Gigs From Abroad Part 16 – Eindhoven and Den Bosch

On our lad’s trip in 2018 a decision was made to return to the Netherlands and to the city of Eindhoven. It is the fifth largest city in the country and its wealth was initially built on textiles and tobacco before two significant companies DAF Trucks and Philips were founded there. The latter firm’s name is referenced in their famous football club PSV (Philips Sport Vereniging) Eindhoven. It has a large student population and contains the Muziekcentrum Frits Philips, a classical and pop music venue which is renowned across Europe for its excellent acoustics.

On our traditional Day 2 jaunt we traversed over to nearby Hertogenbosch, which translates as ‘the forest of the duke’. It is known locally as Den Bosch and is the established location for an annual high profile grass court tennis tournament and it also staged the start of the Tour De France in 1996. It is a bonny city with a plethora of bars and hostelries and a protected townscape with ramparts which surround most of the boundaries. The ex-Man United footballer Ruud Van Nistlerooy started his career at FC Den Bosch and famous previous residents include the scholar Erasmus, artist Heironymus Bosch and one of the finest ever female cyclists, Marianne Vos.  

As we exited the train station, we were instantly approached by one of the locals with the leading question ‘are you here for the festival?’ for which my ears perked up. My ears reduced to semi-perk state when informed it was a jazz festival which is probably my least favourite genre, but my gig addiction was piqued by the possibility of unexpected bonus venues forthcoming!

Den Bosch Festival. Image Credit denboschtips.com

It is the ‘free jazz’ style that doesn’t personally move me and can in fact be a tad nurofen inducing but I am more conducive when it is incorporated in a more blues domain synonymous of what I would imagine would be played in a Bourbon Street bar in New Orleans.

However, we took advantage of the festival hitting the town and our first venue was Den Bosch Stadscafe Basiliek which is a cosy brown café located near St Jan’s Cathedral with a comprehensive choice of beers. They regularly have live music and we saw a band under the name of Paul Sproetska. We then headed over to Den Bosch Kerkplein where a combo called Groupo Des Cargos were playing. The next site was at a square at Den Bosch Minderbroedersplein where they had an outdoor stage and performing there was Zwerm Koeien.

At this point in time, we had an attack of the munchies so decided to obtain some food from one of the numerous stalls dotted around the large expanse of Den Bosch Market which is surrounded by many grand old buildings including the 14th century Town Hall. Located at the market was the festival’s main stage where you expect the red letter acts to be performing. However, whilst we were awaiting our tucker, we were comprehensively underwhelmed by the Stark Linnemann Quartet who are comprised of 75% Dutch and 25% Greek origin.  

Our final performance was at Den Bosch Uilenberg where we witnessed the Jurgen Burdorf Band. Jurgen has crossed over into many other genres in his career including indie pop, 1960’s musicals and has also played mandolin in a Dolly Parton tribute show. The entire festival had an inclusive relaxed vibe about it and was well attended. In the last pub next to the train station, I recall the FA Cup Final being on in the background with Chelsea defeating Man United in that year’s final.   

Cafe Altstadt. Image Credit thisiseindhoven.com

We returned to Eindhoven in the evening and visited Eindhoven Alstadt which was located next door to a terrific rough and ready rock bar which we frequented both evenings and where they had a fine noisy jukebox.

The Alstadt is a lively bar and was funded from January 2017 by the Performing Arts Netherlands to become a Core Stage live music venue and has acts on most nights of the week and is open until 4am at weekends.  On the night we visited a soul band called Herman Brood Academie were playing who are named after a music college in Utrecht.

On our return day on the Sunday, we had two-star spots, the first being when a couple of the chaps espied the actual Hollies in the hotel breakfast area in the morning. Following that at the airport there was a further double take when we saw the darts legend Phil ‘The Power’ Taylor who had been competing at an exhibition event in the area and subsequently got on our flight and was sat in the row adjacent to myself.

Phil Taylor. Image Credit Sky Sports.

Manchester Venues 126 to 128

I am returning this week to the annual Sounds from the Other City (SFTOC) multi venue festival held in Salford. I first attended the event in 2012 and have one outstanding gig to cover from that year. The selected roster of venues shifts each time and at this particular one stretched all the way down the A6 in the direction of Victoria station.  

Manchester Rovers Return is a big old-fashioned boozer with some original features dating back to the 1840’s and sits on the corner of Chapel Street and Barlow’s Croft, its previous moniker was the Lord Nelson. Geographically it is located nearby to the fictional Rovers Return on Coronation Street! I walked past very recently, and the hostelry is currently closed, and its future looks uncertain. On the day of the festival, we saw a short-lived Manchester band called Waterworld performing.

Rovers Return. Image Credit Pinterest.

A further dotting the I’s and crossing the T’s exercise on the 2018 shindig brings us to the Manchester Five Four Studios Attic. I have talked in a previous blog about this venue so will not belabour that here apart from to say we were positioned in the sunlit small attic room right at the apex of the establishment.

The lass on stage was called Anni Rossi who is from Minnesota and plays an electric viola that was intriguingly hand crafted by Thor Harris who is the former percussionist of the noiseniks Swans.  Her debut album was recorded with the recently departed Steve Albini and she has toured with amongst others Camera Obscura and the Ting Tings.

There were always colleges and institutes in the Salford area dating back to the 1850’s. From these evolved the University of Salford which received the Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth II in 1967. There was a further expansion in 1996 when University College Salford fell under the University’s auspices.

Their community covers 23,000 students, 2,500 staff and 170,000 alumni worldwide and their site covers 160 acres of parkland next to the River Irwell and in close proximity to Salford Crescent railway station.  Contained within is Peel Park which was allegedly in 1846 the first public park in the world. They have appeared on University Challenge only periodically but on their appearance in 2016 they had John Cooper Clarke as their mascot!

The initial chancellor was Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, and the current is the TV journalist Lucy Meacock. Previous alumni include comedians Peter Kay and Jason Manford, actors Christopher Eccleston and Maxine Peake, artist L.S Lowry and TV presenter Sarah Greene. From a musical slant there is punk rocker Jon the Postman, Courteeners Liam Fray, Everything Everything lead singer Jonathan Higgs and of course John Robb.

Jon the Postman (on the right) outside Thirsty Scholar. Image Credit mdmarchive.co.uk

Jon the Postman is an interesting life tale as he was a local lad who was so named because he was in fact a postie by trade. His first ever gig on 29 May 1977 was in support of Warsaw, who later evolved into Joy Division. At the final ever gig at Manchester’s Electric Circus venue he closed the show with a rendition of ‘Louie Louie’, the backing band being the Buzzcocks. His debut album ‘Jon the Postman’s Puerile’ featured the first ever appearance of Mark E Smith who introduced the above-named track. He then ran the Fall’s fan club before travelling around Europe and living in San Francisco for five years. He was also featured in the 24-Hour Party People movie where he was portrayed by Dave Gorman.  

Manchester Electric Circus with AC/DC on stage in 1976. Image Credit Pinterest.

The venues within the University were reintroduced to SFTOC in 2024 for the first time in a decade and the central hub was Manchester The Green, a grassy area situated in front of the Museum and Art Gallery. They set up a music and beer marquee and I saw Atike B2B Una Lee, Good Afternoon and Good Afternoon v Matthew Rothery (Kiss Me Again) play there. They also had some tasty food options, with some salt and pepper chips being sampled in the afternoon and a pizza later in the evening whilst lounging on one of the plentiful deckchairs.