20|07|2004 Elisabeth Venue Antwerp Belgium

~ We have seen how Lucky Lucky good be

After Cologne we drove to Medea’s hometown and sleep in a normal bed again.

The next day all the Dutch Die Hards would come over to Medea’s house to get together and drive all to Antwerp.
That morning also Kathy and Dana ( our USA friends ) Marcel and Misha, came over from A’ dam, and they loved to see some of us jamming on the guitars.
Yesterday the USA girls took one extra show with the guys in Cologne.

For Antwerp we had MEIN seats so no hurries today, a relax day with in our minds a group picture with Melissa.


This morning I got a suprise because.... I could pick up my sweettie from the trainstation in Tilburg!
As first she did not planned to go to this show, but some real nice guy (Mumpie-Marcel) told her to go to Melissa.
He told her that it would took some years before she would see Melissa and her band again.
So she did ( and ofcourse seeing me again lol ) and I must say ....I had a very "lucky&lovely" day in Antwerp with LuckyAngel.
It was very very special day, one that is down in the books!

On our way to Antwerp we picked up Card man, in his hometown, and this day was also a special day for him.
After many many shows and many years being a Dutch Die Hard Fan, he has decided that this was his final BIG Dutch Die Hard show.
So want be standing in front with us and going to many shows as before as we wil continue.

This year he became a daddy, so now it’s time to make some time for his family, so he hoped for a wonderful day !

At 13:30 we arrived in Antwerp and after we looked to the venue, we took some time to hang out being tourists.
Antwerp has great old buildings and in the shopping streets you don’t have to look to the store’s, but up in the sky to the nice facade of the buildings!
After a while we arrived at the cathedral of Antwerp and went inside.
This was a special moment because the moment you step in to the cathedral you sure step into a whole different world.
In some way it changes you inner side.

Every person had his own special moment standing there.
Some of us light up a candle for beloved lost one’s, others take a look at the paintings of Rubens a famous painter.
I myself together with LuckyAngel took place at the cathedral bench and sit there for a moment, our tear moment.
You see a few months before this show a precious person in my family went ill and died in just a month hospital time.
He has left behind my niece and 3 children in the age of 6, 4 and 1 and a half!

I still couldn't place it why he had to get ill, and so the tears came out at that moment in the cathedral. Lucky I had my sweetheart (LuckyAngel) beside me and Stefan took a precious moment picture!

After being in the cathedral for a while we went outside again and sit down at a café to take a drink.
It was time to go back into Melissa world! 
But first we had some fun teaching Kathy and Dana some Dutch words ( "fucking in the kitchen – neuken in de keuken" and "get the hell out of here – sodemieter op / opzouten").


Around 15:20 we went back to the Elisabeth Hall which is surrounded with a square.
A fair was been placed so my sweettie and I where walking around and than we saw Stephanie and Philips guitar tech man doing some side seeing.
So we stood there real still to see where they were going and a few minutes later we saw Mark Brown and his wife Lily went also to the fair!
We let them go...but it was coll spotting them.

So ….Melissa arrived at 16:45 and she didn’t give any signatures away, which was not well respected by some Belgian France fans.
I patiently asked Steven Girmant about the group picture and he said that he would come back to me, so I waited.


Some other fans, not all but there where like 4 people, keep asking Steven Girmant, and even some crew persons, if they good get a signature from MLE.

All thought they said; “No we can’t …”, they asked again.
If they good give some items to the crew members and that Melissa would put a sign on it.
Maybe tham they good bring it back to the fans.

I was, and still am, amazed how people can not understand the word no!


At one moment Steven Girmant came outside again and asked if we had our concert tickets.
He told us to get inside, just a hour before the show, and that we will be picked up by Stephanie, which had some pre-show stickers for us.

At one moment, ill think around 18:50, Misha came to us and he had the stickers already.
He told us to be as soon as possible at the service entrée.
So my sweettie and I received our tickets and walked to the entry line. The security asked our tickets and if we had cameras with us. NO we haven't !
We showed our pre-show ticket and ...in we where!


But first we had to get rid of the photo camera which I had put away in my jeans lol.
So we went to the toilets and put the camera in our bag.

The rest of the group was almost ready and so we waited for the service entrée, as not much later Stephanie arrived to pick us up!

Behind the doors, we walked in some halls and than walked into the kitchen, where the crew of Melissa was doing some cooking.
Crew members where sitting down and had them dinner.
Then we went to the right and we walked into a little room, which had some black chamber screens.
In the middle of the room there where table’s and chairs, so together with Stephanie some of us made some space in the room.
We gave the camera's to Stephanie and she was making some test pictures, seeing how they worked.


She told us that Melissa wouldn’t give any signature’s away, but what the hell ...we where in and we where just a few seconds away from Melissa.
Stephan walked out the room to see if Melissa was ready for us, and after we lined our self up it wasn’t that long before Melissa walked into the room.
We where applauding and welcomed her in!

