Paradiso (Amsterdam)

Paradiso

Concert of Cansei de Ser Sexy in the main hall

Paradiso is a rock music venue and cultural center in Amsterdam, the Netherlands.

History

It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije Gemeente" (Free Community). It is located on de Weteringschans, bordering the Leidseplein, one of the nightlife and tourism centers of the city. The main concert hall in the former church interior has high ceilings and a balcony overlooking the stage area, with three large illuminated church windows above the stage. The acoustics are rather echoey, but improvements have been made over the years. In addition to the main concert hall, there are two smaller cafe stages, on an upper floor and in the basement.

Paradiso was opened by the city in 1968 as a publicly-subsidized youth entertainment center. Along with the nearby Melkweg (Milky Way), it soon became synonymous with the hippie counterculture and the rock music of that era. It was one of the first locations in which the use and sale of soft drugs was tolerated. From the mid-1970s, Paradiso became increasingly associated with punk and new wave music, although it continued to program a wide variety of artists. Starting in the late 1980s, raves and themed dance parties became frequent.

In recent years, the venue has settled into an eclectic range of programming, which, besides rock, can include lectures, plays, classical music, and crossover artists. Long associated with clouds of tobacco and hashish smoke, the Paradiso banned smoking in 2008 in accordance with a city-wide ban on smoking in public venues.

The Acts

Poster on the side of the Paradiso

Artists who have recorded or filmed concerts at the Paradiso include the Rolling Stones, Joy Division, Willie Nelson, Nightwish, Bad Brains, Kayak, Loudness, Nirvana, John Cale, The Cure, Soft Machine, Emilíana Torrini, Link Wray, Omar & the Howlers, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Beth Hart, Dayna Kurtz, Dave Matthews, Smoosh, Suzanne Vega, Amy Winehouse, Epica, Editors, Motorpsycho, Riverside and Live.

Other noted acts that have played at the Paradiso include Tangerine Dream, Al Green, Jerry Lee Lewis, Smokey Robinson, Grace Jones, James Brown, The Clash, The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, Andrew Bird, The Undertones, The Buzzcocks, Dead Kennedys , Eric Burdon and the Animals, Van Halen, Bo Diddley, Pink Floyd, Talking Heads, Oasis, Captain Beefheart, Björk, Prince, Sonic Youth, Cramps, Arctic Monkeys, Franz Ferdinand, Robbie Williams, The Cramps, Chip Taylor, The Pretty Things, The Police, Blondie, Humble Pie, Foo Fighters, Blur, Kasabian, Kaiser Chiefs, U2 and Metallica.

Glen Matlock played his last gig with the Sex Pistols at the Paradiso.

On May 26-27, 1995, the Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso. Scalped tickets reportedly sold for many thousands of dollars. Recorded tracks from these concerts were released on the Stones' Stripped album later that year. Keith Richards said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did.

Future

The future of the Paradiso been something of a political issue in Amsterdam since the 1990s, because of some political resistance to the continuation of the subsidies that allow the venue to operate in its central city location. However, because of its status as a cultural icon, the Paradiso has managed to survive so far.

Ayọ concert on 13. September 2007

Further reading

• Converted Churches. Tectum Publishers, Antwerp, Belgium 2007, 178-183. ISBN 978-90-76886-44-2

External links

• Paradiso Template:Nl icon
• Live concert videos at Fabchannel.com