Switzerland Rocks!

One of the big bonuses of working a season through the European summer is all the Rock Festivals that go down,  and what better way to kick off the ‘festive season’ than a personal invite to see AC/DC on their World Black Ice Tour. You see, sometimes in life it’s not about ‘what’ you know, but rather ‘who’ you know! It was whilst helping out Region X Rivers kayak school in Chile that I made a good connection with none other than ‘Rockin’ Rich’,  an old time metal head that shared an interest in kayaking.  And so it came as a pleasant surprise when he contacted me and said that he was on tour with AC/DC and that he could organise a few free passes. Bloody lucky for that because word was that the concert in Switzerland was sold out within 10 minutes , and tickets were only available on E-Bay for $300 a piece!  Nothing like free passes to fire up the mood,  and it wasn’t  difficult to persuade long time partners in crime Rayno and Timmy to take the afternoon off work, so with six pack in hand we  journeyed to Bern on the comfortable upperdeck lounge of the punctual Berner Oberland Bahn and met up with Rockin’ Rich at the Roadies Bus Park.  A quick tour (and a beer)  of their ‘on the road luxury bus living conditions’ found us being escorted in through the back entrance  of the stadium and shown our ‘exclusive’ seating within the security fence at the base of the sound and camera tower! Nice one Rockin’ Rich, we owe you big time my friend ;-)) Rich did however state that we had to be on best behaviour as the tower was sensitive to movement with the camera and microphone mounts….. Best Behaviour!!! RIGHT! It’s an AC/DC concert for crying in a bucket! Anyhows, we managed through the support act, old time swiss rockers KROKUS, who funnily enough used to be bigger than AC/DC back in the day, and word has it that AC/DC actually opened for KROKUS on one of their earlier tours! We even kept a check on our behaviour a fair bit into AC/DC, with only a few sideways glances from the security guys,  but it all became too much when the band fired up THUNDERSTRUCK, and our itchy feet could no longer resist a good stomping. Thus we were  politely escorted out of our ‘V. I. P.’ zone and into the mob. Well I can only say that things became a bit blurred from here out, but it was happiness all the way and I can for sure say that those guys still rock for a bunch of old aussie buggers!

It never rains it pours they say, and just as I was recovering from AC/DC it was time for the annual Greenfields Festival, a three day rock festival which pulls in about 25000 rockers who camp in the old airfield on the edge of town, where  for three days about 40 bands play, and the airfield is turned into a mini instant city with bars, clubs and restaurants…and thousands of freaks dressed in black and ready to let rip. Outdoor Interlaken run a small stand there with a skateboard ramp,  where people can book activities, or even win free skydiving and canyoning trips. It’s always good to be involved with events like this because once again I was able to organise a crew pass and free license to PARTY!! The line up was stout with British legends The Prodigy headlining on the Friday night, and German freaks Ramstein doing their thing on the Saturday. Ramstein do quite the unique act and if you’ve never seen them before you should atleast check out one of their shows on You Tube to get an idea of what I’m talking about. Half the fun is just being in amongst  the crowd,  where  people watching is a highly entertaining activity.  Apart from seeing some really cool acts from all the bands, it’s great to be partying at such a big festival with the other guides and staff from the outdoor companies. We’re a pretty tight knit crew here  and so we work hard and play hard together... Good times!

Plans are already in the making to see some other concerts this summer,  so stay tuned and I’ll keep you posted.