Paradiso (Amsterdam)



Paradiso is a music venue and cultural center located in Amsterdam, Netherlands.

History


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). 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 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


Artists who have recorded or filmed concerts at the Paradiso include Adele, The Killers, The Rolling Stones, Joy Division, Johnny Thunders, Chic, Joe Jackson, Chris Isaak, Kaizers Orchestra, Duran Duran, Willie Nelson, Dexter Gordon, Phish, Arcade Fire, Nightwish, Bad Brains, Kayak, Loudness, Nirvana, John Cale, The Cure, Soft Machine, Emilíana Torrini, Jalebee Cartel, Link Wray, Lenny Kravitz, Omar & the Howlers, The Only Ones, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Electrosexual, Beth Hart, Dayna Kurtz, Dave Matthews, Smoosh, Suzanne Vega, Amy Winehouse, Milow, Fiction Plane, Epica, Editors, Motorpsycho, Pain of Salvation, Deftones, Riverside, Lamb, Live, NITS, Jamiroquai, Live and The Roots.

Glen Matlock played his last gig with The Sex Pistols at the Paradiso.

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.

Other acts who played in Paradiso include Adele, Arctic Monkeys, Autechre, Bad Religion, The Bangles, David Bowie, Goran Bregovic, James Brown, Burning Spear, Captain Beefheart, Herman Brood, Eric Burdon, Camel, Tracy Chapman, Cocteau Twins, Coldplay, Curve, D'Angelo, Daft Punk, Deafheaven, Bo Diddley & Offspring, De Dijk, Doe Maar, Eels, Caro Emerald, Europe, Faith No More, Faithless, Fishbone, The Fixx, Florence and the Machine, Foals, Foo Fighters, Fugazi, Lady Gaga, Rory Gallagher, Garbage, The Gathering, Golden Earring, Goldfrapp, Dexter Gordon, Guns N' Roses, Nina Hagen, Human League, Billy Idol, The Jam, De Jeugd van Tegenwoordig, Dr. John, Grace Jones, Kamelot, Keane, Ke$ha, Khaled, Kraftwerk, Adam Lambert, Level 42, Curtis Mayfield, Metallica, MF Doom, J. R. Monterose, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Heather Nova, OFWGKTA, Orbital, Ozric Tentacles, George Clinton and Parliament-Funkadelic, Pearl Jam, Pentatonix, Phish, Pink Floyd, Plaid, The Police, Porcupine Tree, The Pretty Things, Primus, Prince, Lana Del Rey, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Ramones, The Real McKenzies, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bruce Robison, Rollins Band, Todd Rundgren, Scorpions, Simple Minds, Patti Smith, Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes, Steppenwolf, Stereophonics, Supersister, Talking Heads, Tenacious D, Thirty Seconds to Mars, Tool, Emilíana Torrini, Tower of Power, The Tragically Hip, Twin Peaks, U2, UB40, Underworld, Urban Dance Squad, Van Halen, The Velvet Underground, Robbie Williams, Kelly Willis, Within Temptation, Patrick Wolf, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Frank Zappa and Måns Zelmerlöw.

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. More recently, supporters have successfully argued that the Paradiso subsidy is reasonable in comparison with subsidies given to other performance venues.