The way there went smooth and I arrived an hour early before the doors would open. Not to worry I had my paperback with me and a quick pop inside the Mediamarkt took care of the waiting time.
Unfortunatly I acted like a meek little lamb and stop in the longest line, which turned out to be the waiting line for the floor and I was seated in the south ring. The line was a lot shorter there. After the bag search I came across lockers and the wardrobe. You can store your possession for a mere €2 (which you will not get back) and seeing that I had to catch the train home on time I picked this option instead of waiting in line for my jacket/bag.
While the Heineken Music Hall has a wide arrange of unhealthy/fatty snacks, the Ziggo Dome has a La Place where you can buy besides the regular bag of chips many different sandwiches, salades, smoothies and ofcourse your daily cup of coffee. I opted for a hotdog and tea and made my way to my seat.
You buy ziggo-chips at the entrance on a conversion rate of 1 chip for €2,86. A cup of cola, tea, & coffee cost 1 chip, beer costs 1,5 chips and the more expensive alcohol beverages cost 2 chips and up. I found the price quite reasonable seeing as I pay around €2,50 for a Coke when I go out.
I was seated in section 109, first Ring of the South entrance. My seat was not close to the stage but I paid to listen to them preform and not goggle at their faces. I could have purchased a floorticket but I know that I will never be able to stand the full day to get a good spot until the end of the concert. Besides standing too close to people makes me overheated and the chance of fainting pretty high.
The support acts consisted of Half Moon Run (Canadian indie rock band, which I liked very much) and the Mystery Jets (an English indie rock band) that filled up the time with great songs until Mumford would take the stage. The DJ that filled up the half hour before the main event really read my mind while I was thinking how great it would be to see Daft Punk at the Ziggo Dome by starting the song Digital Love from the album Discovery. He later trolled the audience by playing Cry me A River, by Justin Timberlake when everyone thought the main event was finally going to start.
The main event itself was amazing. Marcus' voice blew me away and I loved how every bandmember went wild while playing. They were really personal and warm towards the audience. Marcus wanted to see the crowd dance, and danced they did. Don't wear your best outfit when you stand on the floor, I saw the occasional cup of beer flying around. My personal experience with the music was getting goosebumps with each song.
I always found the lyrics used by the band very deep and inspiring like:
Well I came home like a stone and I fell heavy into your arms. These days of darkness which we have known, will blow away with this new sun.
and
It's empty in the valley of your heart. The sun, it rises slowly as you walk. Away from all the fears and all the faults you've left behind.
The band enjoyed playing and the audience loved the show. They even surprised us with an acoustic piece of Reminder on a single microphone in the middle of the dome. At the end they gathered the 2 support acts and all 3 bands played together one great song.
Unfortunatly the photo's I took were with my phone and not of the greatest quality. I prefer my camera but having a brick around your neck for more then 3 hours is too much for me. So I will leave you with my photoset of the evening and some youtube-videos made by their respective owners.
Thank you Mumford & Sons
Thank you Half Moon Run
Thank you Mystery Jets
and Thank you Ziggo Dome and all their employees for this wonderful night!
Please support artists by buying their music!
