Concert review
Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, The Netherlands - 25 March 2001
By Dirk Faes

I was completely ready for my second concert of this Greatest Hits tour. I knew what to expect, at least I thought I knew.


Because of the hour changing to summertime on the night from Saturday to Sunday I got one hour sleep less then usual, but that didn't keep me from waking up on time to start the trip to Amsterdam. I had to pick up my niece on the way, it was Vanessa's first Texas concert, and yes ... I'm guilty that she became a Texas fan on Sunday :^)
We left at her place at 11.00 and after a two hour trip we arrived in Amsterdam. I found a road map on the internet which I had printed out and took with me. We took the Transferium exit on the highway, already saw the Amsterdam Arena and knew it couldn't be far. Of course they were working on the roads in Amsterdam so my map wasn't exactly correct anymore. Since I don't have a lot of patience and since suddenly a guy on a BMX appeared out of the blue. Before I could ask him anything he said in English; "I ain't gonna be of much use, I'm a foreigner". I said, "don't worry, I am too." When I asked him if he happen to knew where the HMH was he said "You're lucky, that's the only thing I know here" and he showed us the direction. About 8 hours later we found out that he was one of the guys of the Texas crew, kinda funny when we suddenly spotted him on the stage.

So a few minutes after 13.00 we were at the HMH, first we didn't see anyone there yet, but when we looked a little lower we saw two sleeping bags with (playing hide-and-seek) Bea and Kathy hidden in them. Great to see we weren't the only crazy ones. It didn't take long before we were practically deaf from the sound of piles they were hitting into the ground a few hundred meters further and frozen from the cold wind which was blowing across the Arena Boulevard. After running to the toilets about ten times and hiding with four people under two sleeping bags more people started to arrive around 15.30.

I recognized two girls which I saw on a photo that Alison sent me, Julia and Nicky, who spent the night in Amsterdam. Soon some Dutch fans also arrived so the place was getting a little more crowded. It also helped to protect us from the wind. When Alison arrived I had something like is that Alison or isn't it? yes no yes no" but the answer was yes :^) Also Jen arrived, I recognized her immediately, ... or she me. They introduced me to Stuart and Cara, a little bit later Linda arrived. I can't describe the feeling when you suddenly meet all those people who you talked to over the internet, but it was great, amazing, fantastic, .... and I wouldn't want to have missed that experience for anything.

I guess they felt sorry for us because of the cold, so the security people let us into the entrance at 17.30 but we had to wait in front of the door of the hall itself because the band was still doing their sound check. We could hear Sharleen sing "Put Your Arms Around Me" which made my day even better then it already was.
What was funny and great at the same time was the fact that when you wanted to buy a drink or something to eat in the HMH you had to buy coins which you had to give to the bartenders then and they were especially made ... Texas coins, a great piece of memorabilia.

They let us into the hall at 18.30 - 19.00, so we stormed to the front and all found our perfect spot. It just was a shame we couldn't all stand next to eachother, but hey ... you can't win them all.
< Reef started at 20.00, I was already getting used a bit to their loud music, I will never become a huge Reef fan but I survived.

I still couldn't believe that I was so close to the stage, I was thrilled, nervous, .... but that all disappeared when at 21.15 Texas came on stage, then I was just happy.
I'm not gonna name all the songs again, I just would like to say that for me some of the highlights will always remain "Insane", "Put Your Arms Around Me" and "When We Are Together". Sharleen called a guy named Patrick on stage which she wrongfully accused of shouting out loud "suck my c..." , shame on you Shar :^) On the other hand who doesn't want to be accused of something when that means you can dance with Sharleen?

I took some pictures, sometimes I forgot when Shar showed up right in front of me, I was too shocked then. I only hope some of them will turn out fine. The encores "Inner Smile", "Suspicious Minds" and "Say What You Mind" were as amazing as ever.
It must have been around 23.00 when the concert ended, but we weren't planning to get home already. We went to the back of the HMH where we waited for almost two hours, freezing again, but again it was worth it to finally see Sharleen and the guys come out, have her signed a photo and a drawing I had with me and listen to her story about her pink socks with little piggies on them.

On our way home we passed the tourbusses twice (I HAD to stop at a parking place to stay awake). I got home at 03.00 tired but very happy, not only because I saw Texas again, but also because I met all those wonderful people.
Thanks to everyone,

Dirk


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