Nightwish in Antwerp

November 20, 2022

A message came in late last night indicating that KLM's 6:00 a.m. flight to Amsterdam was delayed until 8:00. Good; two more hours of sleep. The flight actually left closer to 9:00 (1), with arrival in Amsterdam about 11:00. Luckily, there are hourly through trains to Antwerp on the :43. Our train tickets were valid for any train today, but none were shown on the departure board. The helpful man at the ticket counter told us (in English) that they were all cancelled today due to rail construction. He printed out an alternate 3-connection route, which he explained to us in Dutch. 

Arriving in the border town of Roosendal after changing trains in Rotterdam, we discovered that the Belgian train from here to Antwerp was cancelled (2). An hour later, a train with a big "B" on the side pulled in. I mustered my best Dutch accent to ask the conductor "Antwerp, ja?" He replied in perfect English: "Yes, sir. This is the train to Antwerp." The train proceeded through the rain to the beautiful art-deco railway station in Antwerp. A short stroll past many diamond shops brought us to the hotel (3).

While my daughter caught up on jet lag, I had coffee with a friend who had come up from Paris to join us at the Nightwish concert. In the tri-level train station, my friend pointed to an old train on the upper track level, which she thought must be a railway museum. No, that was the train from Roosendal.

After dinner at an Argentine steak house, we took the metro to the concert venue (4). During the concert, I said to my daughter that Floor Jansen, Nightwish's lead singer, never sounded so good; "first show of the tour," my daughter replied. Floor seemed to enjoy speaking to the audience in her native Dutch (5).

At the train station the next morning, a railway official approached my daughter. Was there something wrong? (We had valid tickets.) He was simply admiring her denim vest with patches from a wide variety of metal bands. "You should come back for the Grasspop musical festival next summer" he said.

(1) Last night's flight to Leeds has been diverted to Newcastle due to heavy fog in Leeds. The morning flight crew therefore had to get from Leeds to Newcastle overland and then fly the empty plane back to Leeds to pick up the passengers.

(2) My daughter quipped that the delays and cancellations made her feel at home; she lives in New York and travels daily on the subway.

(3) A large percentage of the world's diamonds are cut and/or otherwise processed in Antwerp.

(4) As with concerts in Brussels, the concert tickets in Antwerp includes a free ride on the city's public transit.  

(5) Antwerp is in the Dutch-speaking (Flemish) region of Belgium. The other region (Wollonia) is French-speaking. The band's flute and pipe player (Troy) said that, while he spoke some French, he would use English here in Antwerp, to which the crowd cheered.

The delayed Dutch flight

The delayed Belgian train

Antwerp Railway Station

Nightwish (photo by my daughter)

Within Temptation in Leeds

November 19, 2022

Leeds is a former mill town a few hour train ride north of London. Having lunch in a pub, we (1) asked the parka-clad server (2) what there was to do in Leeds on a cold rainy day. "Nothing, maybe go shopping? We have a covered market in the city center." We opted for the Thackary Museum of Medicine. 

The main exhibits at the museum present the working and living conditions in Leeds in the mid-1850s, the town's mill heyday. The virtual guide is Lizzy, representing a real 11 year-old mill worker who, despite her 5 years of work experience, got her leg caught in one of the looms. When the injury became infected, her leg was amputated (3). Unfortunately, the Infection had already spread and Lizzy did not survive (4) (5).

We then walked over to the concert arena for the Worlds Collide tour, headlined by two female-fronted bands: Within Temptation and Evanesence, with Rividia, another female-led band, as the opening act. We stood a few yards from the edge of stage right (6). The show was awesome.

After a walk back, we encountered a woman in the hotel lobby who had driven 7 hours from Plymouth for the concert. She told us she had a seat in the balcony and had been scolded by those nearby for her exuberance during the show. She soon began to spout conspiracy theory about the US elections and Mexican immigrants, so we wandered off.

(1) My daughter had flown directly to Leeds.

(2) The heat was not functioning in the pub. Hence, the parka.

(3) Before anesthetics, the surgeon needed to be quick about the amputation. Before antiseptics, you wanted a surgeon with more blood on his white coat, they had more experience

(4) The museum is mainly set up for school kids. The curators must have confidence in the resilience of English youth to handle the bad news.

(5) Three important innovations since the mid-1850s make me glad to live today: antiseptics, anesthesia, and antibiotics.

(5) Between the bands, the security guards (a) passed out cups of water to the crowd (b); very civilized.

(a) One of whom was about 5'2" and looked to weigh about 125 lbs. I guess the UK fans are better behaved than those in the US, judging by the burly security folks at most US venues. 

(b) They understood that fans don't want to leave a good standing spot between bands.

The train to Leeds

Victorian-era medical instruments

Within Temptation

The musical Six in London

November 18, 2023

Tickets for the Musical Six, about King Henry 8th's six wives (1), start at $240 in New York. In London's West End, seats are available for about $35. There was 1 male (me) in the last row of the balcony, a ratio which seemed consistent with the average in the theatre. While the show was very entertaining, the run time of 1 hour and 15 minutes made me glad I did not pay Broadway prices. 

(1) Their fates are summarized in the opening song: divorced, beheaded, died; divorced, beheaded, survived.

Covent Garden decked out for Christmas on the walk back to the hotel.