Very Venice
Full of surprise, I enter Mauritshof. What a cacophony! Venice, the popular Californian band, is doing a sound check. The room is full of people talking at the top of their voices already. This is not possible, or is it? Four years have passed since Jan Douwe Kroeske brought this veteran band under the attention of the Dutch audience in his show Twee Meter Sessies. In no other country, Venice has achieved the idol status they have in the Netherlands. Wherever they play, the show is sure to be sold out. But the connection between band and fans goes deeper than that. More and more people consider Pat, Michael Kipp and Mark to be their friends. Everybody feels welcomed by the band, even during this sound check, where Kipp tries to determine the right distance to the microphone. Here, in Hoogeveen they handle it well enough. All talking stops when the band rehearses 'Starting Here Again." Everybody is watching the band and you hear most people sing along softly. So far, the hall is only half full but already you can feel the warmth that will only grow during the evening. Nicky Moeken, dressed in his camouflage outfit, bought a machete, rented a four-wheel drive and headed up North.
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