Damn did you save my life tonight. We rolled into Rotterdam via North Sea Fest Transport around 11 am this morning. I was determined to nip the jet lag in the bud but that was not to be. I fell asleep at 3 pm and woke up at 9. At least I'm well rested in some time zone.

Anyway, I have a question. Why does every European I meet or work with think that I'm gross for going for a late night falafel/shawarma/fries meal? It's cheap, fast, but not fast food. In many ways it reminds me of New York and on the go eats from Mamouns or Bereket or Chickpea. I love the pickled things and the sauces and how everything is thrown together so quickly it's like a sport. These places are everywhere and reliable to be open late and delicious, except in England. Locals might be haters but I highly recommend them to any hungry traveler with a frightening case of jet lag.

Anyway Anyway, so as I was waiting for a shuttle to take me down to the North Sea Convention Center (um, let's face it, that's what it feels like), I felt my belly rumbling and I grabbed a falafel broojite (dutch, whatever) and a side of fries, which is NEVER a side, and nom nommed away until I was fully sated. Thank god because that was not a 'five minute ride' as the concierge told me. I would have starved otherwise.

Anyway Anyway Anyway (Dawn French anyone??), tonight's viewing included Caetano Veloso, Marcus Miller, Joshua Redman, and the tail end of Earth Wind and Fire. I never knew how much Caetano Veloso reminded me of a Brazilian David Byrne until seeing him live. It was nice wandering around on my own doing the festival taste test, and despite the fact that it's in some gigantic airport terminal cum mall, there really was a festival atmosphere to the whole thing. Of course, the Dutch couldn't have been more polite and charming. To the point of nausea. Or maybe that's just the late night falafel warning that I've always ignored.

I have some thoughts about what it feels like to play a jazz/blues/folk fest vs. a rock/indie rock/post rock/blog rock fest, but I'll save them for tomorrow after we play and then see a ridiculous amount of amazing music.

Goede nacht,

kk