Zeg maar even niets

Goed. Luister. Vandaag is een dag van nationale rouw. Dat is uniek. Waarom? Omdat een vliegtuigramp waarbij zo veel Nederlandse mensen omgekomen zijn, ook uniek is. 193 mensen die allemaal minimaal 20 mensen kenden, dat gaat hard. Dan kent iemand vast wel iemand, en die ook weer iemand. En dan beleef je de pijn en het verlies van dichtbij. Mensen zoeken elkaar op met deze dagen omdat we elkaar nodig hebben. Meer dan we ons realiseren. Ik vind het oneerlijk tegenover de slachtoffers en families als ik lees hoe mensen het ermee oneens zijn dat er een dag van nationale rouw is. "Maar dat hadden we toen ook niet.", dus? Het is nu een andere tijd, een ander geval, iemand anders gaat er over. "In het buitenland gaan zo veel mensen elke dag dood" dan sta jij daar toch lekker bij stil? Wie zegt dat je dat niet mag doen dan? Heb je er iemand voor nodig om daarbij stil te kunnen staan? Nee toch.

Als je niets met deze dag te maken wilt hebben dan hoeft dat niet, maar ga niet respectloos zijn en zeggen dat het onnodig is. Het is nodig, in dagen als deze krijgen we de kans om een eenheid te zijn, wat haast nooit gebeurd. Als jij vindt dat ze in het buitenland meer verdienen dan ga jij daar lekker een poosje heen. Dan ga jij lekker vrijwilligerswerk doen of geld overmaken, whatever. Dan ga je op zo'n dag als deze niet op social media en overal met je grote bek schreeuwen dat het niet nodig is. Ik kende niemand die op die vlucht zat persoonlijk maar als ik een paar straten verderop langs het huis rij waar een vrouw, die aan het begin van haar leven stond, omgekomen is dan krijg ik kippenvel. De vlaggen hangen buiten, halfstok, zoals het hoort nu. Of je daar aan mee doet is jouw keuze, dat is jouw zaak. Maar jij hebt niet het recht om zo'n dag af te pakken van mensen die er wél behoefte aan hebben. Natuurlijk wordt het je neus ingeboord op Facebook met gedeelde plaatjes en profielfoto's, dat is nou eenmaal Facebook. Dan weet je dat je op zo'n dag als deze daar lekker weg moet blijven, je eigen ding doen, het is lekker weer buiten.

Als het goed is ben je opgevoed. Dan heb je geleerd wat respect is en dan heb je geleerd respect te hebben. Heb dat, heb fatsoen. Heb je echt zo'n miserabel leven dat je zelfs zo'n dag af wilt pakken van mensen die al zo veel doorstaan hebben de afgelopen dagen? Sommigen hebben nog niet eens de garantie dat hun vader, moeder, man, vrouw, zoon, dochter, broer, zus, neef, nicht, oom, tante, opa, oma, vriend, vriendin, buurman, buurvrouw, collega, of whatever thuis komen. Of dat er überhaupt nog iéts van ze over is. Maar goed, ga vooral tegen iedereen in die er wat van zegt en blijf lekker bezig met zeggen dat het niet nodig en belachelijk is. Dat mag jij vinden. Maar je mag zo'n dag niet weg pakken van iemand die het het hardst nodig heeft. Mensen verwerken dingen op een andere manier, iedereen doet dat. Laat ze dan.

Jack White and his incredible band.

David James Swanson made this incredible picture. My favorite.

July 1st, 2014.

When the dates were announced I did not doubt for a second. I've wanted to see this man perform for years but every time I just couldn't because of school. Since school is no longer a problem, I was all set to go yesterday. Anna scored us tickets in the presale and Kelly came with us. We arrived very early, since Anna and Rosita came back early from Paris. We sat, waited, drank and ate for six hours. It was worth it, we got front row! I was a little scared at first because I heard some stuff about Early Entry. But I hardly even saw those people so it was all cool. So many people were asking us who we were waiting for, we decided we'd say Celine Dion. It worked. People stopped.

The support act (The Amazing Snakeheads) was a little.. strange. It was like hearing a horror movie. I was scared he was gonna go so insane he'd cut off his arm at some point in the performance. Or bite off the drummer's head. I did like the music though. The music, the (so called) singing not so much. But you know, it was alright. Then the curtains closed.

This man came on stage and kindly asked us if we could just put our phones away during the gig. I get that. I mean, if you want to watch shit on your phone you might as well look at it on YouTube. You don't pay over 40 euros to watch the gig on your phone. And taking pics to see where you stood, who fucking gives a shit? You're there for yourself and the artist, not for your so called friends/followers on Facebook and Twitter.

When the curtains got opened again, I was surprised. I guess I thought the band was gonna stand there but nope, they weren't there. Then they came on, looking fly as fuck. All of them. I love their look as a band.  High Ball Stepper kicked in. The intro was A++. I was amazed right away. I did not know what to expect, I knew it was gonna be awesome but not this awesome. Dead Leaves And The Dirty Ground, one of my favorite songs ever, turned out to be even more impressive live. I Cut Like A Buffalo, man. Wow. I just don't know what to say about it. It was all so amazing, every single song. I love how he did songs from The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, The Dead Weather and himself. He even did a part of I Fought Piranhas, of course I flipped the frick out. But it was not until Steady, As She Goes that the crowd went insane and he got everyone going. I don't blame Jack, I blame the audience who stood there like they pooped their pants. You don't have to go insane but it's an amazing artist, with an incredible band playing their hearts out for you. You paid for this. At least clap or do SOMETHING.

Then they went off stage. Of course the audience sang Seven Nation Army. Of fucking course. That's probably because 60% of the audience was there to hear that song. It annoyed me. I don't want to sound like an asshat but it just did. You are there for Jack White, not the White Stripes. He has many bands, he has made so much music. Not just Seven Nation Army. But when they came on stage again and started playing, everyone just went insane. Sixteen Saltines. One of my favorites as well.. When they started playing it I went out of my fucking mind. How can you not?? Three Women was so great too. I was a little upset when he ended with Seven Nation Army. Because I feel like he's feeling forced to play it. Else people will talk shit about a perfectly fine gig, just because he did not play Seven Nation Army. I liked the arrangement though, I love the version they played live so much more than the actual song. I'm gonna have to say that my absolute favorite moment was when he played Slowly Turning Into You. But to be honest, everything was my favorite moment. The entire day was my favorite moment. Jack White, a true artist who doesn't sell bullshit. His band, such talented people whose passion for music is obvious and play their hearts out.

Afterwards, our train was delayed which caused us to miss our bus home so Kelly and I spend the night at Schiphol Airport. It was warm, there was a Starbucks and we had croque monsieurs. We were dead tired though. When we left, early this morning, we'd been awake for almost 24 hours.

It was all worth it, I had an amaing time with everyone there and I am so glad I got to see Jack White and the band. I loved it all. I also met the drummer, who is such a genuine, nice and talented man!! His name is Daru Jones. I do kind of wish I'd met the rest of the band as well. Especially Lillie Mae, 'cause she's so incredibly talented and I feel like she's such a nice, beautiful person. Well, who knows, maybe next time! I definitely hope there'll be a next time. And I will be there, no matter what. I would honestly travel far for gigs like those which musicians like that. Because that's what they are, musicians.