Mike and Bruce's last day on SXM

Last day on SXM...at least for Bruce, Touche, Jazzy and myself. The other half of the band left a week ago. Yep, lucky us!! Still, it will be sad to fly out tomorrow..it has been really amazing down here. I feel at home. I feel my roots growing stronger everytime I come back to SXM. Actually, even many of the guys in the band who are not from here feel more at home here than they do back in Holland. This island is a very special place.

Today Bruce was hoping to catch some surf. He came back from Aruba this morning (when the rest flew to Holland a week ago he hopped over to Aruba for a week to spend time with his son). For him that is always very important and again he had mixed feelings about leaving Aruba and his little boy behind. He is very happy that he was able to spend a good week over there with him though. He told us some stories and one of them was of how proud he was to take his boy to his first tennis tournament.

The waves weren't pumping today on SXM though so we decided to just cruise around the island. Bruce, Arjen (a good friend of ours who is one of the island's sickest surfers) and me. We drove through Lowlands and then through Marigot and Grande Case, then over to Oyster Pond on our way to Arjen's house in Pointe Blanche. Bruce had never seen this side of the island. It is definitely the more scenic part of SXM...much less development and much more raw nature. We stopped alongside the road at Coralita and just gazed out at the sea and took in the moment. It felt special. A timeshare salesman saw us and ran up to us to tell us how much he enjoyed our Regatta show a couple weeks ago. Yes..a couple weeks ago already!! Wow, I am so lucky to have been here for almost three weeks now!

Before we got to Pointe Blanche we stopped at a Chinese restaurant where we met a couple friends and had a few heinekens. This is the kinda place only the real locals would know about. There were also some very sexy women walking around checking us out. I was tempted to approach them but before I knew it they had come straight up to me. They didn't recognise me as being the singer of OG...they must have just liked how we looked..or maybe they recognised Arjen as the island surf hero...or maybe it was something else. We had some small chat and the girls asked for a CD but we didn't have any in the car so we had to dissappoint them. We said goodbye and they blew us sexy kisses as we headed out over to Arjen's house. I am writing this from Arjen's computer now. He lives right on a little bay in Pointe Blanche. He even surfs right in front of his house when there is enough swell. He's a lucky guy to be living here like this. His father built this house on his own many years ago.(pic left: This is Arjen ripping it behind his house a few weeks back)

Ok..Arjen's about to drop me over at my brother's place where I will be joining my whole family for a big dinner. My two sisters and their families will be there, my brother and his wife and my parents. My bro will probably work the grill again. He's a master at grilling meat!

It will be sad to leave all this behind once again. However, once we get back to Holland we will get very busy with the next studio album. We have nearly all the songs chosen already and we are really excited about what this CD will become!! So we have some good stuff to look forward to over there as well!

Was nice sharing some more of our adventures with you again. Small island love, Mike

(pic left: underwater fun while at Flat Island last week)


(pic right: Oscar, our live sound-guy/producer of the next album, jumping from Triple Dog Dare at Flat Island last week)

Mike talks about the final show on SXM

Wow...what a great final show!

Right now my ears are ringing...my head hurts...but maybe that wasn't just from the blasting we did at Sunset...

A good soundcheck
It already started on a great note when we arrived for soundcheck to see that one of the island's best sound systems was being used for this one, soundmasters. We were so happy to see the great backline and PA system we would be using. It was really a breath of fresh air after having to make do with a much lesser system at The Alley two nights ago.

Talk of the town
After a satisfying soundcheck we went back to our hotel on the other side of the island to rest up a bit and eat a delicious local dinner down at the famous grills alongside Grande Case beach. This one was called 'Talk of the Town'. We were all blown away at the quality of the food we had gotten for suchj little spendature. I had a large piece of fresh mahi mahi (fish), a corn on the cob, macaroni cheese pie and some fried plantain. $12. This is something you simply can't experience anywhere else. I recommend this to anybody who has never done it before!

