my concert journey

.. After spending one night in Cologne, Charlotte came to my hotel and stayed the night, before we had to leave for Zurich. We left early in the morning, as our interrail ticket was only valid for one more day. It took us about 6 hours to reach Zurich and when we got there we immediately started walking to the festival, which was 7km away. We gave up after half of the way and took the train. It was a really hot and sunny day, so as soon as we reached the festival, which wasn't open yet, we sat in the cold and realxed, before the real stress began.

The Festival was supposed to start at 4pm and an hour before it was still closed and people couldn't even get in to build up their tents. At the check-in they also didn't have a guest list, so we couldn't get in, without a confirmation of the crew or band. We barley had any water and were dying because of the heat, when after running around for 1 hour, calling people and stressing the festival crew, they finally found the guest list and we could get in.

The NBHD was supposed to play at 4:45pm, but there was clearly not enough time for everyone to get in before that, since they only opened the doors around 4:30pm - the first act had to play without a crowd. When we got in there was barley anyone in front of the stage where the band would perform, while there were still tons of people outside wearing The NBHD merchandise.

The heat was unbelivable and Charlotte and I couldn't stand being right in it. We waited for the crew to see us or come out because we were planning on watching the show from the sound tech tent, which consisted of 2 floors this time. We wanted to run away from the sun and were more than happy when the sound tech took us with him. We went upstairs and were able to see the whole crowd, which wasnt that big because of the organization issues of the festival.

We talked to the crew until the show began and when Jesse came out he also tried to run away from the sun. He was shirtless, leaving the stage, jumping behind the barrier, coming our way - the whole crowd following him. He went to the shadow of the sound tech tent, waved at us when he saw us sitting upstairs and performed in the middle of the crowd which had followed him all the way to the back. After a while he went back on the stage where he continued to run away from the sun, so he hid behind the stage and performed in front of the camera or took off his clothes while he was performing in the heating sun, until he had only been wearing his underwear. It was a fun sight to see and really made the show stand out out of all the shows we had seen before.

Devon - Jesse's girlfriend - had also been there, as she joined the band on the tour, the day of Jesse's birthday. I had always wanted to see her, because she seems so lovely. At some point during the show she came upstairs to the sound tech tent and talked to the light tech for a while before she left again to watch the show with the crowd. It was cute to see her standing in the middle of the crowd watching the band perform.

After the show was done and the band back in the cold, we went out of the tent to go watch CHVRCHES again, before we already had to leave. People were waiting at the entrance to the backstage because they wanted to meet Jesse. We went there and asked the crew for some water because we were dying of the heat, laughing about the girls thinking Jesse would come out to meet them in this heat. We got our water and then went to see CHVRCHES and a little bit of The Last Shadow Puppets, before leaving to catch our train to Belgium, where we would take a few hours off before leaving for the last two festivals in the UK.

Reading and Leeds

We spent a few hours in Belgium, had some proper food and watched some series before we left for the bus at night, with some wine and food, for the 10 hour bus ride that was expecting us.

After sleeping almost through the whole ride, we finally reached London in the morning. We took our things and left to buy some food before taking the train to somewhere outside of London where a friend of Charlotte picked us up and took us to Reading, the first of the twin festivals in the UK. What was expecting us was a day of seeing The NBHD, Foals, Die Antwoord, CHVRCHES, Crystal Castles and Twenty One Pilots.

Reaching the entrance, they told us the guest entrance was on the other side so we had to walk around almost the whole festival before finally being able to walk into one of the most popular festivals around the world. It was an incredible feeling. The sun was shining and we were motivated to see The NBHD - especially we had only heard good things about the crowds in the UK.

We still had a lot of time so we walked around the huge festival ground and looked at everything, before going back to the guest area. When we got there we both layed down on the ground and fell asleep, unintentionally taking a nap at the festival. Luckily we both woke up just in time to see Die Antwoord and the crazy show they put on. It was incredible to see how much they were able to jump around on the stage even though the sun was burning us all down. After we couldn't stand the heat anymore we went into the tent where The NBHD was supposed to play.

We didn't notice one act had cancelled his gig and kinda freaked out when we didn't see the Crew of the band anywhere near the stage or the sound tech tent, so we asked a crew member of Twenty One Pilots, who happened to be in the sound tech tent, next to us, if The NBHD was gonna play and he said yes. We checked our apps and saw that one act was cancelled so the whole schedule changed and The Internet started playing.

Charlotte and I sat down and listened to them. When they were done we got up and talked to the sound tech again before climbing in and watching the show from there, since we couldn't get through the huge crowd to the front row. The crowd was huge and everyone seemed to know all the songs. We have never heard so many people sing along to every song and dancing around. Our view was all over the crowd and the hands they had thrown in the air, while dancing. It was an incredible view and we really enjoyed the show with goosebumps everywhere. It was so amazing that I was sad for a moment that the tour was about to end.

We spent the next few hours walking around seeing some of the bands we had already seen at other festivals before we went back to the tent where The NBHD played because I wanted to see Crystal Castles who were playing right before Twenty One Pilots. I only sat down in the tent because I was still tired from everything we had done the past two weeks.

