Even the biggest names in art started small. And without events like Spy in Emmen – formerly Spy and The Butcher – we might never have heard of them.
This festival for pop talent will take place for the eighth time on Saturday 20 May, again in the Atlas Theater. Organizer is The Bake Shop – in Southeast Drenthe they don’t make a fuss about alienating names.
Performances by Fiep, Fleur, Malu, Marathon, Marit Nygard, Dylamic, Novko and Orange Skyline are announced on the bill. That last name is seen by some as a big act. The guitar band around the (Groninger) brothers Stefan and Niels van der Wielen will be at Pinkpop this year and released a second album last year, which was launched as ‘the real debut’.
Fiep is at least as exciting. The gritty guitar pop band with Veerle Driessen made their debut a year ago with the dazzling night shop then performed at Noorderslag and presented the first this spring extended play out, 77 Strokes Croft . That address in Bristol reveals about Fiep’s musical preferences.
For those who prefer to listen to the French language, especially as it blared from the radio fifty years ago when beat music also became popular on the European mainland, there is Fleur. She is also on her second album. After the self-titled debut in 2020, the album was released at the end of last year at Excelsior Records Bouquet Champetre on which Fleur still pretends that the 60s and 70s continue.
Festival Spy, May 20, Atlas Theater Emmen