Excalibur

As hard rock bars go, Excalibur is the real deal. Owned by a group of local Hells Angels, it sits on the edge of the cities red light district, a heavy metal sword stuck in a classic rock.

I met the couple pictured earlier, in the bowels of Chimera and it was their directions that brought me there. I also got talking to another group of Motorhead fans there who saw the Wolverhampton gig. They hailed from Chadsmore, Staffs, which is just up the road from my old stomping ground in the Midlands. Tis a small world. There followed a party of Geordies, all temporary Man Utd fans for the night (Sunderland's latest Premiership opponents). Howay the lads!

Heineken was quaffed, refreshing the parts other beers cannot reach, and rock and roll was the order of the day (or order of the early evening at this point).

On the music front, I was quite impressed with the Killswitch Engage that was played. According to the barman, it was from the bands self titled first album and sounded incredibly tight for debut material. I think a few of their shiny silver disks might find their way onto my Santa list this year. I'll probably kick off with Killswitch Engage: Remastered and Alive Or Just Breathing: Roadrunner Records 25th Anniversary Edition. Looking throught the bands works I also came across Laterulus by Tool, that also sounds like it should be worth a listen and is another Claus candidate.

I'd have loved to have stayed later, but the last train back to Brussels beckoned. And so it was farewell to the Dam and hello again to the land of Van Damme.