I’ve barely raised the topic of the great Dutch band Nits on this blog in the nearly 15 years we’ve been frantically hitting the keyboard. Last year when I found out about the NIT50 show we attended April 13th, 2024, was probably the first time I’d written about the band in inverse proportion to the ubiquity of them on our weekend playlists. But all of that is changing today.
A year of planning and work reached its culmination a few weeks ago with our trip to Europe, primarily, to see this band celebrate 50 years of existence with a show at the Royal Theatre Carré in Amsterdam. This travel, for once, accounted for the lack of posting here on PPM for the last three weeks. While boring for any readers here, it was a relief for me, since most of my days without postings this year have come down to very long work hours taking precedence over blogging.
The other delights of the show, beyond our attendance, was the good fellowship to be had in Amsterdam that performance. Firstly, my oldest friend [and frequent poster here] chasinvictoria was also taking the leap to fly over from Canada for the event as we had been admirers of the band for the bulk of their 50 year history. Then there was the attendance of my friends Gavin and Chris whom I met through this blog and had 10 years of friendship with; albeit of a remote nature with email and video conferencing being the crux of our social interaction.
Gavin’s cousin lived in Amsterdam and also richly endorsed the group to him, so he made plans to attend after dipping his toe in the sea of Nits CDs and liking what he’d heard. Since my wife had bought two sets of tickets, owing to indecision as to where she’d prefer to sit in the venue, we gave our redundant set to Gavin and Chris. The evening would not only be a much, much anticipated concert [we’d been pining for a Nits show for over 20 years] but also an evening out with friends we’d yet to meet in person.
We arrived at the venue and set about trying to find the rest of the company and I saw Chris in the hallways and we quickly got our group together immediately afterward. It was gratifying to finally see Chris and Gavin in the flesh after so long as “digital friends.” We conferred and then went to the merch table. I had to get a tour shirt, and also saw that Henk Hofstede’s new art book, “Iceberg” had been printed and released. I’d read about this on the Nits website earlier this year. It’s 9000 still photos documenting the band’s video production so that was a mandatory purchase.
The t-shirt I went for was a the grey shirt with row of Nits icons across the chest. With a nod towards their new “Tree House Fire.” EP. Then there were sets of Nits bonbons for sale that we had to have since we’ve never seen branded candy at any merch table ever before!
Then I rejoined my wife who asked me what I’d bought and expressed surprise that I’d not gotten multiple shirts. Also that I’d only gotten one package of bonbons. So I went back for a double dip. I was impressed with the packaging of the T-shirts in heavy-duty kraft paper envelopes with the size and art design on a sticker. Perfect for shipment to buyers in their web store, but also very considerate for fans in the venue for the show. Why don’t all bands do this?
Sufficiently merched up, we retreated to our seats and awaited the show, which was ready to begin shortly. The theatre was filling up and there were prominent projections in the hall admonishing neither photos nor phones during the performance. So I only took photos of the stage before performance, so we’ll be seeing those when we continue tomorrow as we’re all out of time for today.
Next: …The Main Event
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Post-Punk Monk 
Great to read. I was there also and enjoyed the show so much that halfway I ordered tickets for the Sunday afternoon show in Heiloo, just naar my village, in november.
I took quite some pics during the show.
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rissanc180113e84 – Welcome to the comments! How fortunate that you have a show nearby where you live later this year. My wife wondered why we didn’t also buy tickets for the show on the 14th as well. Mostly, it was down to me not knowing they added a second show!
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Yes, it was truly wonderful to spend time in one of my favourite parts of the world with equal parts new friends and long-time loved ones. To finally see this band after decades of admiration was a little bittersweet without the person of Ron Kane — who sent us the video for “Mask” which cemented my Nits admiration into solid fandom — but he was certainly there in spirit.
Mr and Mrs Monk I had seen just last summer for a memorable Jerry Harrison concert (documented here), but as with any long-cherished friendship it is always such a pleasure to share another adventure with them again.
That said, it was a delightful bonus to meet and spend some time with Gavin and Chris, previously best known to me from the comments here. As you might expect of fellow PPM devotees, the camaraderie was instantaneous.
As for the show itself, the band refuses to let the tragedy of the Werf studio fire get them down, just as they likewise refuse to sugarcoat it. Life includes loss, and its how you deal with that fact that colours your own journey. Nits made art out of it, as that’s kinda what they do.
The trio of Stips, Hofstead, and Klöet are simply amazing, with Rob in particular something miraculous to behold live — there’s simply no more artistic drummer/percussionist alive today. Although the band are no longer known for the kind of energetic numbers like “The Young Reporter” which first attracted me to them, there was a youthful energy in the joy of the band playing together.
I tried to avoid going into the concert with “must hears” in my head, and I’m glad I did — because as it turned out there were two of my most-loved of their songs that were on the setlist for the Carré show but substituted when the band played: “Bike In Head” was tossed for the equally delightful “Touch of Henry Moore,” and the exquisite “Fire in My Head” — a minimalist masterpiece — was replaced with “Eiffel Tower” and “Ivory Boy,” the latter of which is a worthy substitute.
This wasn’t my first trip to Amsterdam — and a particularly emotional moment came when I found myself, by coincidence, standing in the exact spot I had stood on the grassy stretch in front of the Rijksmuseum, with flashbacks to my very first visits in my wild and woolly 20s — how similar my surroundings were from back then, and how different I am now.
Lots of great moments, relaxing time on trains, seeing famous paintings (classic and modern) in person, and the occasional bit of broken Dutch inflicted on the locals. It was very good to be back, and while the weather was often cloudy the beauty of Amsterdam was largely unchanged — just a bit more crowded — than my recollections from my previous visits. I always like being near the water, so a city full of canals is always going to keep me in a good mood.
This particular journey included a few days in my beloved Reykjavik (with bonus volcano!) and brief stops in Paris and Brussels. The whole thing was mostly pretty heavenly, but it is the joy of being in a great place with great friends to see a great band that I have adored for so long that I will remember the most.
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