After the set of Crystal Castles we got ready for Twenty One Pilots, who we had seen in February. The tent slowly started to fill up and I had the impression that it was way too small for the amount of people who wanted to see Twenty One Pilots perform. We stayed close to the sound tech tent and when the show started we went absolutely insane. Suddenly all the energy we had lost during the last two weeks came back and we were feeling the moment, jumping up and down, singing along and dancing the whole time without a break. There was sweat everywhere but nobody seemed to care. They put on an amazing show, went into the crowd, as usual, and even walked over the heads in a big ball. It was incredible and even during the show I couldn't wait to see them again a day later.

When the show of Twenty One Pilots was over I still wanted to see Foals again. They played on the main stage and the cold felt like a relief when we went out of the sticky and sweaty tent. But that didn't last for long.

We had clearly lost all the energy again and only sat on the ground watching Foals play. It was freezing cold by then and all I wanted to do was leave, but I couldn't miss their show as the next day they were playing at the same time as Twenty One Pilots. I got up when they played my favorite song "Spanish Sahara". A red bengal fire went on in the middle of the crowd as I walked closer to the stage. All I could feel was how my whole self calmed down and forgot about everything. It was the most beautiful view I have ever had during the whole festival tour.

I went back to where Charlotte was sitting when the song was over, and after we stayed there for about ten more minutes we decided to go into some tent to warm up a little, so we went to see Asking Alexandria, before leaving the festival.

Charlottes friend picked us up and we spent the night in a hotel, with a proper bed and shower. In the morning we all took a shower and then went off to Leeds - the twin festival of Reading.

We reached Leeds and took the shuttle bus to the festival. The weather was the complete opposite of what we had seen in Reading. It was cold and rainy the whole time, but we didn't mind. We took the bus and when we reached the festival immediately went to look for Dina and Aileen who stayed at the festival with the weekend passes we had gotten from the Tour Manager of The NBHD. They were already in the tent where The NBHD and Twenty One Pilots were playing. We walked through the dirt and the rain and then made our way through the huge crowd to look for Dina and Aileen in the first row.

When we found them we gave each other the biggest hug ever. The front row was already filled only with people who wanted to see Twenty One Pilots, so Charlotte and I stood right behind Dina and Aileen in the second row and the waiting began. Most of the acts before The NBHD weren't really our music and we mostly just talked while they were performing. When it was time for The NBHD to perform we all went insane, not knowing whether to feel happy or sad about the last time seeing them.

All of a sudden the old Ferrari intro started to play. It was the first intro we all had ever seen of The NBHD and connected to a lot of memories together. Out of all shows this summer they came on stage with their old intro at their last show and our last squad reunion. We couldn't believe it and went absolutely insane as all the memories we have together flashed back into our minds. All the times seeing the band coming on the stage with that intro and they hadn't done it all summer, besides at Leeds.

We enjoyed the show even more then, singing and dancing along, crying some tears, thinking about all the good things that happened to us. It was the last time seeing them and no one knew when they would come back. It for sure was an emotional show. When the show was over our jaws dropped, I started crying a little bit and we all gave each other a big group hug. I couldn't believe I had just seen them for the last time for 1 or maybe even 2 years after seeing them 16 times within a year.

The show was over and we started waiting for Twenty One Pilots, Dina's favorite band. When they came on stage everyone went insane, especially the people who had been missing the whole day of the festival, waiting for them since 11am.

Once again they put on an incredible show and we had more fun than ever during the show. When they played "Car Radio" one of their most emotional songs, Dina, Aileen and I started crying, just that I cried because I knew the show would be over soon and with it the whole festival tour. It was just so hard to belive that it all ended so quickly. All the things we experienced, all the people we met, all the places we saw - everything was about to end and I couldn't believe a few days later I was supposed to go back to school and pretend like nothing of this had happened.

After the show of Twenty One Pilots and crying our eyes out, we walked a little bit over the festival talking about everything and being sad. We had to leave as Charlotte's friend wanted to go home, so we group hugged and then left. Charlottes friend dropped us off at the train station he had picked us up at and after waiting a few hours for the first train we went back to London where we had to wait another day until our bus left at 2pm. We went to Brussels and I said goodbye to Charlotte before taking my bus back to Hamburg.

I reached Hamburg, looking like totalk wreck with swollen feet that barly fit into my shoes, but I still wasnt' sure whether I was supposed to be happy or sad abour being back home. All I knew that I wanted nothing more than my bed and a proper shower.

I clearly had the time of my life on this tour. Following The NBHD on tour isn't just something I do in my free time because I have too much money and time left. It's something I live for, something that brings me to the end of my nerves, that has me saving up money for months, calculating everything for months and being excited for for months. It's my biggest passion and I'm so grateful to get the chance to do all of this - even though I barley get food, sleep, water or time for myself on tour - it's the one thing I live for.

Herewith I want to thank everyone who made this tour possible for me. A special thanks goes out to the Tour Manager of The NBHD who is by far the kindest person I have ever met. Without him I couldn't live my dream the way I do now. It's been a pleasure being invited to this tour and I wouldn't hesitate doing it again. I also wanna thank the band for touring so often since their second record dropped - for giving all their energy away being on tour for almost a year straight and barley having time for themselves. It's been amazing. I can't put all my emotions into words, but I just want everyone to know, I don't take this for granted. I feel honored to able to do this and all the words in the world couldn't express how happy and grateful I am to have gotten the chance to live my dream.

