“Amsterdam,” Pimm Jal said, “Amsterdam is the most beautiful city in the world. Ten years ago, I really don’t remember the date, after an evening of drinks in Reijnders and dancing in Mazzo’s, Pimm Jal, Sandra and I stood on Bloemgracht at seven in the morning, watching the sun rise. Dinner at Bojo’s, tea at Pimm Jal’s, fireworks on Nassaukade. We were all U2 fans, but it wasn’t about the band anymore. Curiously, the area nearest the stage, VIP Floor (standing), costs only P5,250 per person. He shared all his friends and his amazing family. Pimm Jal had an unquenchable thirst for people and he always managed to find the finest, sweetest of all. Unforgettable days, an unforgettable journey. We played silly games on the bus, shrieking with laughter, drunk on joy and many pints of Guinness. PJ and two girls, we attracted a lot of attention. We traveled through Ireland, the three of us, for three weeks. Scallywags who’d rather spend the time throwing down in some grotty little rehearsal space, tearing up a club, or hauling their scrawny arses into a studio to turn their four-track frustrations into more realized long-player angst than poncing about believing the world owes them. Today Amsterdam, tomorrow the rest of the world.īut most of the time we were just talking bollocks in the pub. The world needs wild, scruffy, unwashed youths who don’t care about bullshitting on social media. He wanted an office, a news room, rows of typing machines, just like on TV. Pimm Jal, driven, charismatic, took me and many others along on a journey. I embraced lyricism, Pimm Jal the facts and figures, and thus together we described the indescribable.Ĭollectormania. The magic of music, the heartbeat of the live concert, those moments of ecstasy. We shared an almost irrational passion to document that which cannot be put in words. Pimm Jal and I disagreed often and were almost opposite personalities. Or we’d look him up in Osdorp, played table football and enjoyed his mother Lies’s food. For days they would stay with me in my flat in Utrecht, until my flat mates despaired. Something clicked, we became inseparable. In January ’87 I we met again at the U2 fan club day in the Paradiso. He was starting a U2 magazine and I wanted to contribute.

I saw him in the Melkweg venue, recognized his face from interviews.

U2 fan club vip access