2013 Belgian Invasion, Emden & Düsseldorf (Germany), Schwag, Final Words and Thank You

The day after the PPM Fest. It was a peaceful start to the next journey of my tour. When I went to Wacken 2009 & the Euro Metal Fest Tour 2011, the day after the festivals were hectic, as the 2009 Edition of Wacken I woke up to a fire 10 feet away from my tent, and the 2011 Edition of Wacken I woke up at 4:00AM so me and my best friends can beat the traffic, with the rain pounding the living shit out of the camp grounds & the 2011 Edition of Brutal Assault saw me and some newly made friends camp out in a train station on the last night, with many of the other campers not too far behind us. Waking up at the PPM Fest provided a unusual calm I haven't experienced before at a campground, and it was a huge difference. I soaked in the camp site one more time before breaking down my tent.

2013 Belgian Invsasion, PPM Fest Day 3

The last day of the PPM Fest. Waking up today was tough as I knew this chapter of the trip was coming to an end, and with it, a great story that was about to have its final period. When moments like these occur, you got to make the most of it because it won't happen again for a while (especially if you live in the United States, where we don't have the luxury of having a kickass Metal Festival every weekend to keep us entertained). To say this trip has met my expectations and beyond would be an understatement as I had the opportunity to delve deep into a country I have enjoyed its products (specifically beer), and while I can leave it at that, I have managed to be better acquainted through the experiences and people I have encountered \m/

Lets begin this final chapter by having Myrath take the lead point.

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.

Channel 13 and Metal Trek Temporary Hiatus

Good evening Metal Fans of the Internet within the scope of my texted message. Channel 13 (http://channel13metal.blogspot.com) and Metal Trek are going to be on hiatus as I take on 2 very tough months (March & April), making it difficult to update both blogs with new posts.

The month of March is gonna see my internet time being dedicated to researching and putting the final touches on my upcoming trip to Belgium for the PPM Fest (http://www.ppmfest.com).

As you can tell by the aforementioned festival, I will be on the other side of the great pond (aka the Atlantic Ocean) in April to attend the PPM Fest in Belgium as well as visit Brussels and other parts of the country (mainly the tourist attractions and Metal night clubs). As some of you who know me, this trip also means taking advantage of this great country finest offering; its beers \m/

I also plan on visiting Emden, Germany, where my best bud and his awesome family lives & Düsseldorf, Germany, the city that has hosted my entry and exits in my last 2 trips, but never had the chance know.

There may be new posts, but this more on the "maybe" side of the fence, but for the time being, I have updated Channel 13 with a new post to say sorry for the upcoming, grinding halt.

The countdown has begun to the 2013 Belgian Invasion \m/