Lowlands Festival, also known as Campingflight to Lowlands Paradise, is an annual festival in the Netherlands, that takes place every year. It's mainly focused on rock, pop, hip hop, dance and alternative music and also offers cinemas and theatres. About 55,000 people attend the festival every year with over 200 acts and more than ten stages. This year I got the chance to be there and see my favorite band while I followed them on their festival tour through Europe.

After I had enjoyed my day off, I left for the Netherlands around 3am in the morning. The bus was filled with people, so I didn't get the chance to have two seats for myself and get the rest of sleep I was missing. We had a little delay and when I arrived in Amsterdam at 10:30am, Charlotte had already been there for about an hour, waiting for me. We met up and then messaged Dina and Aileen, who had been there by car, that we both arrived, so they could pick us up and drive to the festival with us. We met up and then made our way to Lowlands Festival in Biddinghuizen, about 80km from Amsterdam.

We had a pretty fun ride to the festival as we were all reunited again and even though I almost fell asleep in the car due to lack of sleep, since I left at 3am in the morning. When we arrived we parked the car and went straight to the Guest List/Crew/Artist check-in to get our wristbands and go inside. We went up to the guy in the tent and told him we were on the guest list for The NBHD and told him our names, when he told us he couldn't find us or a guest list of The NBHD and that we would have to wait for the Band to arrive in order to get it. Mostly confused, we went outside again and waited fot the Crew or Band to come to the check-in, even though we doubted them actually coming there anytime soon, as it was only about 12pm.

We waited for about an hour to an hour an a half in the rain before we decided to go back inside and ask if he had gotten any further information. When he still couldn't find the list we were on, he just wrote down our names and gave us our wristbands and we were finally able to go inside.

It had been raining a little bit when I arrived in Amsterdam and as soon as we entered the festival the rain got harder and didn't stop. We took some group pictures and then made our way to the tent The NBHD was supposed to play at, but since it was raining so hard, all the tents were filled with people and there was no getting inside, so we just went into the Guest barn, where we had wifi and a place to sit at.

We chilled there until the rain was over and then went to the tent, which was empty by now, as no one was performing there and it had stopped raining. Unlikely to the other festivals there were barley people waiting in the front row, so it was pretty easy for us to get there and wait for The NBHD. We had three hours to go and even though we had so long to wait there was only one band playing before The NBHD. We watched them play and then got excited for our favorite band to come on, especially because it was Jesse's birthday.

The crew started building up the stage when the Tour Manager of The Neighbourhood came down to us and asked us where we were the day before, since all four of us had decided to skip the festival in Poland as it was too far away from the Netherlands to get to Lowlands in time and also too expensive. We explained to him and he said that we had a point there, before telling us that he thinks it would be a great show because Jesse's in a good mood. Just in time the sound tech guy, who had seen us from the stage, came down to us to talk to us too. He gave all four of us a high five and then talked to us for a moment before both of them went back to their work and preparing the set of The NBHD.

When The NBHD came on stage the four of us, finally seeing them together again, waited for a perfect moment to sing Happy Birthday for Jesse, who didn't seem to be in that good of a mood anymore (understandable if you have to perform on your birthday instead of celebrating it the whole day). After a few songs we had finally found the moment of silence we were waiting for and started singing/screaming Happy Birthday and while Jesse ignored us the rest of the band laughed at us. Realizing how ridiculous we actually were, we stopped singing and pretended like nothing had happened. We went back to enjoying the show, before it ended. Jesse didn't talk that much during the show and it kinda seemed like he wanted it to be over faster, but I didn't mind, since I was seeing my favorite band and that's all that matters to me. So I had fun at the show, sang along to all the songs, danced and fooled around with Dina, Aileen and Charlotte before another show of our tour was over.

After The NBHD I only wanted to see Foals, who were playing almost right after The NBHD. I had never seen them before but I love their music so I was more than happy to finally get the chance to see them, especially because I knew it wouldn't be the only time because they were also part of the lineup of Zurich Open Air and Reading & Leeds, our next festivals. I took Aileen and Charlotte with me, while Dina went to see an other band. I was majorly excited and didn't mind about standing in the back. When the show started I had the time of my life. I had always only heard about their great shows and was sad I couldn't afford seeing them earlier this year, but now I finally had gotten my chance of seeing them more than just once. Their show was completely insane. There were people from all ages, between my age and the age of my parents or older and everyone danced and sang along. My favorite part about those mixed ages shows is that no one is stressing. Everyone was chilled and having the time of their lives, while Foals was playing old and new songs, giving their best on stage, with an amazing lightening show. I had the time of my life at the show and especially enjoyed their song "Spanish Sahara", which is my favorite Foals song of all time.

After the show was over we met up with Dina again and left the festival, since it was pretty late, Charlotte had an exam the next day and Dina, Aileen and I had to get to Cologne. We searched for the car and when we finally found it, we ate and drank something and then left and after bringing Charlotte to her station we drove about 1 - 2 hours more until we had gotten to Cologne, where I had taken a hotel for two nights, before Zurich Open Air. They dropped me off at the central station at 2am, since I still had to wait until 2pm to get into the hotel. I spent the 12 hours waiting by sleeping, buying bus tickets for the next festivals and doing sightseeing in Cologne. I was more than happy when I was finally able to check in to the hotel and get some sleep and spend the next to nights there before leaving off to Zurich...

