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ANNOUNCEMENTS•
The curtain has fallen for De Dijk: the band gave their last public concert tonight after 41 years, in a sold out Paradise in Amsterdam. Tomorrow they will play another concert for friends and family.
Singer Huub van der Lubbe announced in June in Volkskrant announced that the band would be closing this year. The other band members didn’t immediately agree, but that was it for Van der Lubbe. “It no longer offers the surprise that I used to get into music for. And I don’t want to repeat myself,” said the singer.
The band kicked off their farewell tour in September with five sold-out concerts at the Ziggo Dome. Performances in various pop venues followed, with the two concerts at Paradiso as a last farewell.
Van der Lubbe wants to do other things. “Everything was great, so it’s strange to say: Now I’ll see if there’s anything else in the pipeline for me. But I’ll do it anyway,” the 69-year-old singer said against de Volkskrant.
Hearing problems
He also mentioned hearing problems as a reason for stopping. Van der Lubbe has had tinnitus, or ringing in the ears, for years. Although he protects his ears during performances, he doesn’t like the idea of continuing to perform. “I often lie in bed at night thinking, oooh I think she’s gotten worse again. It’s agony that I don’t want anymore.”
De Dijk, named after the Amsterdam Zeedijk, has been around since 1981. Van der Lubbe started the band with his brother Hans, who plays bass. Other permanent members are drummer Antonie Broek, guitarist Nico Arzbach and guitarist and keyboardist Pim Kops.
The band has won the Gouden Harp (1993) and the Edison Oeuvre Prize (2005), among others. Dancing on the volcano when she’s not there in The lights can be turned off are the big hits of the band. The band is also well represented each year in the Top 2000. This year there are as many as fifteen De Dijk songs on the list, all in a higher position than last year. Nobody in town it is the highest number on the chart, at 155.
