2013 Belgian Invasion, PPM Fest Day 2

Day 2, and one of the \m/ HEAVIER \m/ days of this leg of the invasion. The sad reality of some Metal Festivals is that you have go make that executive decision of which bands you want to see, and as I say it before and often, if you have seen "X" band 20x times versus "Y" band 0x times, its best to go with "Y" band as seeing "X" band has already been on your previous agendas for some time and "Y" band probably has not played in your country (yet...).

The beauty of the PPM Fest is they have the 2 stage set up, which allows one band to go at a time, and with this configuration, you are not put in that executive decision making process. Than there's the dilemma of how the bands are spread out, and the majority of the bands on the first day, with respect to all of the bands that went through the process of coming over to this awesome festival, were not on my agenda to watch as I haven't had a chance to check out their material and while this festival would have provided that opportunity, there's the concept of the "burnout" (not the Scorpions song), meaning, you can only watch so many performances before you get tired and eventually need to lay against a wall/sit down/or sprawl yourself on any random floor and sleep/be inside your tent and sleep and before you know it, your itinerary is ruined. This is why the importance of resting during a festival cannot be underestimated, coz before you know it, that one band you came all the way from thousands of miles will be missed because you're sleeping off the first 5 bands you decided to mosh/crowd surf/headbang.

The first band in my itinerary was Seven Kingdoms, and coincidentally, they happen to be my neighbor to the north (Near Daytona Beach, Florida). Power Metal coming out of the Original Death Metal Capital? Welcome aboard my different subspecies brethren.

2013 Belgian Invasion, PPM Fest Day 1

The first official day of the PPM Fest. Its days like these that have the heaviest anticipation of whats to come, and especially if it's a Metal festival one has never been to before. So far, everything has gone perfect as having my tent right next to the venue was a very unexpected but pleasant surprise.

Remember the circus-style tent that Musca brought yesterday? The Wind Gods has cast down its judgement on Musca's tent (among many others, more on this later) and cast it down to the layer of the bowels of earth (aka floor). After several attempts to save the tent, the circus left the town (sort of).

2013 Belgian Invasion, Day Before the PPM Fest

As the Brussels leg of my tour is wrapped up, I woke up in the morning anticipating what's to come as I prepare my bags for the departure. In retrospect, I'm still surprised by everything I managed to do in Brussels, Antwerpen & Leuven in the span of 2 days, leaving me with a heavier appreciation and admiration for a city and country I have the privilege of knowing intimately.

As the hotel shuttle bus arrived, I took one last long look at the hotel I called "home" during my visit to Brussels before departing on the next leg of the tour.

2013 Belgian Invasion, Brussels and Leuven Day 3

The third day of the trip, and quite possibly the easiest so far. Considering the major mistake I did on Day 2, today was more about enjoying Brussels and Leuven in a relaxed state-of-mind instead of the neck-breaking "squeeze everything in 1 day" like the day before. A word of advice to all who are reading my texted words, pace yourselves, cuz even a seasoned traveler like myself can really get caught off-guard due to the hectic atmosphere that is "visiting another country and trying all their beers" and before ya know it, smashed out of your mind".

Before going to my first stop, the Mannekin Pis was not done with me yet.