“Sometimes the line between madness and genius is thin, sometimes it does not exist at all. Enter TAPE TOY, four kooky nineties kids whose self-proclaimed bubble grunge sounds like Gwen Stefani but louder. Or Nirvana but happier. TAPE TOY conjure up perfectly rounded pop songs with heads and tails in which the difference between synthesizer melodies and guitar riffs can often not be told. TAPE TOY’s band members have mainly merged their divergent backgrounds in the untamed attitude that has quickly become the trademark of every TAPE TOY live show. Indeed, this is a band that immediately make you want to start one of your own. On stage, this four piece simply does what feels right: Roos, Wesley, Marc and Maurice perform with their amps set on what you see is what you get and are prone to accelerate from 0 to 100 in just about two seconds. Sure, they’ll spin off road from time to time, but TAPE TOY always manage to stick the landing before the last major chord dies away.” – Dirk Baart
PHOTO CREDIT: FENNA JENSMA
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“Concerto is great independent record store that has a wide variety in genres on CD and vinyl. Check out their amazing second hand vinyl section.” – Candy Dulfer
“Concerto is one of the biggest record stores with new and second hand vinyl. There also do small in-store acoustic concerts!” – EUT
“The best record store is Concerto – they sell all of our merch, too!” – Bartek
“Concerto is our favorite record store because Wesley, our guitarist, works there. Once in a while they have some live music in their store… mostly intimate, acoustic live sets. You can also go to Concerto for some nice coffee and cake!” – Tape Toy
“Dos is a very nice Spanish restaurant where you can order delicious tapas. They are known for their drink Aqua de Valencia. It is an amazing cocktail with lots of fruit!” – Tape Toy
“Our favorite activity would be going to live gigs to a venue like OT301 for example. It has the charm of an underground Berlin bar where you can discover some cool bands.” – Tape Toy
“Skatecafe is the place to go if you want a good night out with dancing, drinking and skating. This awesome cafe is located in Amsterdam Noord, quite far from the city center. Inside the cafe there’s a skate ramp which makes it very exciting.” – Tape Toy
“SKATECAFE in ‘Amsterdam Noord’ is our favorite local venue to see a show. They built a concrete pool dedicated to skaters, and have live bands performing in it. Ask for Colin – great guy.” – BARTEK
“Foam is a photography museum with lots of cool exhibitions.” – Tape Toy