Post-Fratellis Sunday

As you all can guess by the title, it is the sunday after I've been to see the Fratellis in Nijmegen at Doornroosje. I'd been looking forward to this for ages, so it felt good to finally be there. The venue is very nice, with friendly staff and such. Small, indeed, but all the more cozy.

My mum and dad had dropped me off there at 17.30. Upon arrival I rang the venue as I'd promised I'd do and spent the first 30 seconds of the conversation trying to explain to Robert (guy on the phone) that I was not sitting in an Opel, as in car, but in a wheelchair. Call me dumbwitted, but Opel sounds nothing like wheelchair.
Anyway, he understood eventually and let me in. Now all I had to do was wait for my buddy who was fashionably late. Getting lost trying to find Doornroosje is easy. Therefore, we were not the first to enter the hall and, therefore, I could not be on the front row but just behind it. Didn't seem so bad at first, but when the place packed, my view from the stage was blocked by heads, backs and butts. Typical. Sometimes a situation like that can be interesting, but at this point, it was not what I desired.

The Fratellis came on, and us fans finally, after one and a half hours of waiting, got to cheer. The first half of the gig went by rather quietly, audience-wise, but then Chelsea Dagger stirred the crowd and led them to an explosion of cheers, jumping, pushing and shoving. I was only doing the cheering and singing along part of course. What, don't tell me you've ever seen someone in a wheelchair jump up and down like a crazy fool? No? Thought so...
With the crowd getting into it, the mood of the gig chances from rocking to beyond that, and even though it meant more fun on the stage, for me it also meant quite a frightening period of the evening. It distracted me from the gig, which I must say, is quite a bummer. It sounds silly and wimpy, but try to imagine sitting crouched on the floor with your hands and legs bound together and people around you jumping and shoving and even crowdsurfing. It's the terrible feeling of helplessness that just keeps overwhelming me. So, really, it was a mixture of joy and fright that overtook me from Chelsea Dagger and onwards.

What suprises me is how quickly fun things always seem to end. Before I knew it, they were doing their encore. I keep looking at the setlist now, where it says there were two songs, but I keep remembering there were in fact three. Maybe I just did not want for it to end. For the Girl was lovely to hear, as it was accoustic and Jon played it so brilliantly. Ooh La La was the last song played but I swear there was one in between, although I can not remember which.
After Ooh La La it was done and the lads said goodnight and gave away drumsticks, plectrums and Jon even shook hands like a true famous rockstar (none of these things I could actually get to even though I was only a couple of feet from the stage).

I thought about lingering around, have a drink and maybe get my album signed, as I'd brought it for the occasion, but my mum and dad kindly came to pick me up again so I felt bad to keep them waiting. Massive rows of people we had to pass before we could actually get out.

In the car, I'd lost my voice and rambled to my parents about the gig, complaining about how little I'd seen, how I'd not even seen Mince for one second, and such and how I'd feared that I would be tripped over, like a true whiner, and then praising the lads once more to my parents who agreed with me even though they hadn't been there. My dad then put his copy (oooo arent we illegal) of my Costello Music album on for me and we all, including mum and dad, rocked some more.

Looking back on it now, besides my things to whine about, it was a great gig, with good music and a nice mood to go along. Fratellis are still my favorite band and I don't think something will change that in the near future. Also, before I forget to mention, there was a big article about them in 'het NRC' on friday. NRC is a very serious, business oriënted newspaper, so it was rather special. It had a good couple of quotes from the lads and nothing but praise on their live-preformance and their catchy tunes. Chelsea Dagger was compared to Hey Jude on catchiness, so I believe that is quite big! I've kept it and framed it.

Before I forget, big thanks go to Krishna and her friend who protected me from bouncy people and took photos for me.

Then, to finish it, I should say now that I will try to attend next years gigs, as I think there will be some, and meet forummers and get their autographs on my album. After that, I have nothing more to desire. ;)

You all have a good night,

I remain your rocky blogger,

Maartje