The free-spirited band from Hilvarenbeek played their first gig on May 1, 1976. RK de Veulpoopers was known for its protest songs and often performed at demonstrations and festivals. Although they were mainly popular in Brabant, the band also gained national fame. The song De Egelantier even reached a top 40 ranking in 1979. On Friday evening they celebrated with friends, family and long-time fans in a sun-drenched garden in Berkel-Enschot.
The average age of the more than two hundred partygoers is well over fifty, but this is not reflected in the enthusiasm with which the songs of the Veulpoopers are sung. People join in and some know all the lyrics by heart.
“I was 13 when I saw them start and I was super jealous of the singer on stage. She was 15 and was allowed to sing along and I wanted that too,” says Mariek van de Wildenberg, laughing. “The Veulpoopers always took action, but I was much too good for that.”
“This is nostalgia and it brings out a lot.”
Ton de Bakker was also there fifty years ago. “This is nostalgia and a lot comes to mind. The battle we waged under the leadership of Zjef Naaijkens, the singer, against big capital and, for example, the manure surplus. It was great and above all very fun. I have very good memories of that campaigning and the music,” says Ton.
After the first performance in Volkel in 1976, the original band did not stay together for long. The anarchic folk rock group fell apart in the early 1980s. Some members no longer wanted to play for fun, but for a living. There was a legendary farewell concert in 1982 in Tilburg’s Leijpark with around 40,000 visitors.
Much more than they expected at the time, which is why they ran out of beer during the farewell concert. When frontman Zjef Naaijkens steps off stage during the break of the birthday concert, he immediately grabs his cell phone. This Friday evening the beer is also likely to run out faster than expected. “Luckily, extra beer arrived quickly after my phone call,” says Zjef with relief.
“When I was young I never thought I would ever experience this,” Zjef says, laughing. “First that I would be that old and now that I am so old that I could still do this. We did not play all fifty years as a band, because I might not have made it. Life as a musician is hard.”
“We’re going back into the studio.”
Nevertheless, Zjef will be touring again with his band and they will soon even perform in Paradiso in Amsterdam. “That is very special for a band, and we are also going back into the studio to record new songs,” says Zjef.
The love for the band turned out not to be over after the farewell concert in 1982. The Veulpoopers reunited a few more times: in 1996, 2009 and 2011. Now the group is back, with a slightly different composition than the original, under the name Veulpoopers 3.0. But it doesn’t make the fiftieth birthday party any less festive.
