On my list of 100 things to do before I go to clearing at the end of my path there's “read all novel's by Stephen King”. I reread Nightmares & Dreamscapes as part of that quest (which I my head I've slightly amended to add “in English”, which means that I still have a few more to go, until mr. King releases another book, that is).

Not all stories in this collection did a lot for me, but as a whole, it's an entertaining bunch. I mean, a story about a finger sticking out of your bathroom drain. C'mon, gimme a break. On the other hand, stories like Dolan's Cadillac (a guy getting revenge the hard way), The Ten O'Clock People (only a few people can see the signs of an upcoming hostile vampire takeover) or The House in Maple Street (where a house in Maple Street slowly changes into a spaceship), well, I can suspend my disbelief far enough to see that work.

The next Stephen King novel to be read is The Wind Through the Keyhole, when it finally decides to show up.

Stephen King — Nightmares & Dreamscapes

When I was a kid I believed everything I was told, everything I read, and every dispatch send out by my own overheated imagination. —from Introduction: Myth, Belief, Faith and Ripley's Believe It or Not!

Starting with “We Take Care of Our Own” from Springsteen's new album Wrecking Ball, the band progressed through a roughly three hour set including a lot of classics (“The River”, “Dancing in the Dark”, “Born in the USA”, “Because the Night”, “Trapped”), all of Darkness on the Edge of Town, most of Born to Run (“Jungleland”!), until they finally closed things down with “Twist and Shout”.

As a whole, The Bruceband played mighty fine. Good fun and a very entertaining way to spend a saturday night.

Seen Live: The Bruceband at Poppodium de Kelder on April 28th, 2012

Ze dachten dat euthanasie een bevrijding zou zijn, maar plotseling staan ze naast hun lichaam en kunnen niet meer communiceren met de achtergeblevenen.

Ja. Want je bent dood. Dan krijg je dat.

Last October, I mentioned as much to my good buddy Lucien. He told me he was looking to sell his apartment, since he had all but officially moved in with his girlfriend. One thing led to another, and, well — don't you just love it when a plan comes together?

Fast forward to sometime last year, when I saw that she was coming to Amsterdam for a show. So I mailed my brother, asking him if he'd like to go. He did but couldn't, on account of being in a airplane. So in the end, I went alone, and had quite a bit of fun. Also, I managed to get him a signed CD for his birthday.

About a month or two ago, I noticed Brooke Fraser was coming to Amsterdam again. So I mailed my brother, he could make it (yeah, well, almost he didn't, but that's another story altogether), I arranged two tickets, and we went. That was yesterday.

Because of that entirely different story, we missed the Rachel Louise, support act. I've seen her before, and I couldn't really care.

Compared to last year's show, it was quite different. To me it seemed that the previous show took a more poppy approach to the music, while this time it was more singer/songwritery. Which suited me fine. The band was just a drummer, a guitarist and a another one who also played keys. Brooke Fraser was clearly enjoying herself, talking at length in between the songs and sharing too much information. The crowd was quite quiet throughout the show—even during a cover of White Stripes' “Seven Nation Army”—but warmed up a bit towards the end. All in all, great show, good times.

Seen live: Brooke Fraser at Melkweg, Amsterdam, on April 23, 2012
Setlist: Sailboats / Coachella / Betty / Seven Nation Army (White Stripes cover) / Seeds / Flags / Albertine / Crows + Locusts / Who Are We Fooling / Jack Kerouac / Sea Lion Woman (Feist cover) / Something in the Water // Orphans, Kingdoms / Here's to You / Arithmetic

Seen live: Marco Borsato + Crazy Pianos + Dj Quintino + Dj Whoolhouse at the Amsterdam Convention Factory, Amsterdam on April 21st, 2012

While I recognize the fact that CDs and vinyl are ofter available cheaper online—for me, nothing beats walking into an record store, browse around a bit, and walk out with some new music. Instant gratification.

And yes, I know, digital music, mp3 and the like, that's even easier and cheaper still when you just download what you want. But years ago I've come to realize that I want the whole experience. Some files on a hard drive mean nothing to me. There's things I downloaded months ago because I wanted to check 'em out, which I still haven't listened to. But that Daniël Lohues record I bought in the best record store in town? — Which isn't a big deal when you're only opposition is a Free Record Store, but I digress — well, I played that to bits. After I digitalized it myself. I'm weird like that.

