A great man once wrote 'So here I am once more...' but I don't think he was talking about the Departure Lounge at Luton Airport. Edinburgh City maybe. But anyway, scarcely two weeks after my last trip over to our favourite European venue, the Boerderij in Zoetermeer, I was on my way back again.

This time I'd avoided the transport trauma's that dogged my last trip like Stan Collymore in a Midlands car park - allegedly, by getting my good mate, and the recently relicenced Gordon to drive me there. Ok, I could maybe have done without frequent 'nature stops' and that feeling that he had in fact forgotten how to drive. But we got there ok and I even got thru Easyjet's "only one gate open" policy with enough time for a cappuccino and a slice of walnut cake. How civilised!

Before boarding the plane we had another Easyjet game - Guess The Queue. I was supposed to be in B but guessed wrong, which was good as it meant I could get on quicker. Ryanair have a lot to catch up on! The flight itself was, you'll be happy to hear, uneventful apart from a 30 minute delay and a screaming kid. Didn't think you were allowed to take goats on planes but there you go. Next time I wont have to leave mine behind. The delay meant there wasn't time for a decent coffee and cake at Schiphol so I just snatched a double espresso and a cookie and sprinted for the train to Den Haag.

I think I annoyed the girl sitting next to me on the train, as she was inspecting her foot as I sat down. God knows what she said, but I don't. Mental note to myself; stop annoying random girls. I think she got over it quickly though as she proceeded to try and play Footsie for the rest of the trip. But with her gammy foot? No thanks! Next was the bus to Zoetermeer, always a pleasant journey. I wasn't paying much attention though so luckily three guys wearing Spock's Beard t-shirts got off or else I'd've ended up in the arse end of nowhere.

Have I mentioned before that I love the Boerderij? Probably. Could well be the best and friendliest venue in Europe. Sorry Heike, I know you love the Colos Saal in Aschaffenburg but this creams it. Curtis Stigers wouldn't be allowed anywhere near this place!

Wandering into the main hall, I was greeted by the beautiful Armitage Shanks and the truly scrumptious Dutchess of Prog, Nanda.

There was barely enough time for three beers before the world famous Breakfast Shuffler Steve Thorne wandered onto the stage. However the Southampton Sausage Boy soon realised that he was still wearing his grubby slept in t-shirt. The one with the eggy stain down the front! So he nipped off for a costume change so quick that his favourites Girls Aloud would have been impressed by. Soon he was on with the show, and the boy entertained the crowd with excellent tracks from his Emotional Creatures albums, part one and part two.

I could go on about the songs he played. Bugger it. I will. Emo 1 was well represented by God Bless America, Ten Years, Julia, the anti-drug Last Line. While Emo 2 spawned Wayward, Crossfire and Roundabout amongst others. He finished his excellent set off with the great Therapy, a song which has been a staple in our Proggy Style radio show over the years.

The crowd wanted more, but Steve knew there was a bowl of chicken tikka masala waiting for him backstage, and nothing could keep the two apart.

I wanted to get some proper pictures for y'all but I had a beer in one hand and couldn't really be bothered enough to move more central for a decent shot.

If you want to see some excellent photo's of the whole event, then nip on over to Willem Klopper's (left) wonderful website at www.willemklopper.nl where you'll find stacks of first class pictures.

During the break we were reminded that the Beard's show was being filmed so flash photography was a no-no. Around this time I bumped into my friend Janke again. Always good to see friendly faces when you go abroad. And it's nice to have changed peoples lives - she has changed her MSN name to "for progs sake".

Then it was time for the mighty Spock's Beard to entertain up, and for sure they didn't disappoint!

They gave up what must have been a two hour set, chock-a-filled with proggy progness. A quick trip through their set-list will show you what I mean...

