June 21-22, 2022

When I was born, my parents lived on a farm in north Texas. My father being the thoughtful romantic that he was, bought my mother a tractor for her birthday one year. In keeping with this heritage, I bought my first wife a cordless DeWalt drill/driver one year when we were planning to build a large patio cover. And to prove I’m a slow learner, two years ago I bought my now-wife tickets to the Hella Mega Tour in Groningen, Netherlands, featuring Green Day, Fall Out Boy, and Weezer, three bands she’s hardly heard of because it’s not her kind of music. But the concert was on her birthday in 2020, and we were planning to be in Netherlands anyway, and I like those bands, so…

Yeah, I know, thoughtful romantic.

Then of course came Covid and we weren’t going anywhere outside the US on a motorcycle or any other method, and the concert date moved to 2021. Then to 2022. Which is how we ended up in the Campinglaan Stadspark, camped out under absolutely perfect skies and within a short walk of the concert, which is on the other end of this beautiful city park.

While sitting at our campsite this morning, a woman from the local television station walked up and asked if we were here for the concert, first in Dutch before switching effortlessly to English due to our all-too-common deer-in-the-headlights stares.

“Yes.”

“And where did you come from?”

“Texas.”

Stunned silence.

“How the hell did you end up in Groningen?”, she asked, before quickly regaining her reporter’s professionalism.

We gave her a bit of the story, and pointed to the bike.

And ended up on the local news.

Local TV reporter getting shots of the bike.

The Stadspark turns into a concert venue this time of year, due to the weather and the perfect location. The stage is constructed and bands come several times a week to perform. Last weekend, Metallica played. Tonight it’s Green Day. This weekend is Iron Maiden. Heavy metal (and punk) are very popular here.

“Covid? What Covid?” Social distancing has definitely become a thing of the past here. We ended up about one foot away from being forced into a large mosh pit during Fall Out Boy.

Concert parking.

When the reporter visited us at the campsite, there were only a few tents on the field. By the time of the concert, they were packed in tight enough that I couldn’t get in our tent on my side because somebody else was sitting in a chair there. By 10am the next morning, the field was empty, and we were on our way back to Germany one more time.

McCarCharger