She was all smiling and said; “You guys are something... You made some fans mad out there“

For the record; Melissa made this agreement with me, the 12th at the HMH Amsterdam when I had a meet and greet with her.
It was Melissa’s choice to get this group picture with us, she also good has said no to my question!
So this has nothing to do with contacts, we have our people we know who knows which knows Melissa,and we have some contacts with the crew / band.
This is the Lucky gift she gave to us, and we all are very thankful for that.
We had asked this question about a group picture the last 6 years to her management, record company, tour manager & we even asked Melissa herself a few time’s.
But now she herself thought this was the right moment, and Melissa herself agreed so we where all ready!

So Melissa first talked to some other fans which where inside and does people were let out.
Then she walked up on us and kind of steps into the group for a group picture all laughing and smiling.
We all surrounded her, so that she had no where to go, and Stephanie and Steven took some photo’s.

Melissa thought it was only one picture but ….hey hey lady come back (she stepped out of the group lol) we had 4 camera's, so she hurried back into the save place again.
Again she stepped out and we called her back, you must have seen this... it was hilarious!

After 4 pictures we where ready and she started at the right side of the line to gave away... a signature!!!!
Yes yes… althought Stephanie said no, Miss Etheridge herself has the last word and she said yes!

Misha took his and asked Melissa if she wanted to sign the plectrum he and Marcel specially made this tour for MLE.
She did!

Then Marcel – Mumpie showed Melissa the roadmap of Leavenworth and asked her to put some circles of famous place’s she sings about.
Well that storie you can read on MEIN just follow this link
When MLE was looking at the map I asked her where the high school was where she met Jo.

You see at the HMH one concert I got Melissa signed my picture of herself in 1976, with High school friend Joan.
It's a long story how I got that one, but she was amazed to see that picture back again.
I promised her she would get one herself soon by Tammy mail :O)

So this moment in Antwerp I asked her where high school was on the map but she said she met Jo at a summer camp.
I told her a bit more about the story that I heard from Joan’s friend Eric , and I told Melissa that I was the one who kind of brought them together after 20 years!

Melissa smiled & thanked me for that, she also said that she (herself) also tried to find Jo for years.
So she liked it, that with a little help of a fan, that they had meet each other again after all those years.

That special reunion between Jo and Melissa was July 12 at Harveys Casino at Lake Tahoe Nevada in the year 2003!
More details of this meeting is in my brians so NOT available on the w.w.w !

Then some of the other Dutchies met Melissa and had them own private conversation and special precious moment!

Melissa asked if we had any further questions (not at that moment lol) so she thanked us and said goodbye to all of us, with a big wave and smile on her face.


I must say this meeting was the one of the best I had with Melissa, standing there with my Melissa buddy’s,for almost 10 years, was very special!
Also that my sweettie was there with us was touchie.

We went out side the VIP section again and yelled our longs out for being sooooooo happy.
We cheered & looked to each others all so filled with happiness and people came to us and asked how the meeting went.
The adrenaline was filling my body mind and soul and there I had a emotional moment in my throat pfffff.
Then we made a group hug with eachother, we all made a bow and screamed Mmmmmmmmmmm Melgers (that’s my last name)
This as a big thank you from the Dutch Die Hards to me!

A shy smile on my face was following….
You see ...We are all very very different individuals but we and the love for Melissa and her music is so close, and we share this all over the last 10 years
It is not only the Melissa stuff now, but also the private stuff!
So we are real close friends, and I am glad and proud that I am a member of the Dutch Die Hards.
We all had worked in our ine way on this meeting, only Melissa needed a little push in her back and that was a wooden one.



The concert …well excuse me that I don’t remember that much, I had to look on the board and see other reviews to remember some things again.


My moments:

- "Don’t you need" and "Watching You"

- Melissa sitting down at the edge of the stage and Mumpie enjoying her …so beautifull a precious moment there!

- Melissa talking about President Bush: “I thought I would leave him a note, but I wasn't sure he could read"

- "Heal me", my lover almost fainted and she could not believe what she was hearing....her song! 
The face of her nailed on the ground, overwhelmed and enjoying the song so intence for 500%.
I was there to wrap my arm around her... a precious moment for both of us.


- "Meet me in the dark"... so powerful man, especially when the bass and drum go into the song (autch).

- Melissa talking with Foxy and some other Belgium fans about making a party and the glasses Foxy made for many fans.
Thanks again Foxy mine is in the MLE closet lol

But mostly it was the meet and greet which made this evening so great that was to much! And the love which was there in Antwerp The Dutch Die Hards went crazy sometime's because we LuckyAngels were so in Lululovvvveeee

After the concert we stayed at Medea’s place uhuh.
I was sitting in the living room until a scream and a "oohh" came out of the bedroom.
It was no sex,…..no some of the other Dutchies where looking at the photo’s taken in Antwerp.

HolySmoly Fucking Cheep ooh no I mean fucking sharp “close up - big eye’s looking at us” shots!

One of us took a camera inside (I had my one in my bag) and we kind of switch at the concert with the camera.
Tulip Girl took some pictures at the right side of the stage, me more at the middle!

They came out real real real I mean really good, but way too much to share on the www.
It’s over 700 mb all together this tour, but there are some one’s already on MEIN board.

And of course some will be showed to you in the future … just keep your eyes open on this page!


My thanks to Melissa giving us ...this moment this lovely Lucky Day!