Katas, Amsterdam, May 2008
I had met Jeff (in glasses) a few years ago in a bar in Amsterdam, a place (the bar) that could well very be the epicenter of cool in the known universe. Sometimes I feel that everyone that walks through the door in there is just on the right track in life… We immediately bonded over growing up in NJ and how random it is to have met there. He’s been living in NL for probably twenty years or something close enough to it. I had taken some photos of the band he was playing in and when I got back into town last year they were just finishing up a record so we went out to shoot more coverage on a spring afternoon. Its very rare that I’ll put color film in a camera anymore, let alone c41, but it was their request and I really like the way these look. So, obligatory band photo:
This spot was very interesting, it apparently used to be some sort of hospital that was squatted back when you could do things like, you know, squat the abondoned hospital on the edge of town. For more than a decade now my Dutch friends have been explaining and re-explaining the politics of squatting and how that all works but there is something that growing up American just does not allow for me to fully grasp. The *right* to housing? I dont think Americans can fully comprehend the birth right of that idea, ever. At any rate, if I understand correctly, this place was a huge squat and after going through whatever process, the residents of the squat eventually became legal tenants and now those apartments are worth easily hundreds of thousands of Euros and the people there fully own them. And all someone did was break a window once… Worth noting is the size of this place, its huge, especially for Amsterdam, its really a particularly incredible piece of history in that town that is magically left out of the tourist literature. Well, all the good stuff always is, isnt it?
The plan that day was to meet up in de Pijp, catch up on some laughs and walk around for a bit looking for adventure. There was some debate about which way the adventure was, but this would get sorted…
Walking by a fairly typical-for-the-neighborhood brown bar, we all simultaneously caught the vibe to stop in there for a drink.
A round of Heineken and Jenever brought us back into the hood.
Mark (in purple) works at the Paradiso, which in many ways is the premiere place to gig in town. Its also a great place for a free lunch if your friends work there…
It used to be a church and at some point in the 60’s, it was squatted and now its this beautiful club. There is not a long list of places in the world where you walk out on stage and get to look out over an audience at a room this nice.
Decisions were made about the menu and we convened out back on the private patio. How many clubs in the world can you play where outside your dressing room there is a completely private terrace against a canal? The Paradiso is nice.
After a few drinks back there it became increasingly obvious that the only way to progress from this point was by water. It took us a few minutes but we were eventually able to flag down a boat and catch a lift up the Singelgracht to the Soundgarden.
Last but not least is Freek, who in addition to having the coolest name ever, is the primary songwriter in the band and an interesting source of energy from which Marky and Jeff seem to ‘bound around. I wasnt planning on posting all these but after scanning this film it just seemed too good not to share. Or maybe it just reminds me of a great afternoon spent with some rad people. Regardless, there it is.