In the village where I grew up—back in the day, when record players were still a common part of your stereo installation and the internet was a thing of the future—there were no record stores. The two nearest towns each had a few couple, but it wasn't until I discovered the crummy little stores, tucked away in odd corners, often just beyond the main shopping sections that I realized how great they can be. There I found things that I read about in OOR's Pop Encyclopedia but I never thought I'd find. Like Meat Loaf's infamous Motown soul record, Stoney & Meatloaf. In those kind of shops the seed for my collection was laid. (I dread the day I have to haul all those CDs and LPs to a new apartment. And then there's books. I'm just old-fashioned, I guess.)

So, if you got some time today, go to your favorite record store and give the people there a big hug, buy some stuff, and then go home and enjoy the music.

Update: Just got back from Velvet Amersfoort. In the twelve years I visit the store, I don't think I've never seen as many people in there as today. I was told that this morning when Spinvis played his instore, people had to stand outside in the street. I would've been there but wasn't, as I had to wait on a delivery. I did get to see The Voice of Holland's Erwin Nyhoff and Tommy Ebbens and one of the Small Town Villains, which I need to check out some more.

Seen Live: Tommy Ebben & Matthijs Barnhoorn + Erwin Nyhoff, instore at Velvet Amersfoort, on Record Store Day april 21st, 2012

Wish that you and I were lovers
But I don't know the game
Please can I have the rules explained again… and again… and again… and again…

Now we're eighteen months on, and Yori Swart has released her eponymous debut album, and is touring in support of it. Yesterday she played Tivoli De Helling, and let me tell you, goshdarnit, it was awesome.

The show was like a warm blanket, and Yori was something like something very beautiful. Like a pretty painting of a sunset or something.

Seen live: Yori Swart + Lucas Hamming on April 14th, 2012 at Tivoli De Helling

Lang geleden, om precies te zijn op een dinsdag, begon de Beer aan zijn winterslaap. Toen hij in de lente weer wakker werd, was er een grote fabriek over de grot waarin hij wintersliep gebouwd. En toen begon de ellende. Men begon tegen de Beer te schreeuwen dat hij aan het werk moest, dat hij helemaal geen beer was, dat dat maar een smoesje was om niet te hoeven werken. Nee, hij was geen beer: hij was een rare man die zich eens moet scheren en een bontjas draagt. De Beer kreeg zo vaak te horen dat hij geen beer was maar een rare man die zich eens moet scheren en een bontjas draagt, dat hij zich er maar bij neerlegde. En toen werd het winter en ging de fabriek dicht en wist de Beer het allemaal ook niet meer. Was hij nu een Beer die een winterslaapje nodig had, of een rare man die zich eens moet scheren en een bontjas draagt?

En dan krijg je natuurlijk, zoals dat hoort in een kinderboek, de moraal van het verhaal: je moet je niet zo veel aantrekken van wat anderen zeggen. Je bent wat je bent: als je een beer bent, dan ben je beer, ook al zegt iedereen dat je een rare man bent die zich eens moet scheren en een bontjas draagt.

Heel veel later, om precies te zijn op een zaterdagmiddag, ging ik, groot kind als ik ben, naar Zwolle om De Beer die geen beer was—de muziekvoorstelling voor kinderen en volwassenen vanaf 6 jaar die Martijn Bosman en Anneke van Giersbergen maakten bij de gelijknamige nieuwe vertaling van het boek—te bekijken.

En dat was best zeer vermakelijk. Zoals ik wel vaker zeg, al zou mevrouw Van Giersbergen het telefoonboek zingen, dan nog zou ik het vast de moeite waard vinden. Maar ja, als de liedjes goed in elkaar steken en de visuele aankleding ook dik in orde is, dan is het sowieso dikke pret. Zowel het boek als de voorstelling zijn wat mij betreft dikke aanraders. Ook als je geen kind meer denkt te zijn.

Frank Tashlin — De beer die geen beer was (The Bear That Wasn't vertaald door Dennis Gaens)

Lang gelden, om precies te zijn op een dinsdag, stond de Beer aan de rand van een groot bos en keek naar de hemel.