So two days before Back To Planet Rock I already was in Eindhoven with my grandma visiting the play V.o.o.d.o. performed by Made In The Shade. Big fun and my granny chillin'. But I was sick as hell. So, on Friday I drove back to Amsterdam, dropped some home work at school and at noon jumped into my bed with a big headache and fever. I have to get some sleep and to get rid of this fever. Otherwise I can't make it till the end on Saturday : Planet Rock.

But no. At 14.00 hours I receive a fax. Yes, the artists are in Eindhoven and they give a press meeting at 17.00 hours in Het Beursgebouw. There I can meet the artists and ask some questions. And collect my press cards for the event. So I have only three hours to grab my things, walk to the Ajax Stadion (where my car was, in my hood it gets stolen). Drive in one big traffic jam to Eindhoven. Collect my reporter Silence, park the car and do the interviews. Meanwhile being sick as a purple turtle.

My biggest question for Caz One Productions: How the fuck do you think some one to get from one side of the country to the other side within three hours with COMMON KNOWN traffic-jams at rush hour? That, for me, was the biggest fuck-up!

But hey, we are finally there (one hour too late) the artist ex Bambaata. The other reporters are only consuming what the artists say. They're telling the story they want to tell and sucking their own and each others dick. This was stupid. They didn't tell nothing new. All old stories. Quiet boring. But Grandmaster says he brought all his old records. Which he can't play anymore in the States. Sounds promising! But it seems he thought Puff Daddy was also just to play?!

O.k. meeting finished. Boring but hey, we had some (wack) autographs of Flash on some cool records. Time to go to bed. And the press cards would be given on the day itself.

Back To Planet Rock!
Silence and I are there, no press cards but we may enter and wait just like all the other press cats. Got to look out for my brother Sores who's ticket I got. Finally he enters with The Headliners from The Hague. Gave him the ticket and wait. Meanwhile security wanted to take all our camera's and our recorder. "Not, allowed!" Yo, we are press. "Who says so? Oh I see your official press-cards (Hanging on my bag), I'm sorry." Official? Just a paper self-made on the Mac. From that point Silence and I were walking every where with these self-made official press-cards on our breast and smiling.

When we really needed the official backstage-passes we finally found out where to get them. Yo, I'm press! I need a backstage pass. "Only for press or also for artists?" Both! "O.k. here you are." They didn't check my name or how many ART12 might receive. So instead of two reporters there where now six or something. We really began to have some fun.

It was a chaos. On paper Headliners are an eight men big crew. Now it was twelve or even more. So tickets left and gave away to my sis. So four people in on two tickets. DTF came in on the guest-list of DJ Oh Jay. Didn't matter he wasn't scheduled to perform still had a guest-listing.

O.K. what about the show?
With the help of Slush One of the Headliners and DTF:
As far as breakin' (or should I say B-Boyin' and B-Girlin'): There was lots of that. People from all over Europe showed what they can do; some real dope moves!!!. The final battle was Elementary Force against Flying Steps. Flying steps won. The Rock Steady Crew did some dancin', but you could see they're gettin' old! Crazy Legs told that they can still beat every livin' soul as far as breakin'(?). But it was fat to see those livin' legends doing theirs! Graffiti-artist Seen came to the stage in a big ass American police-car to tell us he couldn't spray inside the building because of some kind of health-problem (paint fume). You can check out some graffiti of the event over here. Daddy K from Belgium won the DJ Battle, which contained a lotta wack DJ's!! Brainpower & TLM did a few songs and where rockin', but Brainpower was sick so his voice was fucked up a bit. After that the Belgium MC's Krewcial and Gus did some tracks (Krewcial can do some freestyle yo!). Rammelzee came like a mix between Star Wars' Boba Feth and Teletubbies' cleaning elephant. You should have seen him, what a joke! It was the best Halloween outfit I ever saw, but besides that his music was BAD!!! Unbelievable how wack this man came out! I heard some techno-beat with guitars on it and the man couldn't rap at all. After a few songs everybody started throwing stuff and he left the stage in style. He walked away and then felt off! I heard he also lost his passport so he can't leave the country! So beware of the drunken RAMMELZEEEEEE (the living proof that Hip Hop can drive one crazy!)

Extince did a very short show together with Cousin Steve and Skate The Great (who did more vocals than X himself). Africa Bambaata performed together with the Soulsonic Force (including Positive K) and although it wasn't special at all, I liked it. Bam is an old guy with a big big belly but still he's impressing. In some songs they playbacked the chorus with vocoder, but it was o.k. Somehow outta nowhere SugaCane steps on stage. First it looks like Bambaata asks him to leave, but he stays and somebody even gives him a mic. He does his thing, he does it nice and leaves. I don't know, he came out right, but I don't think he should have been there. There is a big difference between getting on stage when Big Pun fucks up his show in Amsterdam or when the legendary Bambaata is performing for his first time in Holland. Everybody is smart enough to see the difference.

Flash spinned for some time. He was the only old school artist who really knew what time it was, so he spinned even now-a-day bigsellers like Puffy! That wasn't exactly what I wanted him to do. Tired as I was, he played the right records for me: The ones that make you look for your jacket and leave! No, that is a joke, I didn't like all the records he spinned, but he did his thing. A lot of people were dancing even when the lights turned on!

Well I enjoyed the day. Hopefully Caz One and his crew learned a lot from this one to get things done a lot better next year.
Slush One.

And me? I left already at 24.00 hours. With a big headache, big fever so very sick. Hopefully with no traffic jams I would be home at 1.30. But no, there was a snow storm, lucky me. Finally at home at 4.00 o'clock in the morning. Caz One please next time do it in the summer.
AQ