Where is everyone??
We got back to the hotel, got ready quickly and headed over to Sunset. We arrived at 9:15 and the place was quite empty. Some ads said we were starting at 9 even though we had promoted mostly a 9:30 or 10pm start-time. There was hardly anyone there! We all felt quite dissappointed. The Alley was jam-packed the other night! Now this...our final show on SXM and nobody turns up? Just because of a little rain??? (it's an open-air venue). Wow..this would not be good if we had to end our trip with a show for such a small crowd!

Island time
Ok..no need to panic. People down here expect us to always start a bit later than advertised. It always goes like that. Not just with us. For example the Wailers started about an hour and a half later than scheduled last Sunday at Kim Sha. A year ago I had received tickets for a Mr. Vegas show down here ...and he simply never showed up! Ok so the locals are used to this. We also started at the Alley about an hour late. But it's now 10PM and still there are not even 100 folks here! We're starting to think this is the crowd. It must be the rain. Or maybe that in combination with the fact they saw us two nights ago. ...10:15...10:20...We should really start now! Wait..what's this?? The crowd all of a sudden starts to flock in...and just like that the Sunset starts to fill up!! We start the set once again with My Roots and it becomes obvious that this will be another rocksteady show on SXM! It was hard to judge whether there were more people there than at the Alley but one thing was for sure...it rocked just as hard...or maybe even harder...and just enough to keep it rocking steadily without tipping over.

Afterparties
We left the Sunset at around 2AM to head over to Tantra. Tantra is a brand new club on the island...and I think the other night-clubs are gonna have to start thinking up ways to compete with them. We spent a couple hours there and then we headed over to the Platinum once again....also because it was right down the road. We stayed there til about 5:30 AM or so?

And then ...of course SOMETHING just had to go really wrong on this trip...
Got into one of the rentals... alone...and quite wasted...and very tired..
I fell asleep at the wheel in the Sandy Ground area, swirved off the road and ran into a street-light. Some of the people living in the house next to my accident came outside and were very friendly. Two of them had actually been to our show at Sunset.

I'm deeply sorry to everybody who cares about me..especially my friends and family. It could have been much much worse. I will stop pushing my luck...cause eventually it will run out I know.



At least I can say I am fine though. Besides for a bruised eye and nose I am in tip-top condition.

What a strange ending to such an amazing night..

And I'm very thankful to the angel on my shoulder. I must stop taking you for granted.

Mike

Moving Forward

Mike says

wow i'm finally blogging on sxm. i thought i'd be at it more but the rest are making up for that! i will try to finish this up quick before i have to be back up in the room to finish packing up so we can check out of the hotel (Maho Sonesta). After that we are heading over to L'Esplanade! Just yesterday L'Esplanade was in the newspapers for making the top ten (#7) of most luxurious hotels in the Caribbean and Mexico!! But wait...that's not even the best part...we are staying there completely free!! The owner has been a fan of ours ever since day 1..since OG had only a demo of 3 songs and we were playing at the Reggae Cafe. Well ..she got word (thanks mum!) of the fact we were looking for places to stay since our 5 days to Grenada had to be cancelled due to lack of financing for the events we were supposed to play at. Actually I had already arranged that we would be staying at a couple good friends' houses...but when Kristin approached me with that offer
 I couldn't refuse! If you want to see a bit for yourself why we are so happy to be heading over there today:www.lesplanade.com  We are getting 2 double lofts and 2 oversized lofts.

Do we deserve all this kindness people are showing us down here? So far two shows behind us and we definitely rocked the house both times. We are also all smiles down here! No way around that actually. I guess it goes hand-in-hand. The better we play the better the crowd reacts. The more energy from the crowd the better we play. The more we smile the more people smile back at us. The friendlier people are to us the more we smile. It just seems like one great cycle of positive vibrations down here on St. Maarten/ St. Martin.

