Antwerp city guide unknowingly meets members of Depeche Mode in a bar
Antwerp city guide Carolien Krijnen got talking to two men on Friday evening who had lost their way to their hotel. They had a drink together and they told her that were musicians on tour. The men told Carolein that "Tomorrow we are playing at the Sportpaleis. You may have heard of us, our band is called Depeche Mode."
Antwerp city guide Carolien Krijnen and her friend Mieke won’t forget last Friday evening in a hurry. They had gone to see a performance by drag queens in Marie Antoinette bar in the centre of Antwerp before deciding to have one more for the road at pavement terrace.
"Then two men walked past. They were looking around somewhat lost. They spotted us. We were the only two 'young' women on the terrace of the bar. That's how we got talking. The two men that we though were tourists told us that they couldn’t find their way back to their hotel."
5-star hotel
The two “tourists” were staying at the Botanic Sanctuary Hotel, a luxurious hotel on the Antwerp’s Elzenveld that boasts no fewer than three restaurants with Michelin stars.
"I had already walked through the Elzenveld earlier that day and then saw several men in black clothes, not the usual kind of customers at the chic five-star hotel," Carolien Krijnen said.
Fascinated by where the men were staying and fuelled by her natural curiosity as a city guide, Carolien asked the two men what they were doing in Antwerp and how long they were staying for.
“We are on tour with our band and have just arrived from Amsterdam, we will move on to Stockholm on Sunday”, they replied.
"We’re performing at the Sportpaleis tomorrow"
The two men then told Carolien and Mieke that "We’re performing at the Sportpaleis tomorrow". Carolien replied "Then you must be a big band". “Maybe you have already heard of us, the band is called Depeche Mode”, was the answer.
It was indeed the case that Carolien Krijnen and her friend Mieke had unbeknown to them just met Depeche Mode's drummer Christian Eigner and the band's physiotherapist Peewee Willmann. The two men bought them a drink and they chatted and laughed for a while. Then Carolien guided the two to their luxurious hotel.