We head off to the off license and get ourselves some beers, then we head back to the flat and spend some time beautifying ourselves while we wait for the arrival for of a kiwi friend. I say beautifying, we really just watched a bottom DVD:
The Kiwi girl stays in the Red Light District, so doesn't often have to use any form of transport to find social life. I'm very surprised she managed to use a tram and head out to the west..
We head the few block to the party on foot. We are greeted by the host's Dutch wife, who doesn't know us, so seems a little skeptical until her husband comes along and knows The Kiwi. Most of the rest of the party is dutch women and we head out onto the balcony to enjoy a cold one before the Kiwi's we know get there.
On the Balcony, we meet the band who are playing in the living room tonight. They consist of a Kiwi, someone from Finland and two Dutch guys, we laugh and joke for a while until we're joined by more Kiwi's. One strange fact about Kiwi's is that because they socailise so much and the country has a population of about 4 Million, they always have mutual friends. It;s quite bizarre, you mention a town, and pretty soon, there's a mutual drinking partner that they know.
The band are ready to start, and we head to the living room for the first time. The band are tuning up, and finally I get to find out what they play. They had been pretty sketchy, but now we see that we have a Dutch Drummer who is playing what appears o be a Box(he later tells me it Peruvian), but I still don't know what it's called. He's joined on the right by a man playing what can only be described as Wah wah Mandolin. You then have the Finnish guy on a double bass and a kiwi singing and playing guitar.
They play lots of covers, and given some of the audience, there's a few crowded house numbers which go down well. Most people are standing around watching, but given my extensive experience of playing to dead audiences, I encourage the kiwi's to start dancing. At first I feel a bit daft, but by the time we are getting acoustic renditions of such hits as Whole Lotta Rosie by AC/DC I'm going for it. despite the lack of involvement form the Dutch half of the room.
They are pretty well behaved and subdued, but by the second set, we are pulling them onto the dancefloor to join us. Eventually, the band finishes and we take the opportunity to leave. I'm sure the non-dancers were quite glad to see us go, but the kiwi birthday boy and the band was glad we came along and livened things up a little, so I don't feel too bad.
I arrive home in the early hours. It was an interesting night. A little different which is good, but I'm glad when my dancing shows come off and i crawl into bed.
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