Paradiso (Amsterdam)

Paradiso is a Dutch music venue and cultural centre located in Amsterdam.

Paradiso
Location in Amsterdam
General information
Statusmusic venue
AddressWeteringschans 6-8, Amsterdam
Country Netherlands
Coordinates52°21′44″N 4°53′02″E
Opened30 March 1968
Other information
Seating capacity1,500 (main hall)
250 (upper floor stage)
Website
www.paradiso.nl

History
Weteringschans
The church windows of the Paradiso

It is housed in a converted former church building that dates from the nineteenth century and that was used until 1965 as the meeting hall for a liberal Dutch religious group known as the "Vrije Gemeente" (Free Congregation).[1] It is located on de Weteringschans, near the Leidseplein, one of the nightlife and tourism centers of the city. The main concert hall in the former church interior has high ceilings and two balcony rings overlooking the stage area, with three large illuminated church windows above the stage. The acoustics are rather echoey, but improvements have been made over the years. In addition to the main concert hall, there are two smaller cafe stages, on an upper floor and in the basement.

Paradiso was squatted by hippies in 1967 who wanted to convert the church to an entertainment and leisure club. The police ended the festivities the same year. In 1968, the city opened Paradiso as a publicly subsidized youth entertainment center. Along with the nearby Melkweg (Milky Way), it soon became synonymous with the hippie counterculture and the rock music of that era. It was one of the first locations in which the use and sale of soft drugs was tolerated. From the mid-1970s, Paradiso became increasingly associated with punk and new wave music, although it continued to program a wide variety of artists. Starting in the late 1980s, raves and themed dance parties became frequent.

In 1994, Paradiso, along with the Institute for Sonology and The ArtScience Interfaculty (Amsterdam), initiated Sonic Acts together. In recent years, the venue has settled into an eclectic range of programming, which, besides rock, can include lectures, plays, classical music, and crossover artists. Long associated with clouds of tobacco and hashish smoke, Paradiso banned smoking in its public areas (except for a small smoking room) in 2008 in accordance with a nationwide ban on smoking in public venues.

The acts
Poster on the side of the Paradiso

Artists who played at the Paradiso include AC/DC, Adele, Arcade Fire, Arctic Monkeys, Bad Brains, Beastie Boys, Beck, Björk, Blancmange,[2] Blondie, David Bowie,Joy Division, Herman Brood, James Brown, Jeff Buckley, John Cale, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Chemical Brothers, Chic, George Clinton, Coldplay, The Cure, Daft Punk, d'Angelo, Dead Kennedys, Deep Purple, Deftones, dEUS, Doe Maar, Duran Duran, Editors, Electrosexual, Eminem, Epica, Faith No More, Fishbone, Fiction Plane, Lady Gaga, Golden Earring,[3] Dexter Gordon, Herbert Grönemeyer, Guns N' Roses, Beth Hart, PJ Harvey, Billy Idol, Chris Isaak, Joe Jackson, The Jam, Jamiroquai, Joy Division, Kaizers Orchestra, Kayak, The Killers, Kraftwerk,[4] Lenny Kravitz, Dayna Kurtz, Fela Kuti, Lamb, Laibach, Live, Living Colour, Loudness, Mano Negra, Madness, Madonna, Dave Matthews, Curtis Mayfield, Metallica, Metropole Orkest, Marcus Miller, Motorpsycho, Youssou N’Dour, Willie Nelson, Nightwish, Nirvana,[5] NITS, Omar & the Howlers, The Only Ones, Pain of Salvation, Pearl Jam, Phish, Pink Floyd, The Police, Iggy Pop, Primus, Prince, The Proclaimers, Public Enemy, Rage Against the Machine, The Ramones, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The RH Factor, Riverside, The Rolling Stones, The Roots, Run DMC, Soft Machine, The Sex Pistols,[6] Patti Smith Group,[7] Smoosh, Snarky Puppy, The Sound, Esperanza Spalding, Sting, Ken Stringfellow, Supersister, Talking Heads,[8] Emilíana Torrini, Peter Tosh, Johnny Thunders, Tool, Tower of Power, U2, The Undertones,[9] Urban Dance Squad, Van Halen, Suzanne Vega, Vulfpeck, Westlife, Amy Winehouse, Link Wray, Zita Swoon and many more.

Glen Matlock played his last gig with the Sex Pistols at Paradiso on 7 January 1977 until the reunion in 1996.[10]

On 23 May 1968, Pink Floyd performed a concert at the club venue containing songs from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and A Saucerful of Secrets. The recording of "Interstellar Overdrive" can be found on the compilation album Cre/ation: The Early Years 1967–1972.

Cardiacs recorded their album Cardiacs Live at Paradiso on 15 May 1988.

David Bowie played in Paradiso in 1987, 1989 and 1997. The 1989 Tin Machine concert was recorded.

On 26–27 May 1995, The Rolling Stones played two semi-acoustic concerts at the Paradiso. Scalped tickets reportedly sold for many thousands of dollars. Recorded tracks from these concerts were released on the Stones' Stripped album later that year. Keith Richards said that the Paradiso concerts were the best live shows the Stones ever did.

Phish performed at the venue three times in 1997, one date in February and a two-night stand in July. In 2015, all three concerts were released in their entireties on the 8-CD box set Amsterdam.[11]

American rockband Live recorded their album Live at the Paradiso – Amsterdam at the venue in 2008.

  • Cansei de Ser Sexy performing in the main hall
  • Ayọ concert on September 13, 2007
  • Pink Floyd performing at the Paradiso on 23 May 1968.
  • Standing Ovation For Patti Smith - Gallery

Future

In the 1990s, the future of Paradiso became something of a political issue in Amsterdam, since there was some political resistance to the continuation of the subsidies that allowed the venue to operate in its central city location.[12] More recently, supporters have successfully argued that the Paradiso subsidy is reasonable in comparison with subsidies given to other performance venues.

References
  1. "Vrije Gemeente Amsterdam – Centrum voor vrije religie en levensbeschouwing". vrijegemeente.nl (in Dutch).
  2. Live and Loud! ~ Blancmange at the Paradiso Amsterdam 1983-April-09th
  3. "Paradiso". amsterdamsights.com. n.d. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
  4. Live and Loud! ~ Kraftwerk at the Paradiso Amsterdam 1976-September-11th
  5. Gulennur Boz, Nirvana Live At Paradiso 11/25/91 (Full), retrieved 23 January 2019
  6. SexPistolsArchives, Sex Pistols - Satellite - Paradiso - Amsterdam, 5th January 1977, retrieved 23 January 2019
  7. setlist.fm ~ Patti Smith Group at Paradiso, Amsterdam 1976-October-09th
  8. Live and Loud! ~ Talking Heads at Paradiso Amsterdam 1978-January-14th
  9. Live and Loud! ~ The Undertones at Paradiso Amsterdam, Netherlands 1980-March-15th
  10. "God Save The Sex Pistols - Day By Day: 1977 Part One". www.philjens.plus.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. "Phish To Release Amsterdam 1997 Box Set". JamBase. Retrieved 22 August 2020.
  12. "Brief met noodkreet bezorgd op Amsterdamse Stadhuis - Toekomst Paradiso is zorgwekkend". volkskrant.nl (in Dutch).

Further reading
  • Converted Churches. Tectum Publishers, Antwerp, Belgium 2007, 178-183. ISBN 978-90-76886-44-2

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