I’m three weeks late on this but… better late than never, right? Also, I have somewhat of a good excuse this time. I had started writing this post on my phone’s Notes app, but I’ve lost all that content, along with all the pictures I took at Sziget, Pukkelpop AND Cabaret Vert (for a reason I’ll explain in a later post, but for now, let’s start!)
For our second trip of this festival season, we left for Budapest on August 11th. Once again, I had not planned much this time around (which is SO unlike me, what have I become?) and we had absolutely no idea how to go from the airport to the city center and our AirBnb. That said, as soon as we exited the airport, we stumbled upon MiniBud, a door-to-door shuttle company, which means that it’s a proper shuttle that takes a couple people at a time BUT with the advantages of a taxi: it takes you to whichever address you give them. It was probably more expensive than public transports, but honestly we couldn’t be arsed and this seemed like the easiest solution, so off we went.
It was scorching hot when we arrived at our AirBnb (and the extra long 3 stories with NO lift we had to climb!), but the place was spacious and nice, AND had air conditioning. We settled in for a bit, enjoyed the fresh air from the inside, and only went out when the sun was down to explore the city by night (and eventually eat at Hard Rock Café, which was a first for me). I wish I could show you how pretty it all was but remember: I’ve lost all my photos. Sad face.
The next day, we took off in the early afternoon to try and see some tourist places. Bad idea. Very bad idea. So hot. We were melting. So, after a short visit at the Parliament and the “Shoes on the Danube Bank” memorial, we ran for cover in the shadows of a very nice hotel restaurant which offered the best (and cheapest) cocktails. We did a bit of shopping before deciding to try out Jamie Oliver’s Italian Restaurant, which was located in the old City, a spot we definitely hadn’t planned to visit but which was well worth it: we found Hogwarts!
After a belly full of italian good stuff, we walked back to the centre (way easier than going up the hill) for delicious (and cheap! Did I mention Budapest was cheap?) rose-shaped ice creams before going home and to bed. The original plan was to rest before the festival the next day, but instead we went on a hair-dye adventure and I dyed my girlfriend’s hair a darker shade of pink.
After a couple hours of sleep, we finally headed for Sziget Festival! This one was a special one for me, as not only was Twenty One Pilots playing that night, but also Foo Fighters, my very close second favorite band. I don’t really remember what time we got there. What I do remember was the rain that poured for a good few hours. We found a somewhat good spot in the crowd and against a side barricade and stayed there the whole afternoon. Frank Carter and the Rattlesnakes was the first band we saw that day, and they totally blew my mind – what with the “ladies only” moshpit, safe crowdsurf for girls, and the energy… I’m really considering seeing them during their next european tour. The second act was Johnny Marr, and although he’s an icon from The Smiths, I didn’t really like his set. I’d say maybe it was because I was too impatient to see TØP but we saw him again at Cabaret Vert and… same impact).
When finally Twenty One Pilots went on stage, I was delighted. I didn’t see much of the stage from where we were standing, but I didn’t really need that. The energy was there as (almost) always, and we finally heard The Hype for the first time, so extra bonus points for that show!
Don’t get me started on the Foo Fighters though… It was my favorite part of the day. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Twenty One Pilots to death, and I do not regret seeing them so many times… but when an event doesn’t happen often, it’s most definitely much more special. It was only my second time seeing Foo Fighters, and I loved every second of their two and a half hours set (although I understand it seems like forever when you’re not a major fan). They’ve played most of my favorite songs and hits, and the mood in the crowd was amazing. I had so many eye contacts and smiles with the girl next to me when we were both screaming the lyrics. I’m not too comfortable with strangers, but in that context, I find that sharing such special moments with people you don’t even know is such a wonderful pleasure.
It had stopped raining for the whole evening after the initial pour, but as soon as the Foo Fighters got off stage, and the last notes were still resonating in the field, it all started again, and not lightly! We still pushed through to get something to eat before we left the festival grounds and, instead of taking the last public transports, we avoided the queues by walking further away from the festival where we found a taxi to get us home.
These are the only pictures I managed to salvage, and I’m still pissed I lost most of them, especially the videos, but I know the memories stay – in my mind and in my heart. The most important is that I got to LIVE it all.
That’s it for Sziget. I’ll see you… when I see you (which means when I get the motivation to write about the other three festivals and what happened before Reading).
Hey, look who’s back! And for what reason? Twenty One Pilots. Yes. Again. You can’t change me at this point, I’m too far off. Deal with it.
I promise I had cool ideas for blog posts, even some that are partially or completely written. But I’m so consistent and confident in what I do that I completely forgot about this blog until a friend asked me if I planned on documenting my summer festival travels (Hi Lau!), so until further notice, most of all you’ll have to read here this summer is Tour blogs again… and here’s the first one!
