PARKHOF NIGHT w/ WANDA’S + THE BATTLE OF PARKHOF (BOOK) + IS THERE MORE THAN THE STREET (FILM) + GW SOK (q/a)
Parkhof was a famous, infamous squat venue annex youth-center in the city of Alkmaar. Since the late 70s, for more than 25 years, it was the place to be for kids of all ages and backgrounds, fans of DIY culture and punk music. Like an OCCII avant-la-lettre. And yes, we know, Parkhof has ceased to be, a sign of the times alas, but the ideas and ideals are still alive.
Coincidence or not, but all of a sudden snippets from a punky underground past find their way to the surface and are out in the open again. So yeah, here’s a helluva tripple bill for ya not like any other.
Like, the viewing of the short experimental lowbudget? nobudget! movie “Is er meer dan de straat” (Is there more than the street), made on a shoestring by four young students in 1981, a visual final-year thesis about DIY and/in Parkhof… a movie that recently, after 45 years, attracted the attention of the renowned Rijksmuseum, to become part of its collection.
Like, the book launch of the new book “De slag om Parkhof” (The battle of Parkhof) by Marleen Kamminga en Bamber Delver, which tells the his&herstory of this music space that was so much more than just a place to hang out. Interviews with the people who lived there, who worked there, who played there, who visited concerts there, plus photo’s and posters. And a plea for more free space where the youngsters of now can be/become who they want to be.
Like, the concert by the recently resurrected feminist punk/rock band the Wanda’s, who were part of the Parkhof story from the very beginning, they actually ran the place, one might say. The band lasted about ten years, did a lot of gigs nationwide, made two albums, disappeared into oblivion, and since a year or so they’re back… Angry Old Women, ready to set your hearing (aids) to the test, ’cause Punk is stil Not Deaf.
