I slept all the way from Nijmegen to Emmen but still feel really sleepy upon arrival. Food was just about ready to be served. The soup and the main were delicious. We load in for the final time of this tour. Both me and Vince claim to have another weeks worth of energy in us. I don’t know about Vince but I think I’m kidding myself. I was looking forward to completing the final show and having a good drink. News comes in from the UK that storms are forecast for the journey home. We agree to be leaving the venue at 9am. Alarms are set. Whilst waiting for the show to start we talk with some of the people from the squat. This is my third visit to Emmen so there are a few familiar faces. We watch a live stream of protests from Den Haag. We also get news of the street rave in Nijmegen that we had tried to perform at in the afternoon. Just after we left the police evicted everyone.
Someone in the venue is having a birthday so it’s filled with balloons by the time Dave takes the stage. He’s a lot more direct with his words tonight. A lot more bite. Probably his best performance of the tour. It’s a shame we couldn’t record for the film. Vince also plays a solid set and reminds us all that tour is coming to a close. Surely there’s three more shows.
The Yallas take to the stage about 11pm. It’s quite hot in the room. The wood stove is burning. My voice was weak but I only need to do this one more time. People were asking about Kaassouffle before we’d even played a note. Someone else said that everyone is talking about that song. We smash through our set again. I am quickly running out of steam. Mid song I mouth to Dave “I’m fucked” then tear into the next line of the song. People are dancing and singing along. We lose a bit of momentum when Will snaps two strings and is forced to change both strings. Me, Vince, and Joel attempt to cover it with an unrehearsed jam freestyle of The Clash’s Magnificent Seven. Normal service resumes with Retaliation. Rock n Roll Kid was especially brutal tonight. I had no worries about losing my voice anymore. I give more than I’ve got. I was lost in my own darkness again at the end. My screams are pure horror. Yet again the crowd want more. We play Kaassouffle for the last time on tour. We get everyone to crouch down during the Middle 8. When everyone jumps up its pure bedlam. What a way to end the tour.
After the show everyone is offering us everything they’ve got beer, rum, homebrews, and local versions of Jäger. We drink and talk with people for a while but we all really need a good nights sleep before the journey home. We go to our rooms. Will goes to find some water. “Did you find any?” I ask upon my return. He replies with “No, it doesn’t matter because someone is playing Maggot Brain by Funkadelic” Will looks pretty pleased with that. Me and Dave piss ourselves laughing. We get into our beds and its lights out. I wonder what Dave will sleep talk about tonight.
