Rok'n Utrecht

I have to admit when I chose the dates for this trip I had a second motive. By leaving Toronto a few days early I could see a band I’d always wanted to see live in concert, The Presidents of the United States of America.
For some reason I keep missing opportunities to see them in North America, so why not see them in Utrecht? It’s just a half hour south of Amsterdam by train.

Dad was good enough to humor me. We spent the day in Utrecht together and saw the local tourist sights.

This mainly consists of walking along the Ouderacht canal, visiting the Dick Bruna Huis (a museum dedicated to a children’s book author and illustrator) and climbing the Domtoren which is the tallest church tower in the Netherlands. Although it’s no longer connected to any actual church.


After all that Dad headed off to catch the train back to Amsterdam while I went to a bar called De Reunie, where a group of fans were meeting before the show and I was so glad I did.

In a mere hour or so, I went from some poor shlub going to see a band all by his lonesome to part of a group enjoying a show together.


And the show was great! I love my hometown but I do forget how reserved Toronto audiences can be. The whole club (The Tivoli) was immediately whipped up and dancing as soon as the band hit the stage. I may have come the farthest but amongst the people I shared drinks with their were attendees from Belgium, Denmark and Germany.