Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany!

Ok, so… where did Dave leave off, Porto.. We got back to our hotel in Porto, which for a cheapish airport hotel, was quite nice!!  After a refreshing shower, The Eternal boys were ready for some well earned sleep!!!

Up and ready to go in the morning, we took the hire van back, and waited around Porto airport for four or so hours before we get some ahh “interesting” Ryanair service, I guess you get what you pay for!! Check in, board, fly, and we’re in Belgium!

When we had got all our gear, we found out our hire car reservation had been cancelled, and being Easter Holidays,  every car hire company was completely out of cars!! Plan B – Hotel! Formula 1… The Eternal First Class!

The next day we got in touch with our Local Promoter and he came and picked us up and took us to Vera’s House (Our Belgium Metal Mother!! She takes great care of us whenever we’re in Belgium!). With the help of Vera’s lovely boyfriend Luke, we obtained a hire car and felt a great weight lift from our shoulders!!!!

The next day we had our first show in Antwerpen @ De Rots! The last time we played this venue, it was alot smaller, they have opened the venue right up and made it a much easier venue for the crowd and the bands! We also met Marche Funebre, our tour supports for Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany. Lovely guys!!

The second show, which was 3 hours away, which the Belgians complained about the long drive…  Anyone who tours in Australia knows a 20 hour return trip is not out of he ordinary, they have it so easy over here!! Leeuwarden was our second show, in a familair venue called Mukkes. It looked exactly the same as we left it two years ago!!!  Same with the accomodation!!

We went and checked out Skyforger who were playing at the venue next door, interesting show, they were put to us to be Viking Metal… not bad! The show we were playing was the after party for the Skyforger show.

The show went quite well, and we drank well into the night with the locals!! Very locely bunch of people!! And pictures of the activities after the show are available  on facebook and myspace… needless to say after a whole lot of Amstel (Bad hangover beer) Jack Daniels and Jager.. there was alot of antics from my good self!!

The next day was a long drive to Tilberg in The Netherlands. Tilberg is a Uni town so I am told, The venue was The Little Devil… and little it was!!

The opening band Malicious Dream rocked! Don’t have a bad word to say about them!! They were kind of deathish metal! Then Marche Funebre took to the stage and once they were done, it was time for The Eternal to take the reins!! We played a great show, but half way through some guy in the crowd started yelling at us to play Rose Tattoo.. Not sure why it wasn’t AC/DC like every other show, but after he calmed down and went away, we continued the set, and then headed off to our hotel after a few drinks with some lovely locals!!

Come the morning, we all felt alot better than we did in Leeuwarden because of the lack of alcohol the night before!! Today was a drive into Germany to a small town called Datteln. This show turned out to be an all ages show in what was a pretty good setup, in sort of a youth centre. Quite a few bands on the bill tonight, but unfortunately I can’t remember all their names!! Marche Funebre opened the night, followed by a kick ass 80s heavy metal band! The bass player was a bit lanky dude who I drank quite a few beers with through the night!! Great guys all round in that band!! Next up was a heavier band that played some cool deathy kind of metal. After them was Dawn Of Destiny, who were the local heros so we were told! They had a female vocalist and they were a very confident bunch of guys who played a rockin set!! We finished off the night with a big heavy set to a great response from the German crowd!!

After the show we drank well into the night with the local Germans and had a great time all round!!!

Next stop – Amsterdam! After not getting to sleep until daylight, I thought it would be a great idea to sleep all the way into Amsterdam, but once I arrived .. wow I was very awake. Amsterdam is a very cool place to visit, but also very expensive compared to the rest of The Netherlands! After we found our hotel, we ventured off to the Red Light district… like anyone would have expect us not to!

I must say I have never experienced anything like the red light district… the sights and sounds are something to behold!!!

After venturing around Amsterdam for a few hours, we went back to our hotel and gathered everything for the show at The Cave. Marche Funebre played first as always, and we finished the night to a good response from the small crowd. The Cave was a smaller venue.. small and long, but the guys and girls in the venue treated us very well! I would love to go back to Amsterdam and travel around one day when we have more time. After 5 shows in 5 days we were all feeling a little tired, so after the show we went straight back to bed!!

Our last stop on this leg of the tour was back in Belgium at a little chapel. The show was called Haunting The Chapel and was a Doom Metal festival. Some really good bands played the night, with The Eternal smack bang right in the middle. Our set went well and we received a good reaction from the crowd! Also on the bill were our good mates from Melbourne Dandelion Wine!! It was so great to hear Aussie Accents that weren’t our own!!! Naomi and Nick were welcomed with open arms!!

After the show, we had a couple of beers with the lovely Emilio and Maya, and headed off back to Antwerpen and back to Vera’s!! After figuring out how to get to Brussels airport the next morning, we bunked down to get a few hours sleep before we had to get up and travel off to Finland.. the 6 shows in 6 days was now over, and we were looking forward to having a few days off!!!