henke on 11/8/2015 at 12:45
Hi guys I'm back! Been vacationing in Amsterdam and the Wilderness Festival in Oxfordshire, UK the past week, with fellow TTLGer Jeshibu. Here's a little travelogue in pictures and words.
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/henke_in_amsterdam.jpgAMSTERDAM
I had a good time in Amsterdam. Saw the sights, went on a boat, looked at the paintings in a museum, smoked weed, lost cap, ate the most delicious waffle, bought new cap, bought a book, an album and a game. Also visited Zaandam, which is a nice place.
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/Amsterdam1.jpgInline Image:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/Amsterdam3.jpgTHAT FUCKING LONDON TUBE STRIKE LAST THURSDAY
All the travel went well, except for the tube strike in London which made us miss our coach. We ended up having to spend close to £100 and several hours worth of dragging heavy luggage around a London that was jam-packed with traffic due to overcrowded roads before we got on a train taking us to the festival.
WILDERNESS
Cornbury Park in Charlbury, beautiful place. Hills and valleys and ponds and big old trees. Swarming with hipsters and weirdos and vendors selling delicious but overpriced food.
WILDERNESS HIGHLIGHT #1: AURORA
Aurora wasn't even on my radar. I stumbled on her performance at the Band Stand stage when there was a gap in my schedule when nothing else I wanted to see was on, and I was just blow away. She's a Norwegian girl, about 20, and just bursting with energy. That energy and excitement was infectious. On the last song pretty much everyone in the audience spontaneously got up and started dancing. It's hard to describe in words but it felt magical.
WILDERNESS HIGHLIGHT #2: THE CRICKET GAME
Now, I'm not a cricket fan, and even after watching this 2 hour match I'm still not sure how it's played, or which of the players belong to which team, but this was still an enormously entertaining experience. Partly thanks to the announcer, who had been drinking, and kept making dirty jokes and inventing elaborate backstories for the players. The other thing that made it entertaining was the fact that every 10 minutes or so the game would be interrupted by one, or many,
streakers. And these streakers came in all shapes and sizes. Men, women, 3 year olds. The last one was a pregnant lady wearing nothing but a fox mask. I saw more nudity during this cricket match than I saw in Amsterdam's red light district.
WILDERNESS HIGHLIGHT #3: BJÖRK
My favourite performances were Shamir, Hercules & Love Affair, Caravan Palace, and Ibibio Sound Machine, but the most memorable show would still have to be Björk's. She came on stage wearing a semi-transparent insect mask, and a beautiful red dress which had a big round sheet of ice frozen to the front of it. Behind her was her orchestra, about 15 people, violin players, cellos. All dressed in white, looking classy. Behind them was an enormous screen showing close up footage of insects having sex. The whole thing was as weird as you'd hope a Björk show would be.
OTHER PERFORMANCES
Alexia Coley, Låpsley, Francesca Lombardo, Camille O'Sullivan and the Wilderness Orchestra were all good. Damien Lazarus & The Ancient Moons seemed pretty good but I only saw a little bit of them. Jerry Williams, Benjamin Clementine, Asgeir and CC Smugglers were meh. Roisin Murphy was a bit of a let down, she just seemed bored up there.
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/artist_Ibibio.jpgIbibio Sound Machine
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/artist_Camille.jpgCamille O'Sullivan and the Wilderness Orchestra doing Radiohead covers
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/artist_Lapsley.jpgLåpsley
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https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/90297811/Photos/Amsterdam-Wilderness/Fresh_cok.jpgFresh 100% cok
Good times, good times. :)
twisty on 11/8/2015 at 13:26
I thought they ended up banning the sale of weed there?Either way, happy to see that you only lost your cap afterwards and survived the bicycles. It was freely available when I lived there though (even the bikes were free sometimes, in their own way). I was there for a year from what I can remember.
demagogue on 11/8/2015 at 14:46
Looks fun! I can't even remember the last music fest I went to.
And TTLG meets are best meets.
I hope some of you can make it to Tokyo someday.
Renault on 11/8/2015 at 20:13
How were the babes
Gryzemuis on 11/8/2015 at 23:48
Good to see you enjoyed Amsterdam.
You can't get me to go there, even if you beat me with a stick. :)
That Wilderness festival looked a lot more interesting.
henke on 12/8/2015 at 08:36
What do you have against Amsterdam, Gryz?
Quote Posted by twisty
I thought they ended up banning the sale of weed there?
It's still sold in the "coffeeshops".
Al_B on 12/8/2015 at 12:01
Quote Posted by henke
The other thing that made it entertaining was the fact that every 10 minutes or so the game would be interrupted by one, or many,
streakers. And these streakers came in all shapes and sizes. Men, women, 3 year olds. The last one was a pregnant lady wearing nothing but a fox mask. I saw more nudity during this cricket match than I saw in Amsterdam's red light district.
That's standard for any cricket game - they're just really good at avoiding showing it on the cameras when televising international matches. It's specified in the Duckworth-Godiva rules that during each over played that a nominated supporter of the batting team removes an item of clothing for each leg-by. Once no available clothing remains that supporter must run the full length of the pitch or the team will forfeit the match.