The Alley
Last night we played at the Alley. We started by soundchecking at around 5pm. I popped in to Island Radio next door for a quick interview with ERB. He's a good guy. Interview was quite fun. I told the island about Benny's injury. Wait...did we tell you yet about Benny's back injury?? THAT was a SCARY situation i can tell you that much. I got back to The Alley to find out there were quite a few technical issues going on with the sound. All's well that ends well though..and it definitely ended well. The crowd started showing up at around 9:30. The sign said OG at 9pm but the island knows we always play about an hour later. By 10pm the place was packed! I was asking around for some ibuprophin for Benny. He might need it to drum!!

We started at around 10:45. Yep..island style...and we played our part in it too! haha. So by the time we started the crowd was ready! They were more than ready. They all seemed so psyched! From the first notes this became very obvious. Everybody was dancing and singing along. It was special. This was OUR crowd. So many friends and family members were there. And so many people who saw us at Kim Sha for the first time. Lots who happened to still be on vacation on the island. It was amazing! Everytime we have played at the Alley it has been special but last night topped them all. And that was not easy to be honest. We'd had some great shows there!

My soar throat. I was afraid it wouldn't hold up. I was feeling it still from pushing it too far on Sunday and then a few nights of staying out too late and too much liquor etc. You know how that goes. Also talking to so many friendly people over the loud music..that can take its toll! So I was getting nervous. The show was about to start and my throat felt dry and closed. So I resorted to something I had never tried before and that many singers from the islands had been suggesting to me over the years...COGNAC! SO i had a shot of cognac. VOILA!! My throat felt more open! Amazing! It was working! I was so happy when we started My Roots and I knew right away that I could pull it off. Such a relief.


We played two sets. In the break I gave out two toys (for adults) which were given by the Adult Toy Box. It's fun giving our fans gifts besides the music!

We finished the night with a real bang at a little past 1AM. We even jammed a song in which a local reggae singer (Ilements) joined us and also the singer of Roots Down Below (a very cool band from Boston who also played at the regatta)



Ok..time to check out of here and move to L'Esplanade...the finest hotel I will have every stayed at after this trip.

Just to be sure here's Jazzy

Massage and Lunch at Karakter Beach

I'm on my laptop writing this blog with the ocean breakin smoothly and soothingly in the background... Check it out...

The owners even told us "Hey you're Orange Grove? WOW I have your music on my iPod...

Livin it EZ baby....

The SHOW DAY

I got out of bed and thought... Alright today is show day, SOUND CHECK at 10:30 am. So we got our stuff and left right on schedule to KIM SHA BEACH.

When we got there the SOUND 2000 guys were still working on the stage and told us to get back at 11:30. And if there is one thing I hate, is waiting... So we went to get some breakfast withwe  good friends to keep us company

The technical problems

When we got on the stage it was HOT! And while we were setting up, VOOOOOOM the generator died. So we then had had chill and wait for the guys to fix that. In the end everything got taken care of and we soundchecked and went back to the hotel to rest and get focused.

The SHOW

Before we started we gave our winners of the Treasure Hunt their prizes and then after the introduction from G Money, we started. It was great, I had some problems with my amplifier but we gave it our all, and the crowd reacted like never before.

With "Tokin on your Love" people were singing along and I saw the whole front closing their eyes and sinking into the music. With "These Days" people were dancing and hopping around on "da riddem" and we blasted everyone away with "Dirty South" and "Livin EZ".

I was playing for my life on the sublime cover "Santeria" and rocked that solo BOY! heheh And Jazzy suprised her home island with her performance covering the song "Hide Away".

The AfterMath

People's responses the next day were amazing, I was sitting on the beach eating something with Ben (our drummer)) and a dude named DODO told us that he thought the show was about his life. Every song he heard he could relate and mirror to his own life.. 

And that is in short one of the best compliments a band or artist could recieve. It seems like everywhere we went since, People are complimenting us on our show on Kim Sha Beach.

THE WINNERS

THE PROUD WINNERS OF THE OG TREASURE BOX WITH OVER 2500 DOLLARS WERE RANDY AND RICKY FROM SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA.