...we arrived Hamburg around lunchtime. All three of us were really exhausted, but we didn't have time to sleep, as we had to eat, shower, get to the festival and meet my friends there before seeing The NBHD. So we went upstairs, into my room and got ready before leaving for Dockville around 1pm. We drove for about half an hour until we reached the station from where the shuttle bus would leave, because you weren't able to park at the festival.

After we had parked the car we met up with my friend Fenia who had gotten the place on the guest list for The NBHD as a birthday gift, from me. We took the bus and when the bus stopped we got off and walked to the guest list container. You had to make a little donation of 10€ in order to get your wristband, so we payed that, got our backstage and festival wristbands and walked in.

It was really hot and when the security guard told us we didn't have to throw our water bottles away because of our crew wristband, we were more than just happy we took the bottles with us to stay hydrated.

We walked in and I called my friends so we could meet up with them. It took me a while to find them but after we had found them I told them a little bit about what I had experienced until then and we then walked to their camp. Luckily we had our backstage/crew wristbands, so we were able to get on to the camping space without any problems. It took us about 20 minutes to finally find their camp. When we got there everyone sat down, opened a beer and realxed, trying to find a place where the sun wouldn't be shining on us.

I was really happy to have my friends from home back together with my german beer, so Dina and I drank something and got a little bit tipsy, before we went back to the festival to see The NBHD. Dina, Aileen, Fenia and I walked back to the festival first, while the others stayed in the camp. We went into the crowd and shortly after my other friends joined us while Matt Croby was still on stage playing. The sun was shining even harder and when Matt Corby was done with his show I went to get Dina and me some beer, since the crowd still wasn't that big. On my way back, the sound tech guy from The NBHD spotted me from the stage and waved at me. I waved back and went back to where my friends were.

After a while the crew of The NBHD started building up the stage, shortly before the band was supposed to start playing. They had pretty little time to build up the stage, so when they were done they had taken about 10 - 20 minutes of the stage time of The NBHD.

The band came on stage and Dina and I went completely insane, since we also had been drinking before. We sang, or more likely screamed, along to every song, jumped up and down and had the time of our lives while the sun started going down. We were all enjoying the show, even though it was shorter since the band had 10 - 20 minutes less to play, due to wrong organization of the festival. My friends from school also had their fun watching Dina and me and The NBHD because they all had never gotten the chance to see them.

I had a pretty good time during the concert, watching the sunset and my favorite band with my favorite people. When the show was over Dina and I went to the Toilet before asking the security guard at the backside of the stage if we could get in to see the crew. Unfortunately we only had backstage access for the other Main Stage. We told him we knew the crew, but he said he couldn't let us in as everyone could say that, so Dina asked him if he could go in with me so I could prove him we know them. He walked in with me and when we were halfway on our way to the crew, they spotted me and already greeted me, so then they also let in the rest of the group. We went up to the crew and talked to them. I introduced them to Fenia and told them that the concert was my birthday present to her, since she always wanted to see them and also wanted to see me watching The NBHD, because I'm always so passionate about them.

After having a small talk with the crew we went outside again, as we didn't want to bother them doing their job. Next up stage was Milky Chance. The crowd in front of the stage was huge and the sunset already over. I met another friend and stayed at the back of the stage with her and Fenia while listening to the soft voice and calming guitar sounds of Milky Chance. I layed down and just enjoyed the music while talking to my friends and smoking some cigarettes.

When Milky Chance was over a lot of people came our direction as we sat exactly in the way to the camping spaces. People after people almost tripped over me so I decided to sit down and then get up to go and find Dina and Aileen, so we could watch Bastille together. It didn't took me long to find them because they were sitting on a small hill in front of a bar a little bit in the back. So my friends and I went there and sat down with them, waiting for the show of Bastille to start playing. I was really exhausted of all the stuff I had done the past week so when Dina and Aileen asked me to come into the crowd with them when the concert started, I refused to and just stayed on the hill, almost falling asleep.

Bastille made the crowd go insane. They played a lot of new and old songs and made everyone dance and sing along. Even though I almost fell asleep because I was so tired I gotta say I really enjoyed their show, the songs they played and how they entertained the crowd. It was a really chilled ending of the day, which Dina and Aileen were enjoying in particular.

After the show of Bastille had ended I said goodbye to my friends who were gonna go to their camps, while I was leaving for a birthday party I was invited to. So we went back to the shuttle bus, took the bus, went into the car and put The Neighbourhood Mixtape on full volume, all singing along, no matter how tired we were. We brought Fenia home and then Dina and Aileen drove me to the party, which ended up in a long night for me as I stayed until 5am. I gave them my keys and they went to my apartment to finally get some sleep.

When I came home in the morning I called Dina and she opened me the door before going to sleep herself. We all woke up around 11am, since we took a day off and skipped the festival in Poland. Dina and Aileen left immediately for The Netherlands where the Lowlands festival was awaiting us the next day, to visit a friend and I spend the whole day at home trying to sober out, get some proper food and sleep, before leaving again at 3am for Amsterdam...

