Last Saturday was such a wonderful day! We celebrated out 1000th show in the 013 where we had our very first concert!! On the 15th of December 2002, we were offered to be the opening act for Anathema. Back then we never ever expected our first show to be in such a large audience.

Back on that special day, I also had another concert! I was also singing in a choir and we had our first concert on the same day. It was quite the double debut show day for me. My nerves were out of control as you probably can imagine.

Unfortunately, I couldn't finish my show with the choir because I had to leave to make it on time for our soundcheck in 013 and had to leave in the break of the concert.

My parents also didn't know that I was playing in a metal band. They knew about the choir and when the 013 show was booked, I had to confess to my parents that I had another show on that day.

Selling out the 013 will always be a special feeling, because that is where it all started for Epica. I had no clue about how big Epica would become and all the beautiful places we would get to visit, to then return to a sold out 013 to celebrate our 1000th show!

We decided to do a long set list, bring pyro effects, Universal Love Squad, and my beautiful friend Cristina to to the stage.

For this special show I bought a new dress. A special occasion calls for a special dress. Bad luck for me that the post took a little longer do deliver the dress. It arrived while I was already touring in the UK...

I thought of different ways how to get my hands on the dress in time for the big show. We would go straight to the 013 after our show in London. No time for me to quickly pick it up at home.

My first attempt was to contact Asos, but they said that they couldn't change the address to the address of my parents. I asked my neighbour if she could ship the dress to my parents via express shipping and she did! My mother came to the show and gave me the dress.

The dress fit perfectly! I was not sure if it was the right size. Some of the rhinestones fell off and needed to be sown back on. Big thanks to Simon, Sharon, and Tim for the help with the needle and thread.

My make up was spontaneously inspired by the bronze orange rhinestones. Normally I don't like to experiment on days like this. For shoots I often plan my looks, but for this show I thought that a bronzy lid with a dark red lip would be a good option. I loved how it turned out. If you guys want to know which products I used to achieve the look, let me know in the comments and I will give you a list or maybe I even do a small tutorial if I find the time.

Marino (thank you!) styled my hair so that I could relax a bit before the show. I mostly do my hair myself, except for big shows. Curling my mane takes some time and also energy which I wanted to save for the show.

To be honest with you, I was a bit tensed. We had a bad night in the tour bus the night before. Border check at 3.30, many early alarms going off a couple hours later, kept me from getting enough sleep. Some coffee, and then also some wine later, and I was relaxed. I was ready to kick ass with the boys!!!

Thanks to all the amazing bands and sweet fans that shared this milestone with us. I know that many of you travelled from a far to see us play. It was absolutely heartwarming! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! 💋