¡Pendejo!, 8.5.2025, KuBa, Jena

In 2010, my wife brought home a Spanish Metal Hammer, or was it a Spanish rock magazine, in which "Cantos à la vida" by a band called !Pendejo! was reviewed. We were able to listen to it on their MySpace account at the time, and from then on, they became one of our favorite bands. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to see this band live for 15 years. After living in Spain for 10 years and thus understanding most of their humorously exaggerated, urban macho lyrics, it was Pastuso's body language and passion on stage that touched us and showed us where our emotional home actually lies during the concert. That's how we ended up dancing and crying to the song "Hasta el Final."
Not only is the band our emotional home, but they are an incredibly groovy, heavy monster that moves through deep tones and mows down everything in its path. And even a song like Iron Maiden's "Wrathchild" that's essentially impossible to cover becomes a !Pendejo! song, both musically and lyrically. The rush for merchandise after the concert was entirely understandable, and for the band, it was a good start to their Eastern European tour.
An interesting advance note was that this tour for the Dutch band was made possible with financial support from the Dutch Ministry of Arts, Culture and Science. The same thing exists in France and Spain, but not so much in Germany.

The Dutch Ministry responsible for culture and arts funding is the **Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (OCW)**. It supports music tours mainly through the **Performing Arts Fund NL**, which provides grants for professional musicians and bands.

One key program is the **"Grant for Dutch performances or concerts abroad (fastlane)"**, which helps cover travel, transport, and visa costs. Bands can receive up to €6,000 for shows in Europe and up to €10,000 for performances outside Europe.