Nîmes
We left for Nîmes very early on Tuesday, July 16th, and when I say very early, I’m talking 6am flight. Let’s just say we weren’t very awake yet when we landed around 8am… but the heat quickly rose us from the dead. We expected it, but it still felt hard on our shoulders so early (especially mine which are still red and burning!)
The most surprising, though, was the size of the airport. I had never seen one so small – barely two flights a day! – which also means that transports aren’t as frequent as in bigger airports. We had to wait 45 minutes for the shuttle, but arrived very quickly in the city centre, where we checked into our AirBnb almost immediately. We took our time to settle in, got out to buy groceries for the four days, then took a short nap (don’t judge).
In the late afternoon, we had booked a visit of the Arenas and… an Escape Game! Yes, in the Arenas! I had always wanted to do one, but playing in such a wonderful venue was something else altogether. It took us one hour and a half to solve all the enigmas and puzzles (and we had an allotted time of two hours; over that limit, our pad would have shut off completely and the game was over), and we shed a lot of sweat going up and down the big steps, but it was SO worth the money spent (only 15€, and after the game we were allowed to get audioguides and visit the arenas for as long as we wanted).
I don’t even remember what we did the next day. We were on holiday, so we took our time for everything. We visited the farmer’s market and bought the best fruit I’ve ever eaten, including peaches and yellow watermelon, and I’ll never eat fruit the same way. We also went to see “La Maison Carrée” (the Square House, which isn’t a square at all) and walked across the very small city center, where we found a secondhand music store in which we spent a very small amount of money considering the number of CDs we got.
On Thursday, our friends who had driven all the way from Belgium finally arrived, and we spent some time with them, including approximately two hours during which we were desperately looking for a restaurant that would suit everyone’s preferences. We ended up splitting the group and four of us ate Italian, almost as usual.
Festival de Nîmes
On Friday morning, we decided we’d pay a visit of the Arenas again. The venue had to close earlier than usual due to the show that were to happen that night, but we came right on time for the last visits, and that way we were able to watch the set up for the night. It’s always so interesting to me to watch the crew work. We stayed there until they threw us out (not literally though), then we all went back to our hotels and AirBnbs to rest a little bit before the concert.
At 7pm, we were in the venue, and we were quite surprised to get a super good spot, not that far from the stage, but far and off-centered enough that we had a lot of space to move and a barricade behind us if we wanted to sit while waiting. A good spot and good friends make the perfect combo for me, so I had SO much fun for the whole duration of the set. Tyler even ran right past us for the Car Radio trick. The only thing that was a bit deceiving was the set in itself, way too short for my liking and the amount of money we spent. And before you say “BuT iT’s A fEsTiVaL” – yes. I know. I get it. BUT. Festival de Nîmes isn’t a festival like others: there’s only ONE act per night (plus support). So at 70€ for a ticket, which is MORE than a headline show ticket, I think we’re in our rights to expect more than just one hour and ten minutes of show (which is LESS than a regular Twenty One Pilots set). And also: have you ever seen a headline act play only an hour in a major festival? I don’t think so.
Anyway, I may seem bitter for you reading this, but I’m really not. I had the best holidays in Nîmes, the show was great and I had an amazing time with my friends, and it’s all that matters. In twenty years, I won’t remember the price I paid and the amount of time they played for, but I’ll remember the smiles we had when the lights went out, and the confetti in our hair.
Over and out (until the next episode coming late August after Sziget Festival where I’ll be seeing not only Twenty One Pilots but also Foo Fighters, back to back, and if you know me, you know what that means).
Warning: this post might be very very long, but I just didn’t want to cut it up right in the middle. I’m not sorry. Also, I didn’t get ANY good pictures from the shows so…
BILBAO
After the success of the Brussels show and the many tears shed, it’s with tired eyes and broken hearts that we woke up early the next morning to head for the airport. Direction: Bilbao.
I was really excited for this one (and the two that would follow) because I had never been to Spain or Portugal before and I absolutely LOVE the south and warm weather ever since my vacation in the South of France. Of course, since it was only March, I did not expect real hot summer days, but I have to admit the weather did not disappoint.
We flew from Brussels to Bilbao on Brussels Airlines, which is another first for me. The only other airlines I had ever taken were RyanAir, British Airlines and Aer Lingus. Opinion: so much more leg room and space, and for a similar price as a Ryanair flight! We landed in Bilbao in the late morning and immediately took a bus to the City Center, which, despite my lack of research, was pretty easy to find and kinda cheap (3€ per person). We walked around for a little bit and then decided to head straight to our hotel which was outside the city center in a town called Barakaldo – where the show would happen – since we didn’t want to roll our suitcase around all day. We took a metro to get there, and honestly, that wasn’t the best idea. Due to my surprising lack of research this time, we had to improvise a little bit, and what I thought would be a 20 minutes walk ended up being almost 45 minutes under a scorching sun among steep hills!
