This is part two in my LowLands 2005 report. Pictures of LowLands 2005 can be found in my Photography section.

Friday
Sleeping late was not an option Friday morning. The sun burnt a hole in my tent and I had to struggle to not float out of it. A few trips to the toilet and shower facilities later, we tried to get some breakfast. This seemed sheer impossible because of the long queue in the camping supermarket. Eight persons had to serve the thousand people that had gathered in unordered lines before the 20 meter long bar. After three quarters of an hour we finally had our food.

Erik constantly reminded us that it would start to rain at 2 p.m. Maybe he should consider a career as meteorologist, because a few minutes before two the skies turned dark. The wind increased in strength and a few tents went flying through the air. But no rain. Just to be sure we put our raincoats in the bag and left for the festival area.

The first act we saw on Friday were the Beatsteaks on the Alpha stage. I never really listened to their music before and the only memory I have of this show is that they played loud. The next act Anky and I wanted to see was scheduled to start 15 minutes before the end of the Beatsteaks on the Grolsch stage, so we headed over there. It was The Polyphonic Spree. They were originally planned for this year's Pinkpop, but they cancelled at the last moment. 25 men and women in dresses makes the stage very crowded. A lot of instruments are doubled in this band from Texas and presents you with a massive wall of sound. I don't really like their lyrics about happiness and nice trees a lot, but still the music gave me goose bumps. My brother mistook the band for the Stereophonics and cleared the scene after the first song.

We decided to go see the Kaiser Chiefs from the front row. After a small meal we headed to the Alpha stage again to find a lot of space before the stage. This didn't last for long and when the Chiefs entered the stage we were being pretty intimate with the rest of the audience. The Kaiser Chiefs were one big party! Frontmand Ricky injured his ankle during one of his previous shows, but he didn't let that prevent him from jumping up and down the stage. He even went into the audience at one point.

At his point we split the group. Paul and Erik stayed in front of the Alpha stage for Franz Ferdinand. Anky and I had already seen them twice last year so we decided to watch them from a less crowded place. This also gave us the opportunity to visit the Essent Awards tent. Here you can join the band onstage and play covers from anyone you want. Always great to see people making music.

Franz Ferdinand gave a great show, playing both old and new songs from the upcoming album. The new songs sounded great and I can't wait for the new CD to arrive.

Anky and I decided to go back to the camping site to give our feet some rest and prepare for the long night that was to follow. Erik went to see The Prodigy, a show that almost exactly resembled the one they gave on Pinkpop.

After the day program we all went to the Grolsch stage to enjoy the music played by the Alpha DJ's. After 3 a.m. the festival grounds were emptied and we had to continue our party in the LowLands Cafe, open 24 hours a day. I can faintly remember getting back in bed around 6.