Van Dik Hout

4+ (group) performers

Indoor and outdoor

Band , Well known artists

1 hour

Available upon request.

NL, EN

AL for over 30 years, 1 of the best bands on Dutch soil! A performance of Van Dik Hout guarantees a successful event!

For thirty years now, the band Van Dik Hout has been at the top of the charts with their pure rock and heartfelt lyrics. Back then, they sparked a boom in Dutch-language music with “Stil in mij,” and even today, Van Dik Hout remains a defining force in Dutch pop. On their new album, they’re collaborating with a host of artists, including Ellen ten Damme and Acda en de Munnik.

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It’s been thirty years since Van Dik Hout stormed the Dutch charts with their timeless classic “Stil in mij.” Four of them—Martin, Sandro Assorgia (guitar), Dave Rensmaag (guitar), and Ben Kribben (bass)—met at the Nieuwediep Public School Complex, where they started a band in 1985. Drummer Louis de Wit (from Johannes College) joined them later. Five daring young men with North Holland swagger. They share a warm, pulsing rock heart and a love for a raw guitar sound. Pearl Jam, Neil Young, the Stones, and the Black Crowes form their frame of reference. They’re part of the Nirvana generation and spice up their rock with grunge. Martin and Sandro wrote their first Dutch-language songs together amid pizza boxes and Parmesan cheese in a room they called the “rock den,” upstairs at Sandro’s parents’ pizzeria, Costa Smeralda. Martin: “I can express myself best in Dutch.” At that time, Dutch-language rock was by no means a given.

The single “Stil in Mij”—released on May 5, 1994—has racked up nearly 40 million streams on Spotify today, but initially didn’t make a splash at all upon its release. It wasn’t until Wim Rigter and Frits Spits started playing “Stil in Mij” that several other radio stations followed suit. Veronica booked Van Dik Hout for their Hollands Hits Festival. Suddenly, 30,000 people were there belting out “Stil In Mij” together. The summer of 1994 was the summer of “Stil In Mij.” Around the turn of the century, 3FM listeners voted the song the best Dutch-language single of all time. Van Dik Hout’s debut album quickly went platinum, with nearly 200,000 copies sold. In 1999, Van Dik Hout teamed up with Acda & Munnik to form the special project De Poema’s. Together, they scored the hits “Mijn Houten Hart” and “Zij Maakt Het Verschil” (No. 1) and sold out the Heineken Music Hall four times.

For three decades, Van Dik Hout has been a household name in Dutch pop culture. They’ve won numerous prizes and awards, including an Edison (Best National Pop Group), a Gouden Hap, and three “Best Rock Group” awards as voted by the readers of Hitkrant. They won a TMF Award five years in a row for Best Domestic Rock Group. They also once had a pet canary named Dikkie, who died shortly after the release of their third album, *Kopstoot Van Een Vlinder*. In 2002, they performed at the Arena during the wedding concert for Máxima and Willem-Alexander. Their consistently sold-out shows at Paradiso around New Year’s have since become a legendary annual ritual. They’re proud of their festival reputation and perform at all the major festivals: Noorderslag, Parkpop, Lowlands, etc. They’ll never forget their first time at Pinkpop in 1995. Martin: “We were thrown onto such a big stage as greenhorns, and all our nerves and bravado came together.” Another festival highlight: performing at Concert At Sea in 2018. Sandro: “A huge triumph—it gave us an inspiring boost.” Three years later, their drummer at the time, Oscar Kraal, passed away. They beautifully channeled their emotions about this into the song “Op De Golven Dansen Wij,” which inspired Frits Spits to use it as the title of his recent book. Van Dik Hout considers it a special privilege and looks forward to not letting “Thirty Years of Silence Within Me” pass quietly, but to celebrate it exuberantly and with loud rock music alongside their fans on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at AFAS LIVE in Amsterdam—and long after that.

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