We reached the Ibis Budget Barakaldo sweaty and in pain. Luckily, the guys at the front desk were the nicest people ever and introduced us to the Spanish wonderful kindness in the best way possible. See, G’s sister (not the little one, the other one) was supposed to travel with us that day, so we had booked two rooms for two nights. Unfortunately, due to work commitment, she was only able to join us the next day. Seeing as our fare was non-refundable, I expected to pay the full price at our arrival, but when we explained the situation at the front desk, the guys didn’t ask one single question and automatically deducted the amount of 1 night on one of the rooms! This was probably just €50, but when you’re traveling like that, €50 can change your trip upside down (to be completely honest we probably spent all that money on Burger King and I wish I was kidding).
We got cozy for a little while after that, then decided to go back to the center to visit by night, per my girlfriend’s request. This time, though, I had looked up an easier way to get there, and I have to admit Google Maps was my savior on that one. I’ve always used Maps a LOT when traveling but had never tested their public transport indications as I wasn’t sure it could be trusted. Well, confronted to the facts, I had my answers: if you pay close enough attention and try to figure out exactly where you need to go, Maps is your friend! I also checked the official public transports website to figure out the fares and all that – which can be confusing in Bilbao as there are a couple different companies with different bus routes! – but once I had it all figured out, it was easy peasy! And only €1,5 per person for a half hour ride? Fantastic! I was already in love with Spain at that point.
Once in the city, we walked through the center with one thing in mind: the flower puppy. We had spotted it during our bus ride from the airport and wanted to see it from up close, and so we did. The good boy was sitting quietly in front of the Guggenheim museum and it was really nice to get to take a picture with him. The surroundings of the museum were also absolutely stunning, and I think if we had made it there earlier I would have loved to see the inside of it.
And then something happened. Something small, and probably ridiculous to many, but something nonetheless. See, whenever we travel like that, we like to play Pokémon Go, and Puppy was actually a Gym in the game, so we decided to sit down on a bench nearby and battle some pokémons. At this point, a guy came by, wearing all black everything, and smoked his cigarette in peace, a couple meters away from us. I was completely focused on my battle when my girlfriend told me the guy was staring at us… and that he looked like a TØP crew guy. I looked up, and indeed there he was looking at us from afar, smoking. He took a few steps while finishing his cig, and the more I looked at him the more I knew who he was. Or at least, who he looked like: Andrew, the boys’ security guy (or at least that’s what I think he is, I might be wrong). And then what does he do? He waves at us and goes away.
To this day I still haven’t figured out why he did that. Did he recognize us? How? We had barely talked to him and he had probably only seen us ONCE up close at the signing in Belfast. Did he notice too much yellow on our jackets and thought we were Banditos? But in that case… why did he expect us to know who HE was anyway? I guess I’ll question myself every day unless I get the chance to ask him in person another time. But before you ask: yes. I’m pretty sure it was him, especially when we learned the next day that the hotel right in front of Puppy was actually the hotel they were staying at.
I was obsessed with palm trees for the whole duration of our trip down south.
But whatever. After roaming the Bilbao streets a little bit more, we went back to our hotel. The next day, we picked up Lucylle at the airport in the morning, went back to the hotel to nap (grandmas, I’m telling you!) and then headed for the show. We had nice little seats again, so we took our time to get drinks and popcorn before the show. I’m not super fond of popcorn, but my girlfriend is, and since it was pretty cheap (maybe 5€ for a massive bowl) she decided to take the big one. I tried it as soon as it was in my hands, and I knew something was wrong: the popcorn was salted! Don’t get me wrong, if I had to pick between salted or sweet, I’d pick salted, but I fairly well know this goes against all logic. So WHO the hell decided in Spain that REGULAR popcorn was SALTED? Let me just say I was the only one eating popcorn that night.
Notable things from that show:
After being present in Brussels again, the bridge uniting main stage and B stage disappeared again.
The Quiet Game didn’t take place that night.
I had the biggest cry (and when I say cry I mean I balled my eyes out) during Leave The City. And you know how the crowd usually screams a little bit louder when the song goes “In Trench I’m not alone”? I was literally unable to sing that part because I was sobbing so much. I don’t know if I was exhausted, or if I just felt like we were leaning towards the end, but I was a literal mess. And when I told my girlfriend I couldn’t sing then, she said “It’s okay I screamed it for you”, and if that’s not the cutest thing ever then I don’t even know.
A wild Tyler Joseph appeared right behind us during his Fairly Local stunt, very close this time.
The camo hoodie, usually at the wonderful price of €75, was down to €55 starting that night! Someone was very happy she waited before buying it.
