YFE’s Pit

YFE’s Pit

Back in 2007… That was such a long time ago, don’t you think so? At least, to me, it seems like it was a totally different period of time… Around this time of the year, 5 years ago, is however a time that I will never forget…

The band was about to go on stage at the Vans Warped Tour… Well, that was the Vans Warped Tour alright, but nobody was wearing Vans shoes just yet! At that time, I can’t even remember what the guys wore … On stage, it was all about Doc Martens… That, I can remember very very well… Though they must have been wearing other brands, too, I am unable to name any of them… lol! Hmm… Let’s see… Sef was wearing slippers. Brandless slippers. This I am sure of!

For the last weeks before the Vans Warped Tour, the band spent their days in what we called “The Pit”. That was a very small room, that used to be a bedroom before it was transformed into “The Pit”. The fake wooden walls had been covered with foam wrapped in some kind of strange colored, velvety fabric straight out of the 90s. The floor was covered with a brown-and-orange straight from the 70s carpet. It was quite a sight, to be honest. And in order to keep an ambiance that was fit for rehearsing, the only one light bulb that was in the room was a red one. You couldn’t see much because of it. Which was a good thing, when you think of the mix of the colors that reigned in that room! Still, it was a wonderful place… Passion and excitement were overwhelming the place, so much more than could be contained in that small little room… The guys were giving their all in that small room, surrounded by the sound of their echoing amps and drums… One necessary thing in there, beside passion, was earplugs! Going in without them was an act of nonsense. Every day, after lunch, the band entered that small room that barely left them with enough room to stand – forget about moving! And they were practicing. Rehearsing. Endlessly. It was awesome to see them like this.

Quite a few people have had the chance of going into “The Pit”. Almost everybody who visited YFE’s headquarters had the privilege to enter that small room… And small it was! They were squeezed in between a door and the wall… But that didn’t matter… To none of them, not even the band members. Because what was lived and conveyed in between those walls was something raw, honest and real. Something nobody had ever experienced on such a level. It wasn’t only the music… It was the proximity with one another… A relationship so special it was hard to describe it. And this ambiance, it has been recreated every time the band was on stage. From the very first show they played (I wonder if Alex went in the crowd at that time, too! lol)… Well, maybe he didn’t jump off the stage… But he did climb in some places he wasn’t supposed to…

More about this in the next blog!!!