Three musicians from Coevorden were tired of dismantling the stage, with the instruments and equipment, after each performance. That’s why they came up with a plan in corona time. They bought an old SRV car and converted it into a moving music stage in two years’ time.
You park the bus, set up the stage in about four minutes, plug in your instruments and as a band you are ready to tap for the first song. The side of the old supermarket on wheels just needs to be opened. Two bars under the stage roof, the loudspeakers next to it and the vehicle is ready for a concert. In the same amount of time, the stage is completed again after the performance and the bus is ready for departure.
“I have never built a stage so quickly,” confesses Richard Nijstad when he turns the microphone into the holder. As a musician and organizer, it is certainly not the first time that he has prepared a stage for play. “If we have to play at three o’clock, we can still arrive at five to three,” he laughs.
Together with music friends Dirk Hendriks and Marco Boonstra, Nijstad came up with a plan two years ago to turn such a bus into a stage. “I once saw such an old ‘shopping cart’ that had been converted into a camper. Then it seemed nice to make a moving stage. During the corona lockdowns, the three of us had a little more time left. That’s why I presented the idea to Dirk and Marco. They were immediately sold. Marco even wanted to build three immediately.”
But one turned out to be quite a challenge. A 22-year-old SRV car was bought in Groningen and every free Saturday afternoon the music trio went to work and make further plans. “We did get to know each other,” said Nijstad. “One wanted a higher roof, the other wanted certain equipment. In the end, all three of us were on the same page, and we succeeded.”
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