Doing it Dutch: Food, Fun, and Friends

As my mom's famous soup that I'm cooking for the band day-off-dinner tonight continues to stew on the stove, I decided I should probably update on the past two weeks between stirs of the pot. (When I say "famous," I mean that it's received rave reviews from multiple people outside the Morris family--she often cooks it for friends of mine, she cooked it for Barrage in October when we came through Mesa, and I once before prepared it for a potluck my roommates and I had at the Killington Music Festival. Definitely a Morris family specialty!)

To continue briefly with the cooking note, there's been quite a bit of it here these past two weeks, especially given that we have kitchens and stoves. Last Monday we had a 3-course potluck (for which I prepared appetizers, a brie-apples-and-other-stuff-on-crackers thing), and the other morning Charlie and I had what I like to call "Adventures in Cooking": attempting to prepare Dutch pannenkoeken with a box mix and instructions in a foreign language. As we were at the grocery store inquiring as to which oil to use in making the pannenkoeken, we discovered a secret to Dutch cooking. Instead of using oil, the Dutch use this creamy margarine-butter-concoction that's squirt-able...it kind of looks like yellow mayonnaise from one of those easy-squeeze containers. Not only were Charlie and I successful in preparing the pannenkoeken, but then we pulled out all the stops:

Half with apples, half with bananas and nutella. Covered with pannenkoeken syrup and powdered sugar (the usual Dutch pannenkoeken condiments)!

[As a sidenote, I just added the barley to the soup...but we couldn't find barley at the grocery store, so Dave and I opted for the next best thing, in our opinion: bulgur wheat. We'll know in an hour-and-a-half if that was a good second choice...]

It's been a really interesting experience living and performing here in the Netherlands (and Belgium), and performing for numerous audiences in the past two weeks has given us an interesting perspective on things. I plan on addressing the numerous mundane reasons I love the Dutch in another post later, but I want to discuss a few things about the arts in Dutch culture.

Thing 1.

Last week we went to the Concertgebouw, the Dutch equivalent to Carnegie Hall, and home of the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, named the top orchestra in the world by Gramophone Magazine in December 2008. It was pretty mind-blowing visiting such a venerated venue, and getting to hear a performance in it. Though we weren't able to hear the RCO, we did catch a concert by the Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra (the second best orchestra I've heard to date, the first being the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in NYC). They performed Dvorak's Cello Concerto with Marie-Elisabeth Hecker and Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring." Hecker, who is only 5 days younger than me and won the 8th Rostropovich Cello Competition at age 18 in 2005, was absolutely unbelievable--incredible technique and musicality, and absolutely captivating as a performer. I'd definitely recommend seeing her live if she's ever near you.

The original side of the Concertgebouw (on the right) was cased over with glass (on the left), and then they filled the space in between with a restaurant/cafe where we ate dinner before the concert.

Kristina & Tim enjoying pre-concert coffee and desserts.

A small group of us afterward in the lobby. (You may be thinking, "You guys wore that to the most important concert hall in the Netherlands?" Well, when you are only limited to 50 lbs of a suitcase, you can't exactly bring along dress clothes...)

In retrospect, I'm also really glad that we were all able to get seats at this performance. It was a Monday night, and it was a packed house. This little detail brings me to...

Thing 2.

[Soup update: the bulgur wheat looks to be substituting well for barley. Eating commences in T-minus 40 minutes.]

Sometimes Americans (and other peoples, for that matter) have it all wrong. The Dutch, however, have it all right. Let me break it down for you.

Concerts usually start at 8 or later. Why? Most venues have restaurants and bars attached to the lobby, so people will show up early, eat dinner, and relax pre-concert. Then, during intermission (usually about 20 minutes long), they all go back out to the bar for a free drink (usually included with the price of the ticket), and head back in the for the second half. After the performance, it's only about 10 p.m. Instead of leaving right before the concert is over or before an encore (as many Americans are apt to do when parking is an issue--and I freely admit that I've done this before), the Dutch take their time. They head to the bar, and continue hanging out with their friends. They don't take the pull-the-band-aid-off-faster-because-it's-more-painless approach to the arts; they don't come in at the last minute and leave a.s.a.p. so they can "beat the crowd." For the Dutch, going to the arts is not only a regular part of life (many venues have 5-6 shows a week, even in January, and each show will be a different act), but it's an all-encompassing social activity: food, fun, and friends. As a matter of fact, we have left the venue bar before many audience members most of our nights here.

I'm of the strong opinion that this is the sort of spin on the arts that Americans should/need to adopt. We need a stronger emphasis on the fact that going to the arts is an enjoyable, social activity.

(And sure, we could always have better parking facilities, but if a situation is created wherein people are not hurrying to leave, then traffic quickly becomes a non-issue.)

The fascinating catch to this way of life is that audiences who attend the arts frequently are smarter about the arts. Smarter audiences are more discerning. More discerning audiences are less likely to dig your act early on. Audiences less likely to dig your act early on truly make you work for their admiration.

This being said, every night has been a challenge. After our first couple numbers, many American audiences are already on-board; here, however, they're still skeptical. It takes quite a while to reel them in (rest assured: we eventually get them on our side!). It's somewhat refreshing, though very physically exhausting, having to necessarily work for it every night. I really enjoy the challenge, and the change of pace that it brings.

The other thing that's cool about this is that since they listen well, they seem to applaud for every song in a manner appropriate for that song. For example, after the more upbeat numbers, we hear more hoots and hollers. Alternatively, after slow ballads the applause is dense and very supportive, but also respectful of the aura created by slow songs. It's pretty cool to experience this type of smartly adjusted audience response.

[Update: I had to take a break on this post to go eat the soup at our day-off communal band dinner. Though less soupy than we would have preferred due to the unexpectedly extreme amount of liquid ultimately absorbed by the bulgur wheat, it was still really tasty! We finished one full pot and have most of another pot left for tomorrow's lunch. Thanks to my Mom, and also to my Grandma, who originally created the soup recipe--from scratch!]


So to round out this post, I've so enjoyed being here these past two weeks. The Dutch and the Belgians have not only been wonderful hosts (with incredible concert facilities to boot), but also just been such great audiences. It's fantastic being here.

I'll leave you with this video of an incredibly famous (and incredibly epic) Dutch pop tune we're covering in this tour, "Rood" by Marco Borsato. If we haven't snagged the audience before this point in our show, we get them when Hiddy, Tim & Kiana sing the chorus...in Dutch. (At which point, audiences wildly applaud and many begin to sing along.)

WARNING: you will probably find yourself humming the main theme hours after you watch...it's that catchy.