Some two months ago I posted a message from over at the Lowlands festival. I promised to talk about our adventures there as soon as I returned home. I'm sorry I did not keep my word, and I'll try to satisfy you with this post.

The Weather
Just like every dutchman, I will start off with a talk about the weather.

The weather wasn't so bad this year. The sky stayed dry after a few showers on the first day. The puddles of mud that formed on the first day dried up fairly quickly thanks to the wood chips that were put on the wettest places. This was a great improvement over 2002 when they used straw for this. The disadvantage of straw is that the whole terrain smells like one big barn full of cows. Great choice by the organization!

Entrance Check
Another great improvement was the entrance check. There was none. Because of that we were able to get onto the terrain within an hour, a marginal improvement of 4 hours! Finally I was able to erect my tent in broad daylight.

The program
As usual the program was very varied. I again enjoyed Franz Ferdinand and The Sheer as at Pinkpop earlier this year. Other standouts were The Darkness, The Offspring and Novastar. I was unable to see the latter at Pinkpop so I was thrilled that he was on the Lowlands' program. But there was not only music. One of the other acts that really got my attention was Lejo, a puppeteer who made use of only his hands and a few white balls for eyes..

See you next year?
It was difficult to go to the Lowlands festival this year, as told in a message posted earlier. My girlfriend had her birthday while we were there and although she enjoyed the festival, she also missed her friends and family. It looks like the festival will be on August 21 again next year and I think I'll have to skip it then. But who knows what 2006 brings us.