MADRID
The next day, we woke up very early, and after a funny story at the hotel (Lucylle wasn’t waking up despite our incessant knocks on her door so we had to ask reception for a double of her key card to go and wake her up!) we took a bus from Bilbao to Madrid. This wasn’t the quickest option (it took us about 5 hours) but it was definitely the most convenient and the cheapest. Plus we were able to witness Spain’s wild scenery, so that was nice.
When finally in the capital, we were joined by a group of friends coming from Belgium, with whom we had rented the most beautiful AirBnb I’ve ever had the chance to stay at: a massive duplex with two bedrooms, two bathrooms, a nice living room AND two balconies. We weren’t supposed to check-in that early but the owner kindly let us put our suitcases and bags away and gave us the keys so we were able to go and visit the city center. The sun was shining very bright, and we decided to go and get a late lunch at a restaurant on Plaza Mayor… which was a very bad idea. The place was definitely a tourist trap, and the girls who ordered lasagna got a frozen dish that had to be sent back. My pasta were half cold when I received them, and definitely looked and tasted like they’d been reheated in the microwave then left out for a while. And then we all ordered some bread and had a very nice surprise to see we had paid €9 for 6 pieces of not so fresh bread. I’ve never left a worst review on Maps.
After such a fiasco, we took some time to visit the massive Primark but were quickly overwhelmed by its many floors. We soon returned to the AirBnb for a little bit, and then finally came the time to go to the show. Our little group all had different kinds of tickets so we split up. Our seats were very high on the second balcony (very tough on my girlfriend who’s afraid of heights) and we had difficulty finding where we needed to go because there was literally NO indication in the whole building.
Notable things from that show:
The Josh VS. Blurryface drum battle happened, much to everybody’s surprise.
The Quiet Game didn’t happen during the show, but right after Car Radio, when the audience usually calls the band back on stage with chants, the audience here yelled “Quiet Game! Quiet Game!” on a loop… and the band followed suit and let us play (but we still didn’t beat the Paris score).
LISBON
We left early again the next day, leaving our friends who would be going home later that day, to go to the airport. We landed in Lisbon at 10 in the morning where we waited for 2 other friends of ours directly coming from Belgium. We went to the hostel we had booked just to leave our bags there for the day, even though we knew we couldn’t properly check in before the afternoon, and then we headed for the city centre. Our first aim being lunch, we took the metro and stopped at Restauradores and admired the Monumento before eating at a very nice Italian restaurant (that definitely made up for the fiasco of the day before!)
Obsessed, I’m telling you!
Since we took our mighty time at the restaurant, it didn’t leave us much time to do anything else so we headed back to the hostel for the check-in, then almost directly to the venue. The line was probably the longest and most messed-up I’ve seen this tour, but after a while, we finally managed to find one end of the line and we waited. The weather wasn’t the best, with some light rain, but we finally made it into the venue for the last show of the Bandito Tour.
We were in the pit this time, and aimed for the B-Stage and around the path where Tyler and Josh would be passing by to get to the stage. The path was already drawn up with yellow tape, so we stood behind the line for the whole pre-show. Unfortunately, I don’t think many people knew what it was for (or they chose to ignore it) so soon enough, the crowd had invaded the path without security doing anything about it. Which means that, by the time Nico and the Niners came on, the people in the middle of the path were pushed back against us and we barely got to see anything… Love that for us!
Anyway, after this small disappointment, our group of friends decided to go much further back, where we could see the whole stage without being sandwiched in between thirty people and without having to stand on our tippy-toes. And we had room to dance! That part of the show was honestly the most fun I’ve had. I even got to go to the toilet (yes, yes, during the show but I HAD to!) and I screamed “Not Done, Josh Dun” alone in the bathroom.
Surprisingly enough, I barely cried, even though I thought the last show would be the most emotional. I felt weirdly detached. Maybe I had cried enough for the past couple days. Maybe I felt relieved that this was over, in a way? Don’t get me wrong… I LOVED doing this. But looking back now, maybe 9 shows was too much. I don’t regret any of these shows, but I will definitely not go to that many next tour (and I might not be able to financially anyway).
Oh, after the show, we decided to get a nice group picture with the Regrettes (and I told Lydia I wish there had been more strong female role models when I was growing up and that I really appreciated her band!)… and we ended up with these beauties. Someone was tired!
The next day, we didn’t do much. We felt tired beyond belief, so we just took a metro to Praça do Comércio, a wonderful plaza very close to the beach. We put our feet in the sand and water for a while, then walked around for a little bit before getting McDonald’s and then heading to the airport to go home for one last time.
So here goes nothing. I hope you enjoyed following my adventures, and I’ll make sure to continue this series over the summer, since we’re going to a couple festivals. Please let me know what you liked/disliked in the series, if you’d like to read more about the countries in general and what we did or if you’d like more detailed reviews of the show.
