Amsterdam (Rough Guide) - Martin Dunford [133]
The Powerzone Spaklerweg (Outer districts) 020/681 8866, www.thepowerzone.nl. Metro Spaklerweg. Situated near Amstel station, southeast of the centre, this is a Saturday-night party zone, with good trance and techno DJs – both Dutch and international – and a capacity of five thousand.
Studio 80 Rembrandtplein 17 (Grachtengordel south) 020/521 8333, www.studio-80.nl. Right on the Rembrandtplein, this new club attracts the more fashionable underground scene with techno, soul, funk, minimal and electro. A creative breeding ground for young and upcoming DJs, bands and acts. Wed–Mon 11pm–4/5am.
Winston Kingdom Warmoesstraat 131 (Old Centre) 020/623 1380, www.winston.nl. This small venue adjacent to the Winston Hotel offers eclectic club nights and performances.
Zebra Lounge Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 14 (Grachtengordel south) 020/612 6153, www.the-zebra.nl. This small, stylish bar set over two floors attracts a lively, younger crowd than the neighbouring Jimmy Woo – possibly owing to its less picky door staff. Fri & Sat only.
Entertainment and nightlife |
Rock and pop
As far as live music goes, Amsterdam is a regular tour stop for many major artists – so keep an eye on the listings magazines. Dutch rock and pop bands are often worth seeking out too. Look out for the celebrated Zuco 103, with a distinctive Brazilian sound, Junky XL and other members of the dance/hip-hop scene, or try to catch rock bands such as Bløf, Kane or Spinvis. Anouk is also a popular draw.
In the southeastern suburbs, the superb 50,000-seater Amsterdam ArenA doubles as the city’s music stadium for big-name rock bands and artists. The Heineken Music Hall, a simple but acoustically impressive black box close to the ArenA, hosts medium-sized acts, while the two dedicated music venues in Amsterdam city centre – the Paradiso and the Melkweg – are on a much smaller scale, and supply a daily programme of music to suit all tastes (and budgets). At the time of writing, plans were ahead to build a new music venue near the Amsterdam ArenA with a capacity of 15,000 visitors to fill the musical gap between stadium acts and smaller venues; Ziggo Dome is scheduled to open early 2011. Alongside the main venues, the city’s clubs, bars and multimedia centres host occasional performances by live bands.
As far as prices go, for big names you’ll pay anything between €30 and €60 a ticket; ordinary gigs cost €8–15, although some places charge a membership fee (lidmaatschap) on top.
Entertainment and nightlife |
Folk and world
The Dutch folk music tradition is virtually extinct in Amsterdam, except for occasional performances by the duo Acda and de Munnik. There are still one or two touring folk singers who perform traditional smartlappen (“torchsongs”) at the Carré Theater and a few other sympathetic venues, but the best place to catch these traditional songs – a brash and sentimental adaptation of French chanson – is the café Nol, in the heart of the Jordaan, where they made their name. More accessible is world music, for which there are several good venues, including the Akhnaton, the Tropentheater and the Melkweg, the latter two being venues for the Amsterdam Roots Festival held in June.
Entertainment and nightlife |
Rock, pop and folk festivals
Amsterdam doesn’t have many outdoor music festivals, but the few events that do take place are usually well attended. Aside from the summer concerts held in the Vondelpark, the Oosterpark hosts the free Roots Open Air Festival, a huge one-day event that attracts over 60,000 people and kicks off the aforementioned Roots Festival, though at the time of writing the future of the Roots Festival was uncertain. A new initiative is Live at Westerpark (www.liveatwesterpark.nl), a chain of concerts held in July on consecutive days around the Westergasterrein area, with artists such as Radiohead, R.E.M. and Lenny Kravitz.
Of the music