Eindhoven, Holland

October 2006

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, you couldn’t keep me and my friends away from rock concerts. We went everywhere and saw everyone. Then we grew up, moved away and got our own lives. Over recent years, we have met each other for the occasional concert. It was while Mark, Paul and I were watching Journey at the Manchester Apollo in June that we realized that one band we had never seen were Golden Earring. This was because they were a Dutch band and never came to England. We speculated on the possibility that should they ever tour in Europe again, we would make an effort to go and see them. Since they had been around since the late 60s, and we were all getting older, the possibilities seemed limited.

Cut to July. I was sitting at Heathrow waiting for my flight to Georgia and sat at a PC with free internet and wondering what to do. I checked out the Golden Earring website, my first visit and discovered that they were doing an autumn tour in Holland and neighbouring countries. I looked at the itinerary and saw a concert in Eindhoven in mid October. I emailed Mark, Paul and Neil and said ‘well are we going for it?’. By the time I got back, they had flights, concert tickets and a hotel booked.

Sometimes, everyone gets swept away by the meaningless flotsam and jetsam that make up so much of our daily lives. You lose touch with old friends and you all find excuses why you can’t meet up and of course, there are always the wives and girlfriends to escape from.

So when we all met at the Ryanair check in, it was almost strange to think that we had all known each other for over 30 years from school and amongst all the changes we had all gone through, we were still the same people to each other. Conversations picked up where they had left off, we communicated using the same old one liners and in jokes. It was just a nice experience to think that in an increasing world of isolation, that I was fortunate to still have friends like this to do something like this with. Some of us were enjoying life and some had problems but we put it all aside for a weekend to escape on a ‘Boyz trip away’.

None of us had been to Eindhoven in Holland, although I had driven around the outskirts in the summer. It is the home to the major Dutch company Philips – home of the light bulb (the first European light bulb factory set up in the late 19th century). I had found nothing about the town in guidebooks and the internet was pretty sparse on info.

We grabbed a taxi from the airport to our comfortable hotel in the centre, passing the Philips Football Stadium en route. It was strange for me to get in a taxi and be checking into a 3-star hotel Hampshire Inn as opposed to a hostel.

Since it was already 8pm, it didn’t take us long to hit the town to continue the drinking which we had left off at Stansted Airport. There was a strip of bars, clubs and restaurants but it was virtually empty. After a couple of beers, we hit an Italian restaurant for a lengthy meal and chat. By the time we exited, the streets were heaving with people. We found an Irish pub selling cheap beer and settled in for a long haul. By the time we staggered home, it was 3am and the place was still heaving. Eindoven appeared to be a real a party town (who can knock a place where ‘happy hour’ starts at 10pm and ends at 2am).

We dragged ourselves up for an all you can eat breakfast and to be honest I ate more than the others put together. This was to equip us for a ‘Bob Jack’ tour of the town. I had the impression that Eindhoven had been flattened during World War Town and they had a blank slate to work with.

Consequently, it was a modern Dutch town that had been designed to maximum comfort and efficiency. The first impression is that bicycles and public transport rule. We came across roads which had ‘bus lanes’ in the centre, a single lane for cars on either side going in either direction and bus lanes on the edge of these. There were also ‘bicycle’ parks for hundreds of bikes. The shopping area was all pedestrianised. The other specialty in Eindhoven was modern art sculptures and space age architecture. It was nice to wander around and see what we came across. Of major significance were the ‘Flying Skittles’; a brilliant modern art sculpture at a traffic junction with 10 huge yellow skittles being knocked over by a bowling ball. There was also a strange upended wedge (too steep for skateboarding) where we were able to try out weird photography. The major shopping mall had huge metal pillars outside. You have to see the photos to see what I am talking about. In-between the wanderings, I was forced to allow the others to check out every available music store for Golden Earring DVDs unavailable in the UK and for Mark ‘Gadget Boy’ to have a look at all the latest European gadgets on offer.

We tracked down the Philips Factory and there were two museums. One was the official ‘ye olde’ remnants from the original factory which needed a ‘tour’ and ‘an artificial light’ exhibition. It looked a lot better on the internet than in reality, but we had never seen such a place (where you don headphones to hear light frequency on some exhibits) and we made the best of it.

By coincidence, there was a ‘medieval fair’ going on in the centre of the shopping mall. This included locals dressing up in ‘ye olde’ costumes and looking like extras from ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail.’ There were people cooking bread, and knitting yoghurt and a bunch of warriors who would fight each other with shields, swords and spears. We found an excuse to sit and have a beer and watch the locals at leisure (look at the photos).

Surprisingly, we filled the say with our explorations (for somewhere with no tourist attractions). Early evening, we returned to our Irish pub where we were already deemed regulars and then made for the concert hall. When we entered the 2,000 dance hall, we found most of the 2,000 people already there. It was packed. We discovered that despite touring Holland for over three decades, Golden Earring had never played Eindhoven. Strange, considering how small Holland is.

Everyone inside was drinking, smoking or attempting to crush their way across to the bar on the right hand side. Or all three. We holed up by the bar, took in the loud atmosphere, took in a lot of beers, hoped the local support band would disappear as soon as possible and finally enjoyed a two hour concert by Golden Earring. They didn’t disappoint and I don’t have to go into details. The entire town seemed to be on the bar strip by the time we got out. Suffice to say, we drank until past 3am and picked up kebabs on the way home.

Sunday morning. I had been down and eaten breakfast before the others surfaced (I love all-you-can-eat breakfasts). We had a day to pass before the evening flight and I had done my research. A 30 minute Train ride took us to Hertogenbosch – hometown of the painter Heironymous Bosch.

We spent a few hours wandering around the town which was closed if you wanted to go shopping. However, there were canals, quiet streets and a splendid cathedral called ‘Saint Jan’ (13th - 16th Century). It was huge and history oozed from its pores. Despite the marvellous interior architecture, it was a series of paintings of the life of Christ, where the painter had managed to put himself into each painting that grabbed our attention. It’s amazing what you will do when you are trying to pass the time. Fortunately, the only visible places with life were the cold outside cafes across the road and it seemed rude not to have a couple of beers while we were there.

We found Heironymous Bosch’s statue outside the Town Hall with its twinky revolving clock statues and laughed at groups of people ‘scootering’ around the car free streets. Well you would, wouldn’t you. There was a life saving ‘kebab shop’ at the railway station before we returned to Eindhoven, and picked up our gear.

Eindhoven has a unique form of public transport. Its called the ‘Phileas’ bus and is a eco friendly battery bus with ‘Darth Vader’ black colouring and design. We had seen it on Saturday and thought it would be a good way to return to the airport. Alas, it never turned up. We were forced to use a normal bus. It got us there so who was complaining.

Back at Stansted, it was suddenly all over. We had to return to our normal lives. The escape was over.

Did I like Eindhoven? Yes, like Bologna in Italy which I visited in June, it was a pleasant surprise. But unlike Bologna, you don’t come here to see history. You come here to see the future of European life. Modern, comfortable, sterile, economical. If you’re passing, have a look. But as with most Dutch cities, you have to find a reason to go there in the first place. The locals were friendly, but I expected no less from the Dutch. It was fun to drag my mates around on a ‘Bob Jack’ tour, but I think we all left feeling as if we had captured the essence of the area.

I always underestimate Holland as a holiday destination, but this weekend was proof that if you take the time, you can find plenty to occupy yourselves.

There was a short article written about our trip on the Classic Rock Magazine blog. Just go to October 16th and look down the list.