They opened with On A Perfect Day, then charged thru Mouth of Madness, Crack The Big Sky, Slow Crashlanding Man, Return To Whatever (from Alan Morse's excellent solo album Four O'Clock and Hysteria), Surfing Down The Avalanche before hitting my personal favourite Thoughts Pt 2. After that they galloped over Skeletons At The Feast, Walking On The Wind, As Far As The Mind Can See and Rearranged.

But the set list - and I need to thank the guy who got me a copy. Thanks. - only tells half of their story. Frontman Nick D'Virgilio captured the crowds imagination while flitting between singing, drumming, playing some keyboards and probably some guitars as well. Is there anything this boy can't do? Well I'm sure Ryo Okumoto could show him a thing or two about keyboard showmanship. There was barely a minute when the mad ivoryman wasn't going mental - from shouting at the cameras, to throwing heavy metal shapes, to telling rubbish jokes, to climbing on his keys and playing them with his feet and arse!

At this point it occurred to me that Arena were playing here a week later. I challenge Clive Nolan to mount his set-up and give the crowd what they want. If any of you are there, I'd like to know if he does. Or not.

The other guys shouldn't be ignored, just because they're not limelight hoggers. Alan Morse plays his guitar with a flourish and if he's missing his brother it doesn't show. By the way, rumours abounded pre-show about the possibility of Neal Morse joining up with the band at some point in the evening. One young wag even suggested that they'd start of the set with him on the stage! Utter guff of course. The last thing the band needed while filming a DVD was an ex member hanging around. Back to the band. Bass player Dave Meros was the personification of coolness, while live wire drummer Jimmy Keegan even managed to get some stage diving in, carried over the heads of the crowd as far as Rob in the sound booth and back again.

The band came back onstage for the encores, but before they started they told up that they needed to "fix" a couple of things for the DVD that hadn't worked right. So they initially played The Water and Go The Way You Go before doing odd bits here and there, including shirt changes. Finally they were happy, and as a special treat Jimmy the drummer gave us a stunning version of Whole Lotta Love, which he later admitted he wasn't prepared for. Just as I don't think we were prepared to find that Spock's Beard now have TWO drummers that can sing.

With the Friday part of the festival now over we hit the bar for refreshments. Heike, the German Prog Princess had finally turned up just in time to see the Beard, a fact that sat heavily on Steve Thorne's shoulders. "Bank Holiday Traffic" was her rather poor excuse, considering I'd made it over from the UK in time. Still, she smiled her smile and all was forgiven. We gathered around the long table at the back of the car and settled in for a long session swapping drinks with tales from the road. Thorney confirmed both his stance on the Full English Breakfast and his aversion to Road Traffic Accidents. Jimmy the drummer confessed that he'd been nervous about singing standing up tonight as he's usually sitting down. This explained his unusual stance! We also chatted to Dave M and Nick D'Virgilio. At one point Steve had had enough and left, only to return an hour later for more beer. It was that sort of night. I even managed to get a photo of The Princess and The Dutchess together (left). The blurring is deliberate to moderate its hotness. It's not due to one-handed camera shake.

Finally it was 4am and our taxi arrived to take us home in the pathetic drizzle. I sometimes wish it would make up it's mind if it was gonna rain or not.

The entertainment on Saturday was due to start at 4 pm and after the late night, we only had time for a spicy chicken sandwich, complete with hot chili's and cucumber  for breakfast - no full English here -  which was very spicy indeed! And very welcome, as was the drink. I tried not to show that my mouth was burning, but I think the steam coming out of my ears gave me away. We made it to the bus stop as the bus turned up and got back to the Boerderij, entering just in time to catch the lights going down.

I made my way to the front to watch Dial. Now, in case you haven't been paying attention, I love Dial's Synchronized CD so was really looking forward to seeing them. They didn't disappoint, playing every track off the album except Candyland. They started off with just Kristoffer Gildenlow on guitar, and then percussion, looping the intro to Wounded while the others joined him on stage. This was followed by the dreamy Green Knees, where Kris took over the vocal duties. An obvious highlight of the set was Liselotte Hegt's performance during Beautiful where she prowled the stage like a caged tiger, pointing at the 'beautiful ones' in the crowd, the ones who decide what share, what look is beautiful this year. I don't think they were really there but it was very symbolic, even though Lilo herself is quite a looker. At one point, she pointed at me. I think that was a mistake!