These guys traveled on a scooter all over the island to look for the treasure, and got to hang with us back stage! Those guys even learned some dutch. 'ORANGE GROVE IS TE GEK' HEHEHH

Yo Randy and Rick invited us to go to San Diego to stay at their house. Thanx guys! Send me an email at bruce@orangegrove.nl, to come and hang with us on saturday! It was alot of fun to hang with them and they are now definately part of the OG CREW!!!

To all my readers, the show day I will write something cool, so stay tuned...

Laterzzz

Kadjatoe writes...

Hi Everybody!
heard a lot of you guys are following our blogstories, so i thought let me write something too.

But first, to all of my family and friends who think I am ignoring them.. I miss you all a lot, especially my sweetheart yukio.

It's just that the Island feeling makes me so relaxed and is calling me away from the computer.



You must think now; what is she talking about, Island feeling? well, let me try to explain what that means....





Ever since I joined OG a couple of years ago, I hear the guys talking about the Island feeling.
nobody could explain it well though.
I experienced some of that on Barbados and curacao already, but still, they said.."st Martin is something else"
You can imagine I couldn't wait to get on the plane!
Landing on st Martin already felt like an adventure to me.
We hit the runway and taxied about five meters from the ocean... wow! I wanted to jump right into it... this must be the Island feeling, I thought!
When we got out of the airport and a camera crew was already waiting to film our arrival.
As I peeled off about ten layers of dutch winter clothes my smile grew bigger and bigger.(also the one on the cameraman's face, but that I found out too late) sun on my face..mmm... Island feeling alright!
Now I've been here for five days I feel I wanna stay here (honey, pack your bags asap! and join me)
the guys are right!
It's not that we do a lot of different things here.
we still practice, wait a lot, eat drink and p**p.
It's that Island feeling that makes it all different.

Practicing in a small bunker with your feet in the sand, rastafari dancing in the doorway and locals bringing us refreshments.....

women being really feminine, wearing airy dresses and skirts instead of jeans and tees and how they add just a little gloss and bling at evening time...

How I ate a ripe passion fruit right from the tree at the house of some locals.
I wondered around in their garden full of beautiful and wonderful smelling flowers, vegetables and herbs...a lot of inspiration for my list of "things i want when I grow up (more)"

But on top of all comes the way the st Martin-people welcome us and are interested in our lives.. everywhere we go people come to you and are interested in a real conversation. at stores, bars,restaurants, elevators. the crowd at the heineken regatta was great too. all of them gave me the ultimate Island feeling!

Well,
I'm gonna come back to you in a couple of days, cuz i heard some adventurous activities are coming up for OG..
Surfing, Catamaran sailing, Barbecues, family dinners and a lot more! so stay tuned...
sunny greetz,
Kadjatou

Video About the Treasure

Couple of Hours to Go...

I'm in the hotel lounge, with free coffee and a subway omelet wrap. In about 30 min will be going to the SOUNDCHECK... Feeling calm but slightly excited to see the stage for the first time this year.

But let me tell you a little of my yesterday. Worked all morning on graphics and clues for the treasure hunt. The first clue has been published on our website www.orangegrove.nl.

After the work my friend Arjan picked me up to go surfing at a place called "Pecan Hill". We walked through someone's yard, to reach were the surf break is. There were some surfers already in the water and I only had one hour of free time or so... Got the board, put on the leash and had to walk over some rocks to slide smoothly into the water and paddle out.

After messing up the first couple of waves I finally caught a couple of good ones. Man I missed this feeling, calmy waiting for the next wave relaxing on the board. 

Another surfer was there striking up a conversation about the regatta and when I told him I will be playing on sunday he couldn't believe that I was part OG. He was stoked that we were back on the island... Smoking a sigarette after the surf sessions with my buddies watch the surf i felt... Satisfied.

Gotta go get my stuff

Cool runnings

Bruce

PS Yesterday we had a press conference about our Treasure Box... Check out the foto!

