As it had been raining on and off all day, I deliberately didn't get to Weert until about 5.00pm. I think it's called BOSpop as it is on the outskirts of a place called Boshoven. Weert is a small town in Holland (with loads of roundabouts that I had to go the wrong way round!) that each year hosts this 3 day music festival that up to 30,000 people are supposed to attend. Considering all that, I expect at least some signs about where it was being held! Eventually I just went to the Artists Entrance (that WAS signposted) and asked there. It turns out that the festival is held in the middle of a housing estate and they just block that off and use the roads there for the parking!

The walk to the entrance was just a mudbath and then I had one person searching my clothing (they didn't specify what they were looking for) and then another person looked thoroughly through my handbag (purse). For some reason they totally ignored my bag with my camera in it...!

I arrived at BOSpop in time to send the end of Patti Smith's set. As I was getting there she was singing a song that Todd had produced. I wandered around the field where there were loads of music related stalls selling all sorts of things from CDs to punk, Goth and heavy metal clothes, to piercings and tattoos to food galore! Todd's album Liars was available at the official merchandise stall, as was Quid Pro Quo! It was only 15 Euros which was a bargain!

There was also a tent where some other artists were playing. It was like a smog in there with everybody smoking and steaming from where they had got wet earlier!

The next band on the main stage was Blof. I didn't know Blof as I think they're a Dutch band but they really got the audience going. Of all the people that were standing around in front of the stage, it seemed to me that a good three quarters of them knew the words to most of the songs they played. Their last song was sang by the lead singer in Dutch (I guess) and then the guy on keyboards sang alternate lines in English.

It took them about half an hour to set up Todd's set during which time Jesse was on stage checking his keyboards and guitar. (Mary Lou walked on stage a couple of times.) They didn't use the pods today so Kasim and Jesse's keyboards were just set up facing each other. The techs seem to have some trouble with Kasim's bass connection - at one stage there were three of them kneeling on the floor looking at it!

When they have the pods set up, I can half understand why Kasim is kept right at the back in his little box but today when there was no such restriction, I was dismayed to see that Kasim (and Jesse) were still kept very much at the back - in fact in front of Kasim was Todd's table (with his towels, bottled water and computer keyboard) and Kasim was hemmed in behind it! I know that Kasim is a "hired hand" during this tour but considering they used to be "band mates" and Kasim's a popular member of his band (he gets the most cheers after Todd), I would have thought that at least Todd could let him move off his spot at a set where he could! Rant over....

Todd was on stage from 9.12pm until 10.14pm and the temperature when they started was 15.5 degrees centigrade (according to the scrolling neon info sign there!). Thankfully it kept dry throughout the whole of their set! The band all wore their "religious" clothes for the set (as basically it was just the first part of the show that they played). Todd sang Truth wearing some unusual gold eye gear that looked like a mask that you'd wear to a fancy dress party! He also wore the embroidered long-length jacket but soon took it off. Kasim was wearing his priest outfit and glasses (no hat).

The sound was VERY loud there and I was disappointed at the crowd's reaction. Certainly there were less people standing right in front of the stage for Todd than there were for Blof. I don't know if it's because they're a really well known band in Holland or not but when Todd came on stage it seemed to me that most people didn't know his music. I appreciate that he's here in Europe to promote his new album but I would have thought that at a festival where there are not just Todd fans that he may have been better playing at least a couple of songs that general music fans would recognise - While My Guitar Gently Weeps got probably the best reaction of all the songs in Todd's set. Thankfully the rest of the concerts on this leg of the tour are Todd concerts so it won't be a problem again.

Todd's voice sounded very strong and the band played perfectly tonight. Kasim's voice sounded exceptionally good and came over the speakers very distinctly at times. There's one part (I can't remember in which song) when Jesse and John sing a couple of lines and then Kasim joins in and the warmth in his voice just makes all the difference.

Todd hardly spoke at all so it was a fast paced show. They left the stage after Liars and came back to sing WWE but Todd's microphone stand and keyboard had already been removed! I just hope that the inclusion of WWE tonight means that it will be played at all the UK concerts too! There was some guy on stage throughout all the set who was filming with a video camera.

Roll on Bristol on Monday....!

For more reviews of this concert, see TRConnection.com. Comments about Kasim at this concert taken from that site and various mailing lists include:
"Kasim was solid and played a very low and thumping bass."
"Think of the song 'Mammon', with Kasim's bass taking your breath away."

Photos on this page are by Gary "Goat" Goveia from the Redbank gig

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