If you haven’t read the previous posts or if you’d like to re-read them before summer:
Barely one week after coming back from Ireland, we were back on the road. This time, we had brought my girlfriend’s little sister, who had no idea she was on her way to go and see her favourite band too!
We took the train from Maubeuge, a small city in the North of France that is very close to where my girlfriend lives. That way, travel costs were cheaper than if we left from Belgium. We were in Paris in a matter of two hours, and we checked into our airBnb quickly, making a small détour to Montmartre and the Sacré Coeur (without bothering to climb up the many many steps though). Our apartment was tiny, with barely any lights, but in a quiet neighbourhood and not too far from the venue. In the evening, we obviously went to the Eiffel Tower, even though we’ve seen her plenty of times already. You just cannot get sick of her. She’s beautiful. Whenever we go to Paris, we always go to the Place du Trocadéro when we want to see the Tower, because that’s where you have the most beautiful view of it. The sun was slowly setting, and we decided to go down the Trocadéro towards the Tower to have a look at it from down below.
I hadn’t been there in a while, and I was majorly surprised (but also not) to see the massive and strongest security I had ever seen. People used to be able to walk freely down and around the Tower but now, you have to go through security checks on the far side of the Tower before being allowed right under it. As a consequence, there are a LOT less people, the majority of whom actually going into the queue to climb the Tower. I haven’t done that yet, and we didn’t do it that night either, but it’s definitely something I want to do before I die.
On our way back, we grabbed a crêpe with Nutella and bananas, which is almost a tradition of ours, and then we headed back to the apartment for a good night’s sleep.
On Monday, we decided to walk from our apartment all the way (about a 40-minutes walk) to the Halles in Châtelet, a massive mall, where we met up with my friend and her mom who were also going to the show. We did some window shopping and caught up on the latest dramas before heading back to the apartment to charge up our phones and rest.
When we arrived at the venue, we announced to G’s little sister that we were going to the show, and she doesn’t usually show off a lot of emotions but I think she was very happy! We had very good seats in the AccorHotels Arena, far down and close enough to both stages we could actually see our friends Lauryn and Donia in the pit, right by the B stage!
The show felt too short this time. Not that it doesn’t usually, but that night, in Paris, I could really feel we were getting close to the end of the tour and I felt a little sad already… but so so excited for what was next: Brussels. Belgium. Home.
BRUSSELS
We left Paris on Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning we didn’t feel rested at all, but ready to tackle on the show that would mark the beginning of the end of this tour. We arrived in Brussels around noon, and to be completely honest, we would have arrived much later if it wasn’t for this belgian radio station we were in contact with through Twenty One Pilots Belgium (Check us out on Twitter @BelgianClique, we do giveaways regularly!). We had contacted them to try and see if they could possibly give something to the band from us when they would interview them… and they originally said yes! We had agreed on a time and place to meet, but when came the time, we didn’t hear from them anymore. I learned through one of my friends that they were interviewing fans in the queue when we were in line too, so I gathered my courage and went up to them. When confronted to me, they admitted that sadly they weren’t allowed to give anything to Tyler and Josh, which meant we’d have to go back to our original plan. And now that they had me close, they persuaded me to ask a question (question that they basically told me to ask?!) in front of their camera, which was horrifyingly anxiety-inducing but hey, I did it anyway, love that for me.
Of course, who says Belgium says “when it rains it pours”… And it poured. Luckily, we started lining up around 4.30pm only (and we were soaked in a matter of minutes!) so I can’t even begin to imagine the state of the people who were queuing since the early hours.
Anyway, we met up with my friends Lauryn and Noémie in the queue, then managed to get a spot right in front of the B stage thanks to our friend Marie who had kept some space for us. Then my girlfriend’s parents and her little sister joined us, and we were a nice little excited troop when the show started.
I always say a show is what you make of it… and this couldn’t be truer than for this particular show. Being at home already made it exciting enough, but spending the night with these people is truly what made it so much more special. Without them, I would have said this show was just a regular show, one I had seen a couple times already and one I was getting used to. But these friends changed it all for the better. We laughed and cried (a LOT) together, we danced together, we screamed together (especially when the beautiful faces of two of my friends standing front row appeared on the screen!), and when Leave The City finally came on, we were hugging each other and sharing this particular moment like no other, because for now, we were alive. Vulnerable, broken, but alive. And I think that’s also one of the many strengths of Twenty One Pilots: when you sing these songs, you are vulnerable, basically admitting that maybe there’s something wrong with you, but you’re not wallowing in self-pity because you are surrounded by thousands of friends and strangers all going through stuff of their own, and it makes things feel a little less like a burden. And it warms you up from the inside.
I didn’t take any great pictures of the show, so here are the only pics of that night that truly matter:
After so much emotion, we headed back to my friend Louise’s place for the night to try and get at least a little bit of sleep before the next day, when we were bound to fly to Spain for the last stretch of this tour.
