Gone again... to Groningen

Sitting near a window, I sleepily gazed out as we left Amsterdam on a Sunday afternoon. We were heading North via train on a two and a half hour trip to Groningen, for Verse iTal’s next gig. Normally I would have curled up and had a blissful nap but we had to change trains in half an hour. Besides, I thought, “When next would I have the opportunity to gaze out and see the Netherlands landscape roll by?”

We arrived to a cold and rainy Groningen and waited for DJ D-ONE, a Trini guy from the Herbalize it Sound System, and his girlfriend to meet us at the train station. While waiting, we marveled at the number of bicycles that had been left at the station. I don’t think I have ever seen that many bikes together in my life. All of them parked and chained outside the station as their owners probably went to some other town via train. When they arrived, our hosts informed us that this was a normal sight in this university town, as Groningen is known as the “World Cycling City”.  We also had a laugh about the pronunciation of the word Groningen, which entails a complex contortion (for most non Dutch persons) of the mouths’ muscles to produce the correct sound that will allow others to recognize the word. It took a while for the man at the train ticket booth to understand where we wanted to go. (It reminded me of when I lived in South Africa, I always had to spell the name of my apartment building, as the local people could not understand I was trying to say Bergzicht. “Oh.” They replied amused, “Bergzicht!”… Yes, that’s what I said.) 

After dropping our bags off at their apartment, we went out for a scrumptious dinner in a part of town that is usually bustling. Most people had the upcoming Monday off, as it was Easter weekend, so DJ D-ONE surmised that many people might have gone out of town. Due to this he didn’t know how many people would show up to the gig later. After dinner he showed us the venue, a two level nightclub called Rumba, which was located a few doors down from the restaurant. DJ D-ONE had to stay at the venue so Verse and I headed back to their apartment to relax and hang out with his girlfriend.

Soon after midnight we headed back to Rumba and a small line of people were waiting to go in.  I was surprised at the amount of people inside and the crowd (a mixture of ages) were all dancing and having a good time. At half past one Verse took the stage facing the largest crowd he had performed for in the Netherlands so far. A crowd, that seemed like more of a dancehall music loving group, than the people at the other venues he performed for in Amsterdam. He started off singing his new unreleased hit Never Hurt, then moved on to Nyquil, and Corrupted Boops. The crowd responded well, moving to his music and then giving him ‘bounces’ and chatting with him after the performance.

For the majority of the night we hung out upstairs as the first floor became packed! We did venture down stairs though to see a group perform who was well known in the Netherlands. Barely getting a space to stand, we watched as the crowd sang the group’s tunes word for word. Their music sounded like a mix between dancehall and rap. They sang in Dutch so the meaning was lost on us but most of the crowd seemed to enjoy it.  Later in the night, one of the DJ’s played a lot of new songs done on old school dancehall beats. This apparently is a big trend here. It really caught us off guard at first as when the beat would start we would think it was the old song and get excited at the prospect of hearing this classic and then we would quickly realize it in fact was someone new flowing on the old beat. I am not sure what I think about this new trend. I believe music should evolve, with people using new beats to sing to. At the same time, I do enjoy old songs done over with a twist or as a sample, but listening to a whole host of new musicians flowing on old beats in succession, with the exact beat as the original got dull after a while.

Heading home in the rain, we grabbed a bite to eat- two different types of falafel sandwiches that smelled delicious! At home we attacked the food, reminiscing on the nights events and laughing as I recalled spilling a drink all over a man. (I bought him a drink to make up for my mishap). The next day we didn’t get to see much of the town as the weather was so bad but we enjoyed our time at the gig and the hospitality of our wonderful hosts.

One of the bicycle parking facilities at the Groningen train station

One of the bicycle parking facilities at the Groningen train station

Verse iTal on stage at Rumba nightclub, Groningen

Verse iTal on stage at Rumba nightclub, Groningen

Verse iTal with DJ D-ONE from the Herbalize it Sound System

Posing with Verse at Rumba nightclub, Groningen

The first floor of the nightclub was packed

Waiting for our sandwiches after the performance

Two types of Falafel sandwiches, waiting to be eaten