Best of the Beat
From Sydney, Australia, Colin came for the girl and stayed for the music. The quality, quantity and diversity of music, by both local and touring acts, can keep a punter like Colin out all week. He's been accused of being not decisive enough when picking his musical 'tribe'. Fact is, he love all genres equally on the proviso the music is executed with quality. That's why Colin can be found at indie gigs, hip-hop shows, jazz nights, punk concerts and dance parties all around Amsterdam.
Beat This!
Amsterdam's old buildings and the cobblestones, the vintage bikes and kindly disposition lends itself to a bygone era that can't be beat... or can it.
Retro-Amsterdam
Give me some brill cream and a bowling shirt, retro-fit my girl in leopard skin and a bow in her hair, we'll do the twist and the hand jive amongst Amsterdam's various beat nights where fellow James Deans, Dean Martins, Mae Wests and Bettie Pages wistfully reinvent the happy days – where pop singers showed modesty, rock n roll had swivelling hips and gangs threatened you with flick combs before breaking into song and dance on alley trash cans.
Beat retreat
Cool like a martini that's shakin' not stirred, club nights Amsterdam Beat Club and Betty & Billies's Beat Boutique mix retro and kitsch music in a late night venues across the city like Club 8, De Nieuwe Anita, Paradiso, and Winston Kingdom. Via crackling vinyl DJs spin tunes like Dick Dale and The Ventures, the rebel rousers Duane Eddy and Bo Diddley, big band swingers like Ol' Blue Eyes himself and Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, and the punkabilly of Stray Cats or The Cramps.
An array of local bands throw their keys in the bowl weekly like jazz cats The West Hell 5, surf gurus The Phantom Four and Los Tiki Boys, the 60s Garage punk sounds of The Anomalys, not to mention dabblings in rockabilly, bluegrass, R&B and soul.
A good vintage
Of course in these modern times it's a caricature of its former self, which makes a night out all the more fun. The fashion as important as the music, styles are exaggerated or cut with a modern edge; guys and gals dress to the nines in local vintage threads and adorned with Amsterdam's heritage – the sailor tattoo.
Burl-lust
Rounding out the scene with soft curves and devilish intensions are Amsterdam's burlesque performers. Amsterdam's involvement in the international revival to titillate you for what you don't see, rather than what you do feels natural due to its history. Though it’s far more sexual than red light district shows. Courtesy of The Bombshellys, Pepper Minsky, Lady Marmalade and Natsumi Scarlett it's nipple tassels ahoy at shows like Burlesque Freakout and lesbian night out, Girlesque.
Where?
- Tell a friend
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