Tomorrow

Always when I reach the Caribbean it takes me two or three days to shake that "surreal" feeling. It's like my eyes are television sets that I look at from the comfortable couch I call my brain. A fictional picture too beautiful to be real. The colors, sounds and total positive vibes here on St Martin are refreshing and good for the soul (heheh cheesy huh?). I would love to live here... By the way thats Oscar enjoying breakfast! Happy B-day Bro!

I hade a "local fresh fish dish" for lunch, thanks to Jazzy's mom and it was simply... Sublime.

Thanks to some good friends on the island we got to practice in a really cool sound room in the hills. 

Kids in school uniforms were coming by to listen to our music by peeking through the doorway.

And while we were checking out our set for the show tomorrow, local passersby would bring us "COLD HEINI'S" to cool us down.

I love it and dont ever want to leave!

Bruce.

Our Flight!

WOW! WE LANDED

LOOOONG FLIGHT! Yes... we were all at Schiphol at 4:30 am yesterday and in the air for almost 15 hours. BUT it was all worth it because when we finally got out of the bagage-claim there ware lots of friends and family waiting outside to give Orange Grove a warm welcome.

Another cool surprise was that Hans Mosselman (a OG representative that flew a few days earlier to SXM) had arranged three rental cars with the OG graphics. Man... it was looking great and I was proud to see my designs being shown to all the passersby.

And as promised I got to the Maho Beach Hotel put on my flipflops and surfshort, ran to the beach and summersaulted in to the caribbean sea...

article in SXM Daily Herald Thursday March 4th

Treasure hunt will lead to 2000 euros of ‘goodies’

SIMPSON BAY--Orange Grove is back on the island to perform at the Heineken Regatta for the forth time in a row this Sunday. They will take the stage as opening act for The Wailers. Orange Grove hopes to be performing together with a local steel pan band to give their sound even more of a Caribbean jingle, but have not located this band yet.
However, there is more to see and hear of them the coming week. They will be playing at The Ally on Wednesday March 11 at 10:00pm and are expected to give away a great show that night. They had plans for two gigs in Grenada too, but unfortunately those fell trough, so they might do another performance on top of the one at The Alley while they are here.
In advance to their performance at the Heineken Regatta on Kim Sha beach coming Sunday, Orange Grove is organising a real-life treasure hunt. The promise of finding a well-filled treasury should get the entire island searching, their manager Hans Mosselman said. “The chest contains all kinds of goodies, put together worth over 2000 euros. During the quest, the treasure seekers will be led along beautiful places on St. Maarten and will discover the island in a different way.”
The clues to where to find this treasure will be distributed trough different local media. The person that gets all the clues right will eventually find the “key” to the treasure. That key will open the actual treasure that will be on stage with Orange Grove right before their performance on Sunday.
Lead singer of the band Micheal Maidwell grew up on the island and has been making music from an early age. Orange Grove is known on the island and in The Netherlands for their Caribbean melting pot of dub, reggae and rock and their lively performances that come along with the mix.

Poster Design

Pheeeeew, after some good bit of photoshop and tracing the photographs I finally finished the poster design for this tour. Our girls (Backup Singers) are also included the poster design and I think they'll love it.

I am pretty happy with it and I hope you like it too... 

Now I am going to crack open a beer and play some guitar in preparation for opening for DA WAILERS. (cant wait!)

Peace.

Bruce

Bruce Says

Just a few days to go! And yes lots of things to do and design. Fortunately one of our representatives is already on St. Maarten taking care of all the "bare essentials" that a band needs.

I am very excited to get the work done before I go, designing the flyers, t-shirts, car stickers and maybe even a cool video. So keep your eyes, ears and especially your internet connection open, so you can check out what's happening from my perspective.

The first thing I always do after arriving on St Maarten is put on my surf shorts so I can  take a big plunge into the Caribean Blue...

Cool runnings,

Bruce