Yes, I know this is long overdue. I know the tour ended more than two weeks ago, too. But I just haven’t been well lately. You know, when all you want to do is sleep and think about all the things that you have to do but you play the Sims all night anyway? Yeah, that’s my mood. But I will finish this series before the summer festivals, I promise. Now let’s go back to where we left off.
DUBLIN
Seeing as we had an early flight on the Friday morning of the Dublin show, we left for Brussels to sleep at one of the airport hotels. We picked the Ibis Budget Airport Hotel mainly for the… well, budget. It was really cheap and we got a free shuttle to the airport before the sun even rose.
By around 10am, we were in the Irish capital city. We had a little walk on O’Connell street then went straight to Tower Records, a brilliant record shop that we love visiting whenever we’re in Dublin. I found a rare Foo Fighters live CD that I didn’t have yet, and I was weak on Billie Eilish’s vinyl EP. After that, we sat down on the steps of Trinity College and watched people walk by until it was time to finally check into our hotel – that I booked via Ryanair which made me earn travel credit! We grabbed a bite to eat on the way; McDonald’s for her, Boojum for me (and if you don’t know Boojum please check it out whenever you’re in Ireland! Delicious Mexican burritos or bowls!)
As the grandmas that we are, we decided to take a short nap before we left for the show. We could have taken a tram to the venue but decided to walk the 30 minutes… Unfortunately for us, that’s exactly when the rain started to fall down and we were soaked by the time we arrived (although I can’t really complain about the weather which was fairly good the whole time).
I had always wanted to experience a show at the 3 Arena in Dublin and I’m glad I did it with my favourite band. That said, I was a little disappointed. Firstly because the queues weren’t really well organized. We had started queueing at the first queue we saw, until someone told us that there were different queues according to the tickets you had. So after 10 minutes of queuing in the wrong lane, we had to go all around the venue to find our door. The second disappointment was the actual set up of the venue which was a little weird. I wish I could explain that in words but sadly you’ll have to experience it to understand it.
Regardless of that though, Dublin was the first show we did in the pit this tour, and we had the best of times. The mood was so excited and fun! We didn’t go straight into the pit but stayed a little bit in the back towards the B stage. We had space to move and dance without being squished to death.
A difference to note from the previous shows: a bridge that came down from the ceiling during Nico and the Niners that Tyler and Josh used to go from main stage to B stage. The element had been used during the US show but we hadn’t experienced it at the mainland EU shows so far. It had been added back at the UK shows and I was grateful we finally got to see it. Tyler also played Can’t Help Falling in Love and that was a nice surprise. And you see, kids, that’s why we go to so many shows: you never know what to expect!
From our spot, we had a great view of the B stage and front of house, which is also where VIPs can stand to watch the show… and we had the great surprise to see Dylan Minette (you know, Clay in 13 Reasons Why) during The Regrettes set – he’s actually in a relationship with Lydia, the lead singer. We also spotted Jenna and Tyler’s mom; it was pretty fun to see them dance around.
The Quiet Game in Dublin was something else entirely. The crowd couldn’t keep silent for half a second, and even started an Olé chant!! In a way, we did break a record that night… the worst!
All in all, the Dublin show was one of the best yet, mood-wise.
We didn’t hang out long after as we had to wake up really early again to catch a bus to Belfast. That said, after the amazing time we had there, we were weak once again and totally lost our minds by booking tickets for yet another unplanned show: Paris.
BELFAST
We got to Belfast at around 9am. We couldn’t check in at the hotel before 2pm, so we grabbed a hot chocolate and headed for the HMV store where we had tickets to attend the band’s signing session. We exchanged our tickets against wristbands as soon as we got there, visited the store for a while (and I managed to stay calm and didn’t buy anything) and then, since we didn’t have anything better to do (having already visited the city before), we went outside and formed the queue.
The signing was pushed back an hour, and around noon we were allowed to enter the shop again to where the table was set up. The signing started at 1pm, and since we were really close to the first people, we were out by 1.10. The thing in itself didn’t last more than a few seconds, but it was well enough to make my day. When we got to the table, Tyler asked how we were and said it was good to see us. My girlfriend then showed them her Taxi Cab tattoo written by Tyler himself, and between the lines she had written “Play Taxi Cab” which made Tyler laugh a little bit. Then as we were about to leave Tyler said “Thanks for coming, I recognize you!” and that was literally the best feeling. We don’t need much more to feel like they do care.
After we came back to our senses, we went for pizza, then straight to the hotel for another much needed nap – we’re basically old people now. Around 6.30 we went to the venue and met up with our friends, stopping by the famous Big Fish (also called Salmon of Knowledge) on the way to the venue. We had seats again and had a really nice time, but nothing notable this time. Maybe I was starting to feel like we’d seen the show enough times, or maybe I was just exhausted, who knows.
