About the author
Overdose.am doesn’t just report about art, music, fashion and food. We get involved too. Under the name Next Monday’s Hangover (named after our weekly night life guide) we host electronic music festivals. Here, we offer a platform for local music and art talents with whom we try to create a different world. Next up: Buiten Westen, NMH’s new summer festival. In the coming weeks we will interview all the creative parties that we will work with for the festival to give you a small preview what is to come.
Part 4: Pleinvrees – stage host
Pleinvrees means ‘the fear of squares’ – squares as in the public meeting points, not the geometrical shape. This party concept originated in a bar back in 2010 after David and his old mate Pim decided it was time for a proper Queen’s Day party for close friends; they didn’t want to go to the big overcrowded commercial parties at the squares of Amsterdam. A simple event for 23 of their friends at the Groenmarktkade in Amsterdam. A year later, David accidentally got back into event business and asked his other mate Reinier to join him on an adventure that would get slightly out of hand.“I actually applied to become event manager at Club Roses. Unfortunately I wasn’t capable enough, but they did ask me to throw a party, which became the first indoor Pleinvrees.” David explains. A party that had a musical vision involving lots of melodic homo house (as he loves to name the genre). “In the end I booked Joris Delacroix for some apples and an egg and with the success we had I managed to cover my running debts.”
After this very successful first edition, Pleinvrees went on to throw a second party in Roses, another outdoor Queen’s Day edition, a small festival together with Next Monday’s Hangover (which was the nicest festival of 2011 in their opinion), parties in AIR where the crowd actually went wild (especially during David August), a small Leidsepleinvreees edition in the Chicago Social Club, an XL edition at Undercurrent and lastly a massive Queen’s Day marathon two weeks ago. You get the picture, these boys have been busy.
You guys seem to have taken the melodic house genre to the next level and have scouted some serious names, how do you that?
R: “It basically comes from our own passion for the music. Usually 60% of the crowd has never heard of the artists we book. We see our events as a great opportunity to put producing artists on the map, that’s why we try to book lots of artists that have never played in the Netherlands before.”
D: “For example, we took Joris Delacroix‘s carreer to the next level and we recently gave a DJ like Guy Mantzur the opportunity to shine in front of thousands of people, which ended up in a massive sit down. We like to create our own heroes.”
So what makes a night out at Pleinvrees more remarkable than at other parties?
D: “Loads of live acts and we only allow producing artists to perform. Also, the music that we present can be nice during sex and through massive sound systems in clubs.”
R: “We like to keep our parties very diverse. That’s why they’re always at different locations, so they don’t get boring.”
And your favourite Pleinvrees moment would be?
D: “Putting Delacroix on the map, David August’s sitdown in AIR, creating the perfect festival atmosphere at Next Monday’s Hangover – Out in the Open and selling out the Undercurrent in 36 hours.”
R: “The moment when you realize you’re getting back the energy you put into it, this was very noticeable during the last two Queen’s Day editions we pulled off, I heard there were more than five thousand people dancing at one point.”
Plans for the summer
From now on, the guys are focussing on outdoor parties and festivals only. For starters, they have their first international escapade planned in a month from now. They’ll be moving to Berlin for a mini-festival, followed by promising events like De Zon (together with Next Monday’s Hangover and BandjeBandje), a stage at Amsterdam Open Air and the most important one of all; Buiten Westen.
R: “The escapade to Berlin ‘Platzangst’ is an ode to Berlin’s music and its rawness. It will literally be a musical labyrinth. It’s basically an exchange project between Berlin and Amsterdam.”
D: “At Open Air we’ll be hosting a stage with live acts only, with the exception of Marcus Worgull.”
Tell me more about your stage at our festival, Buiten Westen.
D: “To start with, this festival is definitely going to be the absolute highlight of 2012. Setting up a festival has been a dream and long-term goal for us since we started, so we’re extremely excited for this event.”
R: “We’re definitely going to put down something unique, with acts like Mario + Vidis (including live vocalist) for example.”
D: “Besides that, Oliver Schories will open, followed by the b2b debut of Nicone & Dirty Doering from Berlin’s legendary Bar25. AKA AKA + Thalstroem LIVE come next to continue our cooperative tradition, after which the godfather of deep house Noir will perdorf. 360 Soundsystem represent the sounds of Amsterdam, and Oliver Koletzki (a personal hero of mine) and finally our absolute resident Joris Delacroix will close the show.
R: “Furthermore, expect lots of surprises and colours. We tend to stick to bright balloons, flags and enough variation so the stage does’t look like a static mass on an open field.”
D: “There will be at least 23 people to enjoy this.”
Sharing is caring!
Tweet