Sadness came next. The song, that is, not the physical emotion! then Jewel which was also another highlight and Dial have taken this Marcella Detroit song and made it their own. Kristoffer and Rommert van der Meer were doing their stuff as well with Kris looking like a menacing cross between Kurt Cobain and David Beckham. There you go, who says I don't do anything for you ladies?

The dueting on the emotional Hello was wonderful, along with the three way during Points Of View. That never happened when Barry Took did the show on the BBC. His introduction for set closer Childhood Dreams spoke of lost childhood dreams of being a fireman or an astronaut or a lollypop lady. When I was younger, I wanted to be in a rock band, fronted by a beautiful woman. Kris has stolen my dream, but he shows no sign of giving it back, which is a shame.

They went down well with the crowd and as their set was videoed. I hope it sees the light somewhere. I for one want them to come over here.

There followed a short break while MC Bobo Bollenburg wittered on in what sounded like Dutch. I picked out the occasional name like Nick Barrett and Charlie O'Mara. I think it was the answers to some progquiz. How sweet. And it seems For Absent Friends won something so Congratulations to them!

On came Mangrove. I didn't know much about Mangrove before their show and I still don't know much after it, except that half of them are bald and they like to wear a lot of white and some shiny stuff too. Tasteful. Musically they tread on rather safe waters that didn't really catch my attention, though with Lilo from Dial wandering backwards and forwards in front of me, it's not too surprising! You could have driven a bus thru the joint and I wouldn't have noticed. Maybe someone did, though I'm sure I would have been told later. Anyway, when Mangrove had finished it was time to hit the bar and barbeque. I had a chat to a couple of British kids in the queue before getting a much needed burger served up by a beautiful young lady. Holland, there's nothing like it! Whilst outside in the garden i had a quick chat with venue supremo Arie.

I then made my way back indoors to see the main attraction, the headlining Neal Morse. When I heard that he was planning to do a 3 hour show I must admit to being a bit concerned as I only really know the Sola Scriptura album and the odd song here and there, but as it turned out, I had no need to worry. He started off with The Creation from the One album, which was an excellent start in my book, and his boundless energy and the enthusiasm he has in his performances soon won me over. I could even overlook the incredibly young looking guitarist who could gurn for the US. He made Spock's Beard's performance on the Friday look like Pantomime Prog! Though the Beard did have a superior sound, thanks to the undoubtable skills of the dynamic duo Rob Aubrey and Armitage Shanks.

Like I said earlier I don't know a lot of his work though I was pleased when he played the excellent Sola Scriptura in what sounded like it's entirety to me. He also did an old Beard track, hoping that they hadn't done it the might before. I don't think they had but I've forgotten what it was. Oh dear. Anyway the man performed majestically for 2 1/2 hours before nipping off for the encore break.

I'd heard that there had been a problem with one of the tracks at the start so I was expecting a similar charade to the previous might where they mucked around with shirts and hairstyles while rerecording odd bits, but no, it was a straight encore so they'll get sorted in the studio.

So three hours had literally flown by yet there was still time for a few more beers with Arie, Nanda and Jack where we discussed the merits of each night along with our favourite chat up lines before melting off into the torrential rain. My thought the night before had come back to bite me in the arse, yet again.

So, all told it was a wonderful weekend, well worth skiving off real work for! None of the bands disappointed, the headliners both put on magnificient and long sets, the support acts done their jobs well as well. And there was loads to eat and drink.

I've just been told that Dial's set can be seen by clicking on the following link www.dimages.eu/video/dial-player - check it out, they're worth it!