We flew back home the next day via Dublin and, after a major surprise when it randomly started snowing like crazy and our flight was delayed, we started preparing for the next show: Paris.
For the second show of this tour, we had planned for Dublin and then Belfast as I’m familiar with Ireland, having lived there for two years, but a couple days after the Prague show, we randomly decided we wanted to go to Cologne as well. Hopefully there were still some tickets left, so on Monday, February 25th, we took a train to Liège, near the border to Germany, where my friend lives. Her mother kindly drove the hour and a half to Cologne, and by the afternoon we were roaming the city streets.
We had parked at the Lanxess Arena and walked all the way to the Dom to take some pretty pictures. To go towards the city centre, we used the Hohenzollern Bridge, then we walked along the Deutzer Bridge to go back to the venue. We’d already seen the Dom and the centre of Cologne but had never been on that side of the bridge so it was nice to discover something new, and with the sun setting, we had the prettiest lighting to create a nice atmosphere.
Since we had booked our tickets last minute, we had to pick them up at the box office and panicked a little bit when we saw the size of the queue when we arrived. Luckily we managed to find box office pretty easily and were inside the arena in a matter of minutes.
I won’t go into much detail regarding the show because I have to admit most of it is similar from night to night, but I have to say that, personally, I enjoyed this show even more than the last one. I felt much more into it than in Prague. On the contrary, I also felt that the audience was not the same, a little slower, a little quieter (at least from the seats, maybe it felt different in the pit). I also noticed a major difference from a couple years ago: most people were cheering so much more for the single hits like Stressed Out, Heathens, Ride or weirdly Chlorine, but seemed a bit more confused when it came to other, less known songs. I guess that’s what happens with success, and I’m not claiming it’s a bad thing, it’s just a little bit surprising when I was used to the whole rooms screaming every single word of every single song.
When the show was over and we had finally managed to grab onto some yellow and green confetti as souvenirs, we headed over to the merch tables where we knew The Regrettes were meeting fans. We got to take a fun group picture with them and our friends before leaving the venue. We didn’t hang outside for too long as we needed to get back on the road and I needed to wake up early to visit my mom in the hospital (which is another story I may or may not talk about later).
And that was the end of Show #2 of our Bandito Tour.
For our first show of the Bandito Tour, we had decided on Prague. Easily accessible from Brussels-Charleroi via low-cost company Ryanair and fairly cheap compared to other European cities, it felt like a great way to start, especially because the show was on a Saturday, which meant we could leave on Friday and come back on Sunday without missing any work days. Here’s how it went.
DAY 1
After a half day of work for me and an accidental last-minute wardrobe change for my friend Louise, we departed for the airport around 7pm on Friday night. Surprisingly, we already ran into other Banditos coming from France to go to the show as well, and by 11pm we had landed in Prague. Seeing as it was late already, we had first planned on taking an Uber to our AirBnb, but changed our minds when we saw the lines of regular taxis in front of the airport entrance. We might have paid less with Uber, but having never used it before, I kind of panicked a little bit. That said, our taxi journey was fairly nice, the driver very funny and we even got to hear Stressed Out on the radio!
Half an hour later, we were at the apartment, welcomed by a very nice guy in his pajamas. The place was small, but clean and well-arranged, with every amenities we needed, good enough for just two nights, and very cheap! Hit me up if you’d like me to send you the exact offer on AirBnb, and if you haven’t tried it yet, feel free to subscribe through this link and you might get €30 savings!
DAY 2
After a short night, we spent some time curating our Bandito outfits for the day, then left for a random visit of the city. Since we’d already been there a couple years ago, we decided we’d play it cool, and simply went to the Old Town Square to soak in the sun (which was surprisingly warm enough for the season!) and see the Astronomical Clock which is always impressing. We also tried eating Trdelník for the first time (a pastry made from rolled dough wrapped around a stick, then grilled and topped with sugar) then headed over to the John Lennon Wall. I have to admit I was a bit disappointed, because the original Lennon face has long disappeared behind layers and layers of new graffitis and it’s not as impressive and artistically beautiful as I imagined it would be, but still it’s something to see if you ever go to Prague.
Banditos in Prague
The Astronomical Clock
Charles Bridge
During the day, we’ve crossed paths with a fair amount of other people dressed as Banditos, and a family from Israel even started a conversation with us because they’d recognized our outfits and were going to the show as well!
Towards 4pm, we decided to go back to our apartment to rest for a bit and charge our phones. What seems like an easy bit ended up causing a lot of trouble and delays in our plans, as metro tickets can only be paid for in coins, and we only had cards so as to avoid ending up with lots of Czech korunas we didn’t really need in our pockets. This took us far longer than expected and we only got to rest for an hour before leaving for the reason we were here: the show.
