girl about languages. She also talks to me about the show. Telling me that she found it to be a very personal performance. 
I finish my beer and go to my room. Will has the same idea. Will gets the bed on the floor. I get the top bunk. I wake up in the middle of the night for a piss. When I return I have to step over Will to get to the ladder. I misjudge everything and end up falling off the ladder and taking the ladder with me. I narrowly avoid Will. A short time later a man enters our room and lays next to Will before getting out and leaving. Somehow the Knoflook cat also got into our room and slept at the side of me. Which I don’t mind, but when it climb off the ladder it jumped on Will. Poor fella had it all last night.
Today we got up early to head to Nijmegen. We have breakfast at a cafe in the centre. We were due to perform at a street rave, carnival type demonstration. At the time we were due to start the organisers are arguing with the Police. The police say we can only perform if we are acoustic. That would’ve been ideal however all our acoustic equipment was on the other side of the city. We were also running out of time with our schedule. We decide to leave the organisers and other bands to argue with the authorities while we get on our way to Emmen. We have time to sneak a very quick drink in the Bijstand. I’m now laid in the back of the camper resting up for our final show tonight. I’ll be sad when it’s over.
On a positive note though. Last night Me and Will sat and wrote a list of songs that could be our next album.
