Melkweg

History

The building originally housed a sugar refinery built in the 19th century. In 1920, OVVV bought the factory and used it as a milk factory until it closed in 1969. The building was closed for a year, but reopened by Cor Schlösser and others as a cultural center, with its first event on July 17, 1970. It was only open for the summer; it featured a café, a restaurant and one hall for music and theatre. This was a success: Melkweg reopened in the summer of 1971 and 1972 before becoming a year-round venue in 1973. In the 1980s, it became more focused on live music. In 1985, a photo gallery opened. In 1995, The Max opened, first with a capacity of 1,000 people, expanded to 1,500 in 2007. By 2010, the venue was hosting 400,000 guests annually and was estimated to have hosted 9 million guests since it opened.

Notable events

• In October 1980, U2 played their first concert outside of Ireland and the United Kingdom at the Melkweg.
• In October 1981, The Grateful Dead played two unscheduled shows at the venue using borrowed instruments.
• Nirvana played at the venue in November 1989, before they were famous.
• In 1994, Rammstein, then an unknown newly formed band, played a show at the venue that was attended by 40 people.
• The live turntable mix of Tiësto's performance here on June 23, 2000, was recorded for his album Magik Six: Live in Amsterdam, a part of the Magik series.
• In 2011, Prince played a surprise show at the venue, with tickets going on sale one hour before the show started.

In popular culture

Songs referencing the Melkweg

• "Euro-Trash Girl" by Cracker
• "Infectious" by Lagwagon
• "Prag Vec at the Melkweg" by Half Man Half Biscuit
• "Under the Milky Way" by The Church

Albums recorded at the Melkweg

• Live from the Milky Way (1995) by Heather Nova
• Performance (1988) by Spacemen 3
• Magik Six: Live in Amsterdam (2000) by Tiësto
• Live at Melkweg (2001) by Frank Black and the Catholics
• Ana! Live in Amsterdam (2005) by Ana Popović
• L-1VE (2018) by Haken
• Melkweg (2019) by Jameszoo with Metropole Orkest

Halls

The venue has six halls:

• The Max (capacity: 1,500; opened in 1995, renovated in 2007), the largest room, hosts the biggest music acts and is also used for parties, meetings and film projections.
• The Old Hall (Oude Zaal) (capacity: 700) is the oldest concert hall of the venue, also the only one until the opening of "The Max" in 1995.
• The Rabo Hall (Rabozaal) (capacity: 1,400) is in a separate building and mostly hosts film projections or theater plays.
• The Theater Hall (Theaterzaal) (capacity: 90–130) is a small hall used for smaller artists and theatre plays.
• The Cinema (capacity: 90) is a private film projection hall.
• The Exhibition space (Expo) is used for art exhibitions.

References

References

1. (17 July 2020). "Van U2 tot Rammstein: voor veel bands was jarige Melkweg een springplank". [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]].
2. (25 July 2011). "Prince als verrassing in de Melkweg Amsterdam". [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting]].
3. (17 July 2010). "Poppodium Melkweg bestaat 40 jaar". [[NH (media company).
4. "Nirvana, Melkweg, Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 11/05/89".
5. Tiësto. "Magik 6".
6. "Melkweg - Jameszoo & Metropole Orkest (conducted by Jules Buckley)".