So, up in the early morning… well, around 9. The practical thing about packing before you go to bed is that you don’t have to give a shit about that when you get up in the morning. And for someone like me, who isn’t really a morning person, this is golden.
So, off I went at 10, went to the trainstation to lock up my bags and then I hit the shopping streets. What I was looking for in fact, were soles for my shoes. Something in them has broken, and because of that, they give me blisters UNDERNEATH my foot, and it just got worse and worse. So I walked up and down the shopping street without finding anything reasonable. I hit H&M quickly to pick up some small items before ACTUALLY heading off to Turnhout. I was going to stay at a hostel there, which is just like a busride from Vosselaar.
It was a pretty nice trainride. One straight ride until I ended up in the little town on Turnhout. I did the same walk here – trying to find somewhere until I, at last, ended up in a pharmacy and got one of those pricier gelsoles. Hopefully, this would solve it!
It got close to check in time, so I headed off to my hostel and was greeted by the owner. It’s a cute little restaurant and hostel with only four rooms, the most precious ever! It’s called Resto BnB in Turnhout. Very central, too.
Once there, I placed the gelsoles in my shoes and my god. That was HEAVEN. I could walk, without feeling anything – actually, it was more painful walking without the shoes than with them! With that said, I rested a bit before starting to get ready for the show, and then took my little walk down to the bus.
Of course, this scared the hell out of me. Sounds weird to say perhaps for little me, but really. Going on a bus, in a foreign city without anywhere really to know when to get off or so – and even worse, the bus was ahead of my maps. Aaah.
But gladly, I managed to figure it out, and even better so, there was a fellow metalhead on the bus which I could take following with. So, I got off the stop and started making my way to Biebob. Once here, it wasn’t too hard to find. Actually, just walk straight.
I arrived about an hour or so before doors were being opened, so a small line had started to form. Which wasn’t weird. However, I was completely alone. All the people I knew of going there had gotten stuck in various forms of traffic, so I stood there, in my loneliness, until a woman started talking to me. Appears she had been working at Graspop Metal Meeting for many years, and was very excited for the show tonight. Oh the people you meet.
The doors opened at 19 as expected, and as I got inside, I found Alexandre at the front, unexpected but on the same time not surprised, so I went over to him and remained by his side. I noticed a few of the people from Sabaton Open Air, Ivan and Piggy, was also there, and said hi to them, but since Alex had front row in the middle kind of spots, I simply remained.
After some wait, that was longer than I expected it to be, Twilight Force entered the stage.
Twilight Force
The intro started echoing in the speakers, Blackwald marching on stage first followed by the rest, and they kicked off the set with “Battle of Arcane Might”. I was very glad and happy to see that there was quite a lot of Twilight Force supporters in the crowd, despite them being “only” the supportband. It was an energetic start, and Tommy delivered!
“To The Stars” was next on the setlist, followed by “Riders of the Dawn”. “Flight of the Sapphire Dragon” was next song on the setlist – and it was about this time that Sjorven and Stephen FINALLY arrived. So at last, all my friends were gathered. And right at the climax of this amazing piece of a song… the electricity died. Like, literally, in the most critical moment… power shortage. Oh well, that happens, right? Awkward moments are coming in.
Once the power was back, after a bit of fizzling, they moved on to “There and Back Again”, and then the normal duel between singer, in this case Tommy, and Blackwald emerged.
This was an interesting moment. As Tommy was getting his crowd to cheer, he yelled out “for the unborn children of Sara Kohler”. And I just stood there like “what on earth did he just say?”, because quite frankly – I have never in my life, and I mean never – interacted with any of the people from Twilight Force, or Tommy more than the signing sessions. Which made it all a bit weird and funny.
I have no idea what side actually won, but “Gates of Glory” emerged before they wrapped up the whole set with “The Power of the Ancient Force”. The band thanked for the show, and left the stage. While I want to congratulate Tommy on his amazing performance, I want to ask what the hell was wrong with the sound? I could barely hear ANYTHING, let alone even try to engage in the show. Some times it was better, but other times it was like, is there even a band here? I can see them, but I can’t hear them? I don’t get it.
After Twilight Force, we made our way out of the pit as well, we were dying from the heat, and truth to be told, I was going there primarily for Twilight Force, so we figured being a bit in the back wouldn’t hurt us. The others went outside, and I stayed sitting down listening to Dragonforce played until I went out myself to catch some air. It’s not like me, I know.
The rest of the show Stephen, Sjorven and I spent by the bar, casually watching the mainband play before it was time for us to get going. We went to eat at some street kitchen, and then Sjorven dropped me off at my hotel and went home again. And same procedure as every time – I start packing and getting ready for the next day.
// Sara
Sara Hammerzmith 