After a reasonable night’s kip on the sofa (the result of being sensible enough to secure the spot as soon as I arrived) Nick and I grabbed a fry up at a local cafe and strolled back to check on the others. Sean was acting the DJ playing girly pop and stuff from Cov John’s record collection (although his video collection also appeared to contain an inordinate amount of girls), and the bands were preparing to go. We had a good chat and said our goodbyes, though fortunately we’d catch up with them the next day, albeit in a different country. It later transpired that Ryan had left his sleeping bag at Cov John’s...it was also discovered that a particularly infamous (frightening) local female named Theresa who had spent the majority of the evening attempting to become better acquainted with some of his "equipment". This became a long standing subject of discussion between the Bromley boys and the young Discount guitarist, which I suspect shall continue for years to come! Nick and I got a lift with Cov John (attempting to do some building deals on his mobile to justify as "work") to the station where we bombed back up to London, then to our respective homes. Nick went on to Grays to see Bromley play that evening, but more of that later.

The following morning Steve, Nick and I met up at Victoria, then on to Stansted via Tottenham Hale. We were there about 0830, had some breakfast, and got on our flight to Brussels. At a bargain £49 return, we were looking forward to being over there around lunch time, before getting the train to Tongeren, in the east of the country near the Dutch border. Well, it went as smoothly as that. The only notable things about our train journey was the huge brewery in Leuven, home of Stella Artois, and the remaining flat and drab countryside, broken only by the dull, lifeless towns en route. Upon arriving in Tongeren, it appeared that this was another such town. I’d booked a hotel before leaving the UK, and been told it was "behind the church". After finding the church on the town map, we strolled towards (what was) the town centre. As we did so, the buildings and streets became more lively, and a whole lot more interesting, particularly the bar which did "beer cocktails" which all were just plain mental. The church was huge, and seemingly the focal point for the town, with a market square with some small bars dotted around it. Incredibly, we saw the HWM/Discount vans parked outside one of these bars, which was also our hotel. After checking in to our knackered old rooms, we grabbed the first of (way too) many Belgian beers and strolled up the road...within two minutes we found the venue, with a number of kids milling about, and some of the Gainesville mob. They’d had a great gig in Leeds, then had to drive down via London to Dover, across on the ferry, then drive the width of Belgium to get to Tongeren. They were tired, but (I hope!) pleased to see our grinning faces. The venue (Pumpeskal) was amazing...amazingly small. Having been privileged enough to go on tour with bands such as Mega City Four, Drive and the Doughboys for almost five years, as well as numerous excursions on my own to see bands, this was the smallest venue I’d yet encountered. The shape and layout also meant that unless you were within fifteen feet of the band, you’d have, at best, an obscured view. And as there was no stage, unless you were my height, you’d be hard pressed to see much anyway. The show was to start at 1800, so we got our hands stamped and left for some of those fantastic frites the Belgians pride themselves on. After a huge gut busting helping, we went some more Belgian specialities...beer. In the bar next to the venue, we had Hoegaarden in a frozen glass which was just fantastic. Then we discovered that possibly our favourite beer (Delirium Tremens - 9% of quality) was on sale in the venue, ice cold, for the equivalent of £1.15. It also turned out that the HWM boys, particularly Chuck and Chris, were already acquainted with our mutual friend, and the beers flowed and flowed. It was a great night. I must mention Leiah, who I believe are from Sweden, but whose recordings can be found on Belgian label Genet records. They were pretty good, playing some interesting and neat emo pop. I must also mention Eric, singer in Enemy of the Sun, and promoter in Tongeren, and his seemingly always happy girlfriend, who kept smiling even when the voices became raised and the Delirium Tremens ran out. Wonderful people. Anyway, Discount played to a number of bobbing heads and happy faces (including HWM). Being so close up to them only made the songs take me over even more, and Alison was face to face for most of the show with a guy at the front. Hot Water Music took to the floor and just plain rocked. Fuelled by a day and night’s travelling and a whole host of excellent Belgian beers (for which we were partially responsible) they just went for it. The vocal PA was stretched to breaking, but Jason’s always precise, flowing basslines and George’s crisp drumming kept it all together, whilst the fury of the guitars and vocals threatened, but never quite managed, to run out of control. Chris memorably introduced one song as "this is a new song...called Delirium Tremens", and the whole thing was awesome beyond words. I ended up stood on the table with the speakers on, leaning over and shouting along to every song.