Pukkelpop is a Belgian Rock festival which was founded in 1985. It takes place in the city of Hasselt and is known for a wide variety of alternative music but also styles like, pop, hip hop, heavy metal, electronic and dance music. Some notable acts that have played at Pukkelpop are Nirvana, Sonic Youth, The Smashing Pumpkins, Guns N' Roses, Foo Fighters and many more. This year Charlotte, Dina, Aileen and I got the chance to be there and see not only The NBHD but also many other great bands. It was the first Festival we all spent together on this tour and the excitement to see each other again was bigger than anything else.

Charlotte and I took the bus from Prague and reached Brussels after a 12 hour drive. We were both pretty exhausted when we arrived in Brussels around lunchtime and really looked forward to a day off, as Pukkelpop was two days after the headline show in Prague. We took two more trains and arrived at Charlotte's house around 2 hours after arriving in Brussels, finally being able to eat something proper again. The both of us grabbed a bowl of cereal, took a shower and then sat outside in the sun with her parents, before we got fries and burgers. Time passed and at night we went into Charlottes room with some drinks and watched a movie before we went to sleep.

The next morning we got up pretty early because The NBHD was supposed to play at 1:20pm and we had a pretty long way to get there. We took the train and reached Hasselt around 9:30am from where on we walked to the festival for about an hour. We got there at 10:45pm and then walked in to go to the Main stage, where The Neighbourhood was gonna play. After having trouble finding it we finally arrived at the Main stage around half an hour later. The first act was gonna play at 12pm, so we still had a lot of time left to wait. Dina and Aileen were still on their way and when the first act started Charlotte and I were still alone. We watched the first Coely, the first act, and when it was over Dina and Aileen finally arrived, shortly before The NBHD was about to get on the stage.

We let our excitement of seeing each other again out and then waited for The NBHD to start playing as the Tour Manager came down to us in the front row to talk to us. He asked us how we were and we had a small chat before another crew member of The NBHD came down to us to get us high fives and also talk to us. They then went back up to the stage and the show started.

The four of us went completely insane from the moment the show started. It was the first time seeing them again after the show in Paris. We sang along to each song and danced around the front row. After a few songs Jesse recognized Charlotte and me, since he had met us two days before in Prague and we told him about what we were doing. He stopped for a short moment pointed at us and waved at us with a big smile on his face, before he went back to performing. In that moment Charlotte and I went mental. On every show we had been waiting for him to recognize us since we had seen him so many times already, and now he finally did. We enjoyed the short set of 45 minutes even more then.

After the show of The NBHD was over the sound tech of them came down to us and talked to us about who he was gonna see that day and about the show, before he had to get backstage to help getting all the stuff of the band together and back into the bus.

The next band we were planning to see was Good Charlotte, who were gonna play on the same stage as The NBHD. The crew of Good Charlotte built up the stage and 5 tattooed guys in black clothes came on stage. They rocked the stage and played more old than new songs, which made us really happy since we didn't like the new songs as much. The crowd was singing along and everyon was dancing to their guitar riffs. They played as long as The NBHD, for 45 minutes before their set was over. All sweaty and out of breath the four of us left the stage.

We then had a two hour break before Charlotte and Dina wanted to go see State Champs, so we got some free water and then sat down in the sun and layed down and closed my eyes to relax a little bit. After about 40 minutes a few guys, that seemed pretty drunk, came up to us and started talking to Dina. She talked to them for a little and then we left, because they had gotten kinda annoying. We went to the toilet and got more water before we slowly went to the stage State Champs was gonna play at. The tent was empty and their crew was still building up the stage when we entered. Dina and Charlotte immediately went to the frond/second row while Aileen and I stayed more in the back because we didn't feel like being in the middle of the crowd.

The show started and the microphones of the band didn't work so during the first song you could only hear the instruments play and sometimes a few fans sing along. The crew fixed the problem and by the time the second song started the microphones were working again and the concert was able to start. The crowds were dancing in pits and the band went insane on the stage. It was a nice show but I wouldn't have had the energy to be in the middle of the crowd as it was pretty hot outside and my Diabetes was kinda messing with me.

The next act on our schedule was Catfish And The Bottlemen, Aileen's favorite band that she had never seen before. We went into the next tent, pretty close to where State Champs played and went up to the front row. The set was still being set up and Aileen's excitement seemed to be really big. She had never seen them before and couldn't belive she was gonna see them even thoug we were right in front of their set. Seeing her like that reminded me a lot of when I saw The NBHD for the first time in 2015. I didn't know the music of Catfish And The Bottlemen but was excited to see them as I knew that Aileen has a pretty similar taste in music as I do.

The band came up the stage and I immediately liked their music. While the rest of the band was standing on stage playing their instruments, the singer went completely insane and sometimes I was scared he was gonna break something on stage or even fall off the stage. He danced around and sang and seemed like he didn't care about anything. Aileen couldn't stop smiling during the whole show and it made me really happy to see her that excited. When the show was done she was completely done too and couldn't believe she had just seen her favorite band.

After the set of Catfish And The Bottlemen I wanted to see The Kills, so I went to the tent right next to where we had just been. Charlotte, Dina and Aileen went inside with me for a few minutes before they left to get some free water and go to the toilet. When they came back they told me that they were gonna sit outside so I went with them and listened to The Kills from outside the tent while the sun was going down. The tent was filled with middle aged people and there were no fangirls going insane or fighting about places, what made the whole setting of the show way more relaxed. When we sat outside we asked someone to take a polaroid picture of us. We then listened to the set of The Kills and then went back to where Catfish played at to listen to Matt Corby, who didn't really play my kind of music.

