Sander Louwers (43) from Tilburg works at pop venue 013 in Tilburg. Just like his wife, by the way. And his brother. And oh yes: his father recently started as a volunteer. The largest music venue in the South of the Netherlands will be celebrating its 25th anniversary on Monday. Sander experienced 23 of them and knows better than anyone what’s fun about it: “After work we drank with colleagues, often until it got light.”
All that drinking left its mark on Sander. He met his wife – how could it be otherwise – in the 013. He worked behind the bar, so did she. But don’t ask him what year that was: “2007? 2006? I remember almost nothing about that time.”
“The ginger tea and lemon are hard to beat.”
The stories about music venues are illustrious. In the predecessor of 013, Noorderligt, rock’n’roll junkie Herman Brood often performed. When his manager saw the syringes on the table, he knew that Herman had ‘had breakfast’. Sander laughs: “That has only become less. The ginger tea and lemon are hard to beat. Artists have become more professional.”
And Sander too. But the father of three children has had his share of stimulants. “Sure,” he laughs: “During that period, yes God, you were behind a bar. I was always drunk or on the road somewhere. And I smoked like a chimney. It was all part of it. There was plenty of smoking in the hall and also behind the bar. It had a completely different feel vibe then now.”
Which does not mean that an artist will never step on stage under the influence again: “Certainly Americans, who smoke cannabis. You can just see that, they have already been here in the shop. It’s just part of it.”
“The eldest likes to skateboard here. Slippery floor, eh.”
But times are changing. Sander’s wife now works in ticket sales, he’s like ‘hospitality manager’ responsible for everything on the work floor. The children are 5, 7 and 9 and they regularly visit 013: “They know the way. The eldest also likes to skateboard here. Nice smooth floor, huh? Can you go nice and fast.”
In 2000, Sander completed a journalism course. His then girlfriend worked behind the bar at 013. And he stepped in for the first time. “I remember thinking: ‘What a whopper of a tent!’ So high, so deep. It was different from anything you were used to back then.”
013 was the first hall in the Netherlands that was specially built for pop music. It was also the largest: it could accommodate 2,000 people. Sander tapped beers in the football canteen and got to work straight away: “I started at ‘Beats and beyond‘, that was the popular dance evening at the time. Always busy, always sold out.”
After journalism he went on to study film and TV sciences. But he continued to live in Tilburg and work at 013: “It paid quite well. And it was always great fun here. Nice people with a love for music. I always go to work whistling.”
“At the Chemical Brothers, the car alarms went off in the parking garage.”
Nice extra of his job: Sander can see all the shows. “I’ve seen an awful lot of good music here. I first saw an LED screen twenty years ago at Basement Jaxx. That’s pretty much standard now. With the Chemical Brothers, the music was so loud that the car alarms in the parking garage next door went off.”
The latter has left Sander with a permanent ringing in his ears: “If you stand behind a bar for fifteen years and everyone chatters in your ear, you better believe you will develop a ringing sound. I’m as deaf as a quail. You didn’t think about that before.”
Things are different with his children: “The eldest already comes along regularly. We went to Chef Special. And I also drag it along to Terzij de Horde (a black metal band, ed). But he’s not allowed to come in here without earplugs.”
Poppodium 013 celebrates its 25th anniversary on Monday with a big music party, from seven o’clock in the evening. The main act is De Staat.