Not as dull as you first thought!
Gryzemuis on 12/8/2015 at 22:10
Quote Posted by henke
What do you have against Amsterdam, Gryz?
I am Dutch. I've lived in Amsterdam. Twice even. I sometimes visit friends who moved there. I don't like the city. Part of it is personal, I have bad memories from when I lived there. I'm sure it's a fun city to visit for a day. But I wouldn't wanna live there. I wouldn't wanna live in a theme-park either. Unpleasant people, crowded, expensive, low quality of life. I guess lots of Americans wouldn't want to live in NYC, lot of British people wouldn't want to live in London, etc.
This thread is about Wilderness. I'm out of touch with modern music. But when I see the bands playing in Dutch festivals, I often still recognize a lot of names. (Hipster people seem to be very conservative in their musical taste). But I don't know any of the names at Wilderness. Sounds good. :)
bjack on 13/8/2015 at 02:05
Quote Posted by Gryzemuis
I am Dutch. I've lived in Amsterdam. Twice even. I sometimes visit friends who moved there. I don't like the city. Part of it is personal, I have bad memories from when I lived there. I'm sure it's a fun city to visit for a day. But I wouldn't wanna live there. I wouldn't wanna live in a theme-park either. Unpleasant people, crowded, expensive, low quality of life. I guess lots of Americans wouldn't want to live in NYC, lot of British people wouldn't want to live in London, etc.
This thread is about Wilderness. I'm out of touch with modern music. But when I see the bands playing in Dutch festivals, I often still recognize a lot of names. (Hipster people seem to be very conservative in their musical taste). But I don't know any of the names at Wilderness. Sounds good. :)
I understand your views. This is why the last time we visited the area, we stayed in Harleem and took the train into town. I am a very respectful person. I do to want to be a ice in someone else's country. Other people though treat Amsterdam like a Disneyland. It is a wonderful place that needs more respect than many give it. I love it for its freedom and tolerance. I do my best to be a nice person while there. You would not even know I had been in the city. I observe and enjoy and leave. :)
Jeshibu on 13/8/2015 at 21:59
The Henkster
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11816145_769773479800385_761260457168536313_o.jpgAmsterdam canal tour with the man of mystery.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/q89/s2048x2048/11856252_769773473133719_3953597541043954070_o.jpgAmsterdam panorama that fucked up in interesting ways. (
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xap1/t31.0-8/11218188_769780569799676_4065164970795240707_o.jpg) Here's a cropped version of that to really bring out the glitch.
England
Hella overpriced everything, jeez. Also less strikes plz. Otherwise quite pretty.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/11865220_769773509800382_6683673471928628449_o.jpgFuck.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11890450_769778849799848_7190759688369947585_o.jpgOxfordshire from the bus.
At the festival
Shit got expensive fast, with the average meal being 7-10 pounds. Also, first festival where I had to pay (8 pounds) to get a booklet with the show times. Still, there was a bit more to do besides music (Henke already noted the cricket game). There were clothing shops (most of them with either "vintage" or "retro" in the name), new age bullshit stands, and a small cinema where we saw Alice in Wonderland.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/11856252_769773656467034_4300590492899531233_o.jpgBest food stand pun: The Bhangra Bus. Runner up was a juice stand called S'juice Me.
We saw a lot of bands. Most of them were alright, like Bouche, Screamin Miss Jackson, Lapsley, Shamir, Benjamin Clementine, Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble, Nils Frahm, Bjork, CC Smugglers, Hercules & Love Affair, Nick Mulvey, Jerry Williams, Bella Figura, Robyn Sherwell, Rhodes, and Fracesca Lombardo. Here's a couple that stood out:
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11885133_769773523133714_7915619833363567799_o.jpgAsgeir: went in with little knowledge of their/his music, but came away really liking it. Also that dude on the right is totally competing for Henke's Scandinavian Jeff Bridges title.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xfp1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/11895165_769773519800381_6606138810157957466_o.jpgInline Image:
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/s2048x2048/11865002_769773576467042_4280309565404217513_o.jpgBjork: not my favorite album of hers she performed, but it was at least quite spectacular. By this time my feet were in agony from standing for so long.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xft1/t31.0-8/11850474_769773593133707_987377182904058360_o.jpgIbibio Sound Machine: holy shit they're so relentlessly happy
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11885654_769773596467040_6794776072061741814_o.jpgInline Image:
https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11875034_769773623133704_6643820393506541137_o.jpgCaravan Palace: one of the main draws to this festival for me, and well worth it. Their music is like the style of the 20's met the instruments of the 80's, and the lead singer is a really good dancer. See them if you can, I cannot recommend this enough.
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https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpf1/t31.0-8/11893904_769779586466441_428911059639566875_o.jpgRoisin Murphy: the only real disappointment. Spent a lot of time singing Moloko lyrics (good) over bad backing music (bad), and noodling with the instruments while she'd change into the next outfit (there were like 6 total in a 1-hour show). Good outfits though.
Well pleased, all in all.