When Matt Corby was almost done I wanted to see CHVRCHES again. So we went to the stage CHVRCHES was gonna play at. I went to where the sound tech area was and watched the show from there. Dina and Aileen went to the toilet again so Charlotte and I were watching CHVRCHES together. I sang along to the songs and was excited to finally be able to see their full set. As the show went on more and more people left the tent and went to the Main Stage where Rihanna was gonna play at. With more people leaving I had gotten more space to dance, especially because I didn't want to see Rihanna.

After the show was done we decided to just go and watch Rihanna as we didn't have any other acts we wanted to watch. So we went with the mass of people into the direction of the Main Stage, but Rihanna just didn't start playing. The crowd was getting bigger and bigger and still no sign of movement on the stage, so we left after she was half an hour late. We went to the toilet for the last time and then left the festival. When we made our way to the car Rihanna started playing, 45 minutes late and I didn't understand why people were still standing there as someone missing half their own set would ruin a show for me. We listened to Rihanna's set until we went into the shuttle bus.

The shuttle bus brought us to the camping space which was really close to where Dina and Aileen had parked and after a while of searching for the car we were finally able to sit down in it and drink some proper water and eat something. We then dropped Charlotte off at the train station, after looking for the way to Hasselt station for more than an hour, and made our way to Hamburg, my hometown.

We drove the whole night before we reached Hamburg and with it the next festival...

Our next destination was Prague and with it a headline show of The NBHD...

We arrived Prague around lunchtime and I had finally gotten the money from my dad so I was able to get money for food and drinks. We went to the toilet, changed our clothes, washed our hair and faces and left for the venue where The NBHD would play. It was a park, really close to the central station and after about 20 minutes of walking we saw a line of people wearing The NBHD Merchandise, so we walked up there.

When we got up we saw that in front of the line there was a small with a Restaurant on the left side and the Venue, a beer garden with a stage built up front, on the right side. We passed the line and walked in there to get a closer look at it and maybe see the crew. While walking in there a girl, I had talked to on twitter after the last tour, came up to me and we talked for a bit before Charlotte and I continued walking. We reached the restaurant and saw a crew member who had been talking to a someone when we came. He finished the conversation and then came up to us to talk to us for a bit before he went back to work.

Charlotte and I stayed in front of the restaurant and the venue as we didn't want to get in line because we had to get our tickets somewhere else anyways, plus we wanted to see if we could talk to a few more crew members for a little bit. And it didn't take long until another member, we hadn't seen until then came out and talked to us. Everyone was pretty busy so we didn't talk long, but we didn't mind.

After we had talked to the crew members a few more times and I had smoked ceveral cigarettes against my hunger, as we still hadn't eaten, two band members, Jesse and Zach walked by with two crew members to start the soundcheck. Charlotte and I just kept talking to each other there as we didn't want to bother anyone. The soundcheck started and all the fangirls came running towards us to watch it from outside the venue. Shortly after Zach and Jesse came back outside and I just quietly smiled at him when they passed us. He smiled back and walked inside the restaurant. The fans stood there for a few more minutes until everyone got back in line. The day went on and a few people came asking us why we weren't waiting in line before the entry started.

Around 5:30pm we had to go outside because the entry was about to start. Luckily there was a guest list tent so we didn't have to go in line directly as a lot of people were there already and it would have taken us ages to get back in. At 6pm the entry started and Charlotte and I got our tickets and got in.

We had decided to not try and get first row then because a lot of people were in already and we didn't feel like standing in the middle of the crowd as we still were pretty exhausted from the days before. So we slowly walked into the venue and stood right in front of the sound tech tent from where we wanted to watch the show. The garden slowly filled and I got Charlotte and I some beer before the show started. BØRNS was the support act of The NBHD in Prague. Charlotte and I had already seen them at Summer Well, the first festival of our tour, and were pretty excited to see them again.

They started playing and the whole crowd started singing along and dancing, as BORNs music is a pretty similar type and the same genre as The NBHD. Charlotte and I clearly enjoyed our time, being really excited to see our favorite band again especially because it was my 10th concert of them. After they were done the crew of The NBHD started building up the stage for their set. We turned around and saw the sound tech of the band in the tent right behind us. We talked to him for a while and shortly before the show started we asked him if we could come into the sound tech tent and watch with him as we had a lot of luggage and people were all around us. He said yes and we gave two girls the chance to sit on the barrier in front of it so they could watch the show, because they couldn't see before.

We went into the tent, hugged the sound tech and then watched the show. We danced like crazy and sang along the whole time. As the band started singing Sweater Weather the whole crowd sang along and moved there arms with the beat. Everyone was having the time of their lives and I was more than just happy that that show was my 10th time seeing them. During the show it hit me and I couldn't believe that it was actually happening, so I just stood in front of the table in the sound tech tent and watched the show, being all silent.

