I just got back home from a trip to Amsterdam. Reason: a Kaiser Chiefs concert in Paradiso. My brother bought two tickets and asked me to come along. Couldn't refuse that of course!

Going to Amsterdam by train costs a lot of time. Half an hour for getting to the nearest train station, and then 2,5 hours in the train. Paradiso is a half hour walk from Amsterdam Central.

We arrived at the Leidse Plein around 5 p.m. The doors would open at 7, so we had two hours to eat something. We found an Italian restaurant where we ordered a pizza and some beer. The table next to us was occupied by two female British tourists who were talking about the Chiefs. They were on a holiday in Amsterdam and we lucky to be able to get to the show.

The pizza tasted great, and so did the beer. It's weird why beer always tastes better when it costs 5 Euro per glass.

We only used an hour of our dinner time so we had to wait another hour in front of the Paradiso building, once a church I think. While waiting the band left the building to go for a little walk. Funny how they can just walk through town without the fans yelling and screaming for autographs.

When the doors opened we found ourselves a nice spot in front of the stage. Nine Black Alps was the support act, warming up the crowd with loud guitars. The front man had to switch guitars four times because of a broken string. He must be using metal picks...

The Kaiser Chiefs opened with a lot of smoke and a Dire Straits opening tune. The played as energetic as always, and in a small location as Paradiso, the contact with the public is great. A stage diving guy, a girl who had her birthday dancing on-stage with Ricky, Ricky stage diving himself and the mic in the crowd allowing for the public to sing along are some of the things that made this gig awesome.

The show was over at 10 p.m. and we found our way back to the trains. We went to an aunt and uncle of Anky's in Utrecht to stay overnight. Trains don't go all the way back south in the middle of the night. Thanks Yvonne and Frits!

The remainder of the trip home ended at 2 p.m.