THE SHOW
We got to the venue well after 6.30pm. Doors were already open, and we quickly made our way into the O2 Arena, where we decided to get merch right away, seeing as we had seats this time and didn’t have to rush to get a good spot. Unfortunately, it took us far longer than expected, again, and when we got to our seats, The Regrettes had already started their set.
I’m not sure if that’s because I was too excited to see Twenty One Pilots again or if I was just too tired to enjoy, but I didn’t feel the energy I was expecting from the band, although I love listening to their music. Moreover, they left the stage kind of abruptly and without saying goodbye, which didn’t sit well with me. Hopefully I’ll have my mind changed by the end of the tour.
Around 9pm, finally, the lights went off for Twenty One Pilots. Our seats were ideally placed, and I got to fully enjoy the show introduction I didn’t really manage to see back in London last September. Bandito Josh Dun stood alone on stage with a magic torch that suddenly lit itself on fire in his hand. He took a few steps right then left, acknowledging the audience before heading towards his drumkit while a car rose from the ground, a wild Tyler Joseph standing on it.
The stage is almost bare except from Josh’s drums, the car and Tyler’s piano, yet it’s all they need to put on a hell of a show. I’ll pass on the details for those of you who’d like to keep the surprise, but the band has really put their everything into the production on this tour. The lights are genuinely magical, especially for the B-stage bit, and the video screens are something else altogether. All in all, I’m really glad I’ll get to experience this show many times over, as I’m sure I haven’t been able to see all the details of the visuals and have surely missed some interesting things. A Twenty One Pilots show is always more than just the music, so if/when you go see them, make sure you don’t focus only on what Tyler and Josh are doing on stage! Look around, there’s so much more to see!
Other than that, I’ve been very moved to hear the new songs live for the first time, especially Leave The City that completely overwhelmed me and might have made me shed a tear or two (or a million).
THE AFTER
After the show, we stayed inside for a little bit while my friend got herself some merch, and we met the family from Israel again. We had a nice little conversation and learned about each other, and that’s part of what I was talking about on the first blog of the series: never would I have imagined that I’d get to know people from Israel and that we’d share such a good (although short) time together.
It was very cold when we finally went out, and although we didn’t expect anything from it, my friends and I decided to wait around by the tour buses. We’ve almost always done that, especially a couple years ago when the band used to come out and greet fans, and I know they’re much more famous now, but I truly didn’t expect us to be the only ones waiting around.
We stayed there a couple of hours then, without any expectations, and I think that helped. We talked to a couple of techs and crew people. One of them, in particular, comes to mind, and I wish I’d gotten his name. He came to us on his own, starting the conversations himself and thanking us for “the opportunity” (his own words) and for allowing him to have that job. During the conversation, we told him we were from Belgium and he started marvelling at our great festivals, saying he’d been there many times, including Rock Werchter with Linkin Park, with whom he’d word for years before working with Twenty One Pilots. He told us about Chester and the awful way he’d learned of his passing, and with my girlfriend being such a huge Linkin Park fan, I think that’s a conversation we’ll never forget.
Then something else happened. I don’t remember if it was before or after the Linkin Park guy, but another crew member walked up to us, got something out of his pocket and gave it to my friend. We were confused at first, then realized it was a piece of broken string from Tyler’s bass. And it might seem ridiculous for many, but it made us all really happy. And since we’re such good friends, we decided that every one of us would get to keep a piece of it.
Nothing else happened after that. We did see Tyler and his wife Jenna enter their bus, and although I wish I would have had the guts to say hi, I don’t regret any second of the time we spent outside that night because I can’t remember the last time I’ve had that much fun. And that’s also part of “touring” with your favorite band: the simplest of things can become your favorite part of the day.
DAY 3
We didn’t get much sleep that night, and had to leave the apartment before 10am, so we knew we wouldn’t do much on our last day. Simply put, we went to the Old Town Square again, and the weather was so nice that we just sat there for hours on end, playing Pokémon Go after treating ourselves with a nice Italian restaurant lunch. Around 4pm, we took the metro and the bus to the airport, and that was the end of our trip.
The next blog should have been focused on Dublin, but instead, on Monday we randomly decided we wanted to go to Cologne first and booked the tickets on a whim. So I’ll see you next week!
With the European leg of the Bandito Tour just started two weeks ago, and since I’ll be going to a bunch of shows pretty soon, I thought it would be interesting to write about the adventures to come and why/how I came about traveling so much for a two-man band. I plan on making this a series of posts, each detailing the journey to the show, but for now let’s focus on the beginning. In this one, I’ll try to answer some of the questions I’ve often been asked (because no, this isn’t my first time doing this, and I’d lie if I said it was the last).
Emma's Culture Corner 