After the show was done the two girls we had given our places to, turned around to thank us and give us some candy. It was really sweet and they seemed really thankful. I talked a little bit to them and asked them how they liked the show and then they left. We then talked to the sound tech. He wished me a happy anniversary, gave Charlotte the set list and left to help the crew up the stage, after he had a small chat with us.

Charlotte and I also left the venue then and sat down at the place where we had been sitting before the show started. We still had about 2 hours before our bus was supposed to leave so I just put on some music and booked my bus to Belgium for Pukkelpop. I went to talk to the girl I had met on twitter. She was front frow and seemed like the happiest girl alive after the show. We talked about me following the band before I went back to Charlotte.

A few minutes later Jesse came out to take photos. Charlotte and I still had a little bit of time left before we had to leave for our bus, so after a few minutes of thinking about it, we went up to Jesse and told him about what we were doing and that we also followed them in March. We told him that we had watched the show with the sound tech and he kept asking us questions about us following them. He seemed really interested and then asked us which one our favorite show was till now. We immediately bursted out "Munich" in March. Jesse couldn't quite remember what show we were talking about and so he asked us what he had been wearing that day. I showed him a picture of the show I had posted on my instagram and he slowly seemed to remember the day again but not quite the show.

I then asked Jesse if he could write me down a tattoo I want to get in his handwriting. I told him I wanted the lyrics of one of my favorite songs of The NBHD written down. It's not a really popular song, also because they never released it on CD, and after remembering Jesse of the lyrics he wrote it down for me. We then said bye to him and that we would see him in Belgium before we had to leave for our bus, not knowing what would be expecting us at the bus station.

Filled with adrenaline and excitement, also because we would see Dina and Aileen again at the next festival, we walked to the bus station, talking about what had just happened and how that made our day, expecially my 10th show perfect.

When we reached the bus station we still had a little bit of time left so we walked around, looking for food. When we were back at the station our bus was already standing there, so we went up to the bus driver to check in, but it didn't work for me. I was confused and then the bus driver tried to explain me, in really broken english, that I had booked the bus for the next day and that I wasn't able to get on the bus, meanwhile Charlotte had to because she already checked in.

Within seconds my almost perfect day turned into a nightmare. I wasn't able to get on the bus and the bus I had booked was supposed to leave 24 hours later, what meant I wouldn't be in Belgium in time for the next show. The bus driver refused to take me and Charlotte refused to leave without me. We tried to convince the driver, as we knew the bus wasn't full. He told me to call the company in Germany and clear things with him so after a while of discussing I called them, but they also refused to help me. I hung up on them and in the meantime the bus driver had decided to take me, as Charlotte kept resisting on only getting on the bus with me.

With tears all over my face and a sick feeling in my stomach I got on the bus and left for Blegium for the next concert..

(Btw: Charlotte, Dina and I now got an official instagram account for photos and updates of when we follow the nbhd on tour, follow us: https://www.instagram.com/nbhdsquadeu/)

On the train I had suddenly gotten fever and my whole body started to hurt as I became really sick. Charlotte gave me a pill and I tried to get back to sleep so I could rest a little before reaching Budapest. After a three hours delay we finally reached Budapest at 9:30pm, after 19 hours of sitting in a train. I felt a little bit better and at least my fever was gone by the time we arrived.

The first thing I did was checking my Emails to see if the hostel had already answered my email, and they did. They offered us a discount so we were able to afford the room with the rest of the money we had and still left us money to buy water. So we made our way to the hostel, which was 8km away from the central station but only about 10 minutes walking from the festival. It took us about 2 1/2 hours to walk there, especially because we often stopped to take pictures of Budapest, which is by far one of the most beautiful cities I have ever seen.

When we reached the hotel it was after midnight and all Charlotte and I could think of was sleeping in a decent bed and finally getting some rest after being on trains all the time. So we checked in and while checking in got offered a typical Hungarian shot, which tasted like really, really strong vodka. We drank it, got our key and went onto the 4th floor where our room was located. Our room had three beds of which two seemed to be taken, so Charlotte went back downstairs to ask if we were in the right room, since we were two people and there was only one bed left. Apparently it was our room and they just told her to lay in one of those beds since the two guys staying in our room were still on the festival. When Charlotte came back upstairs and told me everything we decided to just share a bed so we both slept on one matress we took out of the bed since we were afraid to fall out of it.

It took the guys about an hour to come back from the Festival and since Charlotte and I still weren't asleep, because we were sharing one matress, we heard them coming in. They were Germans and quite confused about us laying there, but I didn't care and stopped listening because I really needed some sleep. It didn't take me long to fall asleep then and I woke up around 9:30am from the sounds of the two guys packing their stuff and leaving.

After they had left I layed down in one of the beds that were free now and had the best sleep ever since we left, but only until someone knocked on our door at 12pm. Both still sleep-drunk put the matress back into the bed and opened the door where the guy who gave us the shot the night before was sitting on a table telling us that we had to leave the room at 10am. Because no one told us when we would have to leave we were quite confused, packed our stuff and went downstairs to the reception where we checked out. Before we left we took a shower since we felt kinda disgusting after such a long travel and such hot temperatures in Bucharest and Budapest.

Finally showered and all ready we made our way to Sziget, one of the biggest Festivals in the world. We got our wristbands with VIP access and stayed a little longer in the guest list and artist check-in as we still had time until the first act we wanted to see would play.

