Renée reviews: P!aTD and TØP.

Hey guys!!

Soooo guess who I saw live recently???? (clue is totally not in the title)
Yes, all of you are right. I went to see Panic! at The Disco and Twenty One Pilots in concert!!!!! And the best thing about going to see them was being able to spend a day in Amsterdam and purchasing some new books at Waterstones. So keep your eyes open for a lot of new book reviews in the near future!

Whilst waiting in line we met up with some other friends of ours and like that we waited for the doors to open, in the pouring rain. I've never been happier with bringing an umbrella than I was that night, even though I could barely unwrap my fingers as they had turned to icicles. When the doors opened, the madness began. Everyone obviously wanted to get indoors so they wouldn't get soaked more. For standing in line pretty late we still found some amazing spots in the audience. A classmate of mine had seen Panic! live before and told me that it's a band you just need to have seen live and she wasn't bragging. 

Jesus Christ, Brendon Urie you are amazing. The way he performed, the lightning, the entire show, how good he sounds live. It was perfect. Halfway through the concert I looked at my friends and we decided that Brendon Urie is god on earth. He's literally perfect AND he can do anything. He played piano, sang beautifully, outplayed the drummer. What can't he do?!?! The Panic! concert is one of the best ones I've gone to so far. He sang all the songs I needed him to sing and barely missed a note. I have no words for the amazingness of this concert. Brendon you are God and you did not dissapoint! Panic! at The Disco shows you how a live concert should be and there are lot's of artists who could use panic! as an example to up their own concert game. Besides the amazing show Panic! delivered, the opening act was pretty amazing as well. 
A band called Tigertown, it's like a cheerful version of Halsey. I truly recommend you look them up and give them a listen! You'll hear Tigertown more often in the future, I promise you that! A perfect opening for a perfect show. Panic! at The Disco and Tigertown, thanks for the amazing evening!

Around 17.00 we went to stand in line for the Twenty One Pilots concert. The first fans, the real die-hard fans, were already waiting in line before Panic! at The Disco had finished the night before. Just like yesterday we went in line pretty late, and I also had to go out of the queue again to change my insulin pump. Just as last year at the Twenty One Pilots concert, I had to change my insulin pump, oh the diabetes memories. The friend I went to TØP with last year couldn't stop laughing when I told her, mostly because for some reason every time I plan to do something with her my insulin pump gets jealous and decides it needs attention. 
Anyway, even though getting in line pretty late, we still found some really good spots. In all honesty I did prefer the small venue they played last year, but even in a bigger venue like the Heineken Music Hall, they did not disappoint. Where last year it was still quite small and cosy, as far as it can get cosy at a TØP concert, this year they had a massive light show and just a show around it. The songs were mostly the same as last years as there hadn't been a new album in the main time but that made it very sing-a-longable. 

 This concert was the first where I felt like I could completely let go of whatever was holding me back. I jumped to the music, sang a long as loud as I could, and I even cried when they started playing the Pantaloon. My favourite TØP song ever!!!! Let's be a little more honest, I just cried throughout the mashup they played of their first album.

To make the night just perfect, their opening show was Bry, a pretty well known youtuber. His jokes, sense of humour and amazing music was a great opener. And maybe he doesn't fit the TØP perfectly, who cares. His music is amazing, he's a great person and I loved every song he played. So to me he was the best opening for TØP I could have whished for! During the show, their USA opening act came on stage as well. And it was flipping CHEFSPECIAL one of my favourite Dutch bands. Although they didn't preform, I cried then too. Josh from the Cheffies went into the hamsterball and went crowdsurfing. It was amazing.

TØP what a show, amazing guys, amazing songs, amazing show. I definitely don't regret going to see them a second time and when they come back next year I might even go for a third time!

Yes these two concerts absolutely made my year, they made up for a lot of the bad things that happened in 2016 and gave me new energy to survive the rest of 2016 as well. Panic! at the Disco, and Twenty One Pilots, thank you for coming to Holland and giving such amazing shows! You made my year and allowed me to make some new amazing memories with some of my friends! Bry and Tigertown, thank you for being to amazing opening acts and I wish you all the best in the future, may they be very bright!

That's it for now.
Lots of love,
ThatDutchGirl96
  

My dearest Vincent.

Dear Vincent,

Last saturday I visited your legacy. A museum, named after and devoted to you, founded by your nephew. It was a four floor building and your work was everywhere. Your work, your life, everything about you hung on those walls, visible for whoever walked past. It was incredible and it only made me love you and that incredibly complex mind of you even more. 

I've always admired your work but even more the story of your life. Your life is one of the more inspiring life stories I've heard so far. It holds happines, sadness, madness, magnificent friendships, and more importantly one of the strongest bonds between brothers I know of. Your brother Theo was a magnificent man, just like you were and the bond the two of you shared is one many siblings can look up to. You were, brothers, friends, and business partners, where most siblings have a relationship that goes no further than the brother part. Sad, if I may say so. 

Let me compliment your work, Vincent. I've grown up with your work, you are one of Hollands, of the worlds, finest painters. Your artwork changed the future of art but still, you my Vincent, are one of a kind. Ever since I was a little girl I loved your artwork, the circular shapes, the endless little dots, they made your artwork come to live. Your artwork was and still is the most magical artwork I know. To see your work from up close for once, it gave me so much more insight in the way you worked, the colours you used and how you made the artwork come to life. Something that has been a mystery to me for the biggest part of my life. Oh Vincent, I love your work, like so many others in this world. A few of my favourites are Sunflowers and Starry night. Oh how I love those. The contrasts, the use of colour, the different dimensions and emotions you managed to put in the 'simple' 2d canvasses. 

Vincent, the day in your museum, it thaught me a lot about you. Not only about your artwork and the way you paint, how you saw the world, and how you used your pain and managed to put it in your artwork. No that day I learned so much more, about you as a person, your relationships with other artists and of course your family and Theo, your brother. It thaught me your life story as I never heard it before. I read letters, saw some photographs of you, found out more about the institute you went to when life got bad. Vincent, you have no idea how much respect I have for you. I wish I had known you in real life, I wish you were still alive. The way you saw the world was a way I wanted to know more about and now I do. Now I know how you saw the world and how it reflects in your paintings. I know about it now and can't wait to start seeing the world the same way. You Vincent, you and your paintings and your intruiging life story, you brought back some of the magic I had lost. 

Vincent, if you were still alive, I would probably shake your hand, give you a hug and wish you all the best. But Vincent, you're not alive anymore, all there is left of you is your artwork, the letters you wrote, your drawings and your life story. So now I'm left with thanking you, and being forever grateful for the fact you once were alive and the magic and meaning your life has brought me!

Yours faithfully,
ThatDutchGirl96