It’s the Patronage’s birthday. The Haarlem pop temple celebrated its 40th anniversary on Sunday with a special tour and various performances in unexpected places.
A large arch of red, black and white balloons decorates the entrance to the Patronaat. There is a huge sticker on the entrance door for the trucks and tour buses, showing that the music venue is already forty years old. Coffee and pastries are already waiting for visitors inside. And none other than general director Jolanda Beyer provides the first tour of the day.
Behind the scenes
The tour takes us to places that a normal visitor would not easily see. In this way we learn how difficult it can be for the drivers to direct the trucks with instruments and equipment of the visiting bands to the right place. “The last time De Dijk performed here, the driver accidentally knocked over a whole row of lockers,” Beyer laughs. “Funnily enough, he couldn’t remember anything about it afterwards.”
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Beyer also discusses the history of the Patronage in detail. The old building on the Zijlsingel was a Catholic boys’ school for a long time. In 1984, Rob Haverkamp, Sjef Huurdeman and Jan Reijners moved into the school gym and turned it into a music venue on behalf of the Zuid-Kennemerland Pop Music Foundation.
New construction
Construction of the current building started about 20 years ago. With the new building, the Patronaat grew into one of the ten most important music venues in the Netherlands, with four halls, rehearsal rooms and around 130,000 visitors per year.
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We climb a staircase towards the changing rooms. We see special drawings on the otherwise bare concrete walls. “The building is actually a box within a box,” Beyer explains. “To prevent noise pollution, the walls are even supported by shock absorbers. When they are jumping and dancing in the large hall, the dampers ensure that the entire hall sways a little.”
The general manager’s favorite spot is the DJ spot on the side of the main hall. “This is where I prefer to be during concerts. You can see both the stage and the hall. It really is the best place, in my opinion.”
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We end up on the stage of that same large hall. It’s strange how small the empty space seems when no instruments are set up and all the technology is clearly visible. The large columns with speakers and the hundreds of lamps on the ceiling are extra noticeable. “When I first started as director, I had to sign an invoice for some of the lighting,” says Beyer. “That was immediately an amount of around 180,000 euros. That was something to swallow.”
The technical installation is therefore the cream of the crop, according to Beyer. “Bands must feel completely at home here and the sound in the hall and on stage must of course be good. Then they will come back with pleasure. We try to pamper the artists as much as possible. They can shower here, for example, but also do their laundry.”
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After admiring the view from the toilets of the center of Haarlem and seeing the small exhibition space, we arrive back at the changing rooms. Eva Bos’ performance has now started there.
Peeking at the neighbors
This Sunday the Patronaat is also part of Peeking at the Buren. A series of living room concerts in Haarlem and Bloemendaal, among others. Eva plays beautiful Dutch indie pop. Her debut album will soon be released, on which Bos can be heard with a complete band.
On this Sunday it is a smaller-scale setting, with only vocals, guitar and bass. The audience listens breathlessly and does their best to sing along to the chorus of the song ‘Feelings’, which can already be found on the well-known streaming services.
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Peeking at the Buren has now grown into an amateur arts festival, which is held twice a year. A total of 44 Dutch municipalities are participating this year. In winter the performances are in living rooms, in summer in gardens. All acts perform three times for half an hour.
In Haarlem and Bloemendaal, dozens of local artists showed their best side again on Sunday.
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