The Festival

After resting in the check-in tent for about an hour, we decided to walk into the festival and explore it a little before Years & Years would be playing on the Mainstage. We had a different entrance than all the other guests so it only took us about 5 minutes to get in. I looked on the plan I had taken in at the entrance and found out that there was a VIP area really close to the Mainstage, so Charlotte and I made our way there, looking at the whole festival.

Sziget is the biggest Festival I have ever been to. It consisted of more stages than I was able to count and different small villages that were focused on different themes, like Afro-Latin-Raggae. I was overwhelmed by how big this festival was.

After about 15 minutes of walking and being confused a few times, we finally made it to the VIP area from where we had a perfect view on the Mainstage, so we decided to watch Years & Years from there. We sat down at a table, logged in to the wifi and waited for the set of Years & Years to begin at 4pm. Ten minutes before they were supposed to start Charlotte and I got off our seats and went to the front of the VIP area from where we were able to see the whole mainstage including the crowd. We waited and as the band came on stage the crowd went insane.

They put on an amazing show and Olly, the lead singer, only spread joy as he was dancing and laughing all the time. He interacted a lot with the crowd and Charlotte and I couldn't stop smiling because he spread such a good mood. They played about an hour and opened up the mainstage, what honestly couldn't have been better. Everyone was singing along, dancing and even in the VIP area people were enjoying the show and danced around! We forgot about the heat and all the stress we have been through and lived the moment.

After the set of Years & Years was done, we grabbed our stuff and went to the stage where The NBHD was supposed to play. The whole front row was already taken, besides where the entrance to the Backstage and the Photo area was so we stood there, as we weren't in the mood to stand in the middle of the crowd.

After the act before The Neighbourhood was done, we waited for them to start as suddenly one of the Crew Members walked by. He came up to us and had a small talk with us, asked us how we were and if we were travelling with them again, before he went back on the stage to help the rest of the Crew build up the stage. A few minutes later he came back down again and walked out to the sound tech tent. He wished us a great show and told us to enjoy it.

The tent seemed to be really full and the crowd started cheering as the new intro of the band started and all five members walked on stage to start performing. Charlotte and I sang along to every song and went insane during the show, as we told ourselves to make the best out of this tour because we wouldn't know when we will see them again once this is over.

During the show more and more people came and took other peoples places, which I didn't really mind until a group of people our age arrived and just stood in front of everyone, with the wrong logo on their arms as the flipped house didn't have a window at all or a door at the right spot. One girl left the crowd, upset because they took her place and she couldn't see anymore. I felt really sorry for her especially because those 4 people didn't even know the lyrics or the songs and had to look them up during the set. It was sad, because real fans had to watch the show from the side meanwhile people who could have easily watched the show from the side of the tent or the back boxed their way into the second row. But I couldn't do anything besides hoping other people wouldn't do that, so I went back to enjoying the show.

The band seemed to be in a really good mood as they put on a show filled with energy and the will to perform and interact with the crowd. Charlotte and I enjoyed our time and still weren't able to believe that this is actually happening to us. When the show was done we left the tent to sit outside and get some fresh air, before the set of CHVRCHES, who were playing right after The NBHD.

Shortly before chvrches were about to start we went back inside the tent and just decided to sit down and watch their perfomance on the screen as we would see them a few more times on the Festival tour. I was really excited to see them again as I fell in love with them in September 2015 at the Lollapalooza Festival in Berlin. The band came on stage and I immediately got up as I decided I couldn't see their whole set sitting. So I danced and sang along to a few songs before I went back to sitting on the floor with Charlotte.

After seeing CHVRCHES we went back to the VIP area to see SIA perform who was by far the highlight for most people on the festival. On our way there two guys started talking to us and one of them knew German so I had a short talk with him about what I am doing and where I'm from before we continued walking to see SIA.

Luckily we had a screen in the VIP Area so we didn't have to make our way through the big crowd in front of the mainstage or all the people watching from where we watched Years & Years earlier. The whole VIP area was filled with people so Charlotte and I just sat down on the floor in front of the screen and watched SIA perform a few songs before we decided to explore more parts of the festival and go to the VIP Boat to see what it looks like. After walking for about 20 - 30 minutes we didn't find the VIP Boat and just decided to walk back to the VIP area until M83 would play on the stage we saw The NBHD before.

The set of SIA had already ended when we reached the VIP area and the afterparty had started. People were dancing around on the dancing floor and Charlotte and I just grabbed our stuff and sat down, totally forgetting about the time. Around 15 Minutes after M83 had started we noticed that we were late so we grabbed all our stuff and made our way to the last act we wanted to see at Sziget.

When we reached the tent people were already standing and sitting outside of the tent trying to catch a glimpse on the show as too many people to fit into the tent had wanted to see their set. We realized it was hopeless to try and get into the tent as we wouldn't see anything anyway and just sat down outside listening to them playing. They played their set and we walked back to the VIP area where we had wifi so we were able to look up the way back to the central station as we had to catch our train to Prague in the morning.

We looked up our way back and started waling those 8km again, both absolutely exhausted from the last few days. When we finally reached the train station we sat down and waited for our train to leave at 5:25am.

Our next destination was Prague and with it a headline show of The NBHD...

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Kosmonaut Festival 2017 (16. - 17-06.2017)

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