Seen Live: BLØF at Ziggo Dome

This year, BLØF exists twenty years. To mark that occasion, there was a biography, a new best-of album, and, to top it off, a big show.

And when I say big, I mean big. It was at the new Ziggo Dome venue in Amsterdam, which was sold out. That’s 17,000 people. The production and light show was big, the sound was big, the set list was big: all singles, all the way.

Even when they played some songs acoustically on a smaller stage in the middle of the hall, it was big. They played their first two hits in that section, and the response was among the loudest I heard that night. Seemed to me that only Wat zou je doen got a bigger one. If you ask me, their later work is much better, but either I’m in the minority there, or something else happened.

The show also included a nice tribute to Chris Götte, their drummer who died in a motor accident: they played the song Ze is er niet backed by a video recording of Chris.

All in all, good show, great times. Still, all those singles left me hungry for the lesser known material. But they can play those in Paradiso next month.

The only thing I wasn’t too big on was the availability of leg space up on the first ring. While I had a perfect seat—when I decided to get a ticket. general admission was already sold out—right in the middle opposite the stage, I had my usual hard time of leaving my legs anywhere, resulting in a nice cramp halfway through. It’s a shame: you build a new venue, but you forget to remember that we the Dutch are, on average, taller than everyone else, so we might require a bit more room to put or long legs in. But other than that: it seems like an excellent place. Next year, when I’m seeing Iron Maiden there, I won’t have that problem.

Seen live
BLØF at Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam on November 3rd, 2012
Set list
Later als ik groter ben / Beter / Mens / Harder dan ik hebben kan / Dichterbij dan ooit / Mooie dag / Meer kan het niet zijn / Donker hart / Aanzoek zonder ringen / Hou vol hou vast // B-stage acoustic: Oktober / Aan de kust / Liefs uit Londen // Zo stil / Ze is er niet / Omarm / Alles is liefde / Was je maar hier / Blauwe ruis / Meer van jou // Een manier om thuis te komen / Zaterdag / Wat zou je doen / Holiday in Spain / Hier // B-stage: Dansen aan zee