Amsterdam @ de tanker (the tanker)

posted in: Shows, Tour | 0

For show number 5 in Europe, we opted to play in a new creative space known as de tanker (“the tanker”).  From afar, it wasn’t apparent as a venue:

 

 

Detanker ("the tanker")
Detanker (“the tanker”)

 

Especially from the freeway vantage point:

1b Detanker 2

The drummer’s view with the freeway moat behind the chairs. Later, people in the apartments across heard us playing and came over to listen.

1c Detanker

The de tanker is a community space first and foremost – here, handmade musical instruments await the next time they will be played in the neighboring park forest:

1 d Detanker 1 e Detanker

They were huuuuuge – and when mic’d, the one on the right (the large thumb piano) was said to reverberate throughout the forest.

Lovin the de tanker

And what a lovely (as the Brits say) and wonderful space the de tanker is.  They even host events specifically aimed at LONELY PEOPLE.  These people are loving and we hope they continue to operate with community support and investment.

 

My Kingdom for a Horse
My Kingdom for a Horse

The duo My Kingdom for a Horse had an opening hand shake and took time off from their scholarly pursuits to play the show with us.  Beautiful soulful singing and we were happy to share this show with them.

2 bb detanker

After the show, our host and co-operator/founder of de tanker biked our heavy equipment and backpacks to her home (where we stayed) in this handy cargo bike common in Amsterdam:

The tireless Carlain
The tireless Carlain

 

As requested on our sticker-back, one person tagged us on Twitter to show us where he stuck it:

Thanks, Sammy!
Thanks, Sammy!

 

We stayed in an AirBnB near the city center, with just one room but quite a nice view:

room with view
Exhibit a: view

 

Exhibit b: Rob, room
Exhibit b: Rob, room

It was soon nourishment time – we found a great vegetarian/vegan deli within a bike-ride from our place:

Veg deli!
Veg deli!
Plenty of veg meats
Plenty of veg meats
Our meals
Our meals

We rented bikes very cheaply, parking them by the canal here.

bikes
bikes

 

Crooked buildings, due to Amsterdam's wet soil
We saw several crooked buildings, due to Amsterdam’s wet soil

am5

The shop above was owned (or at least “manned”) by a (very high) Greek. I do not think that was a ghost bike.

Amsterdam: pee friendly (for guys)
Amsterdam: pee friendly (for guys)

Above, as demonstrated by Rob.

 

Most buildings have hooks upon which to hoist heavy furniture that does not fit in otherwise
Most buildings have hooks upon which to hoist heavy furniture that does not fit in otherwise
Bike parking garages
Bike parking garages: there are double (or triple?) the amount of bikes to people here
Small cars
Small cars

There is some controversy as these tiny cars speed through bike lanes. Some say they are driven by “lazy” people whereas others acknowledged the people may have disabling conditions and therefore unable to bicycle. Either way, my first thought was the opposite (“Cool – tiny cars, not SUVs.”)

Though you cannot add any additional houseboats or obtain an expensive license for one, you can rent out or buy one. (Added to list of Things to Try before Die.)

house home boat
house home boat

On a canal tour, we saw a version of busking – a man who played wind instruments on his tiny boat while floating through the canal:

Canal busking
Canal busking

 

Eat

Local.
Local.
am13
First gay marriage. Amsterdam was ahead of the rest.

Found this in the Amsterdam museum.

Rob
Rob

 

eleni
eleni

As I sum up our Amsterdam stay (mostly pictorally) here from the Atlantic (sailing back from England to USA) I will cut this short. The last time we’d visited the Netherlands was 2002, and the process of memory versus actual place and experience was felt.  Is it always this way in travel?  Some variables that have changed since our last visit:

* the year (2002 vs 2015)

* our age (+ 13 years)

* repetition (can you ever see/experience a place the same after it’s been seen once?)

* context (touring this time around – honeymoon the last time)

We were happy to find de tanker as a place to root our travel to Amsterdam and discover the thoughts and opinions of locals.  We heard that Amsterdam is not as progressive as assigned by many – if you want cutting edge thinking/art go to Berlin.  And that, indeed, was our next stop.