BAROEG: Dik 40 Jaar – Keihard de alternatiefste

Tempelores has been around for over two decades by now and for those who have been following us in the earlier years will surely know that we have been at many shows in the venue called Baroeg. Baroeg was close to our earliest headquarters and thus we have often found ourselves there. Baroeg has been around much longer, for over 40 years by now. Quite some history we would say and since we share quite a bit of that history, we were more than happy to look at the book they made to highlight some of the finest moments of Baroeg, the nicest memories, the festivals and some hommage to the many volunteers who have been supporting the local metal scene in Rotterdam.

Metal is perhaps the most known from what Baroeg brings but actually we should probably use the word “alternative”. It is mentioned on the cover, “Keihard de alternatiefste” and it makes sense. We can remember the goth formations visiting, dancing the night away with EBM. Hocico, with their aggrotech is a show that I personally remember strongly. They also had a good selection of punk nights for example.

The book starts with a chapter about their history. Now that has started in a year your reviewer was yet in planning, so it interesting to learn a bit about this. Some newspaper clippings and flyers are added to give shape to the story of Baroeg’s birth. They tell you about the name of the venue, which comes from Baruch Spinoza, for those who don’t know, Baroeg’s location is at the Spinozaweg in Rotterdam.
The story continues telling a bit about the legendary concerts that took place in the venue. The Exploited in 1996, Rockbitch some years later… Macabre, which has a quote from their drummer included in the book. Now Macabre’s show in 2006 certainly has some memories for me as well as I was sent on my first paid assignment to photograph these guys.

The photo’s included show a lot of memories and the venue has organized a photo exhibition some years ago as well. So some of you may have seen it, we certainly visited it as well.

When the story through the years is told the book gives space to the volunteers. For without volunteers it is hard to keep Baroeg as it is. It is clear that a lot of friendships and deep connections were made in Baroeg and we can only second that. Reading their personal stories makes you realize that many of them are involved for long periods, many years so to say.

Baroeg also has set a couple of solid recurring events. We have visited plenty of those ourselves. Dutch Doom Days, Rotterdam Death Fest, Sathanas in Gloriam and of course Baroeg Open Air. The book has a long list of the events that took place through the years so if you want to look back at many of these that you may have visited, it is a good place to look up when these events were exactly and who was the support you saw there.

Altogether, this book shows the essence of Baroeg. A place where alternative people come together and connect. Where memories are made and new bands are discovered.

Now leaves us only one thing to do and have a few of our own favorite memories to highlight.

Tempelores owner Sabine van Gameren:

I literally lived 10 minutes away when I was younger. I have seen so many bands and last time when I was visiting Before The Dawn playing at Baroeg again they spoke about them having played their 6 times or so… and asked who was there at the first time. I realized… I have seen each of these shows…(often with Swallow The Sun)
Hocico as I mentioned before as well as Macabre are strongly in my mind as a memory, but also shows of Kampfar where we would sweat in a full crowd. Or what about the time I went to see Vader and a Polish guys with some extra kilos went wild and moshed almost everyone over. Result: bruised ribs and tough times breathing for a couple weeks. All for the love of metal!

I remember the Raunchy show, which I had interviewed just before the show and their story about asking for dogfood without them bringing a dog. They have been smoking quite something for their laughter about that was insanely long.

Or the Tiamat show… I got asked by their support to come over, a band of youngsters with a rock and roll glam lifestyle dream. I did this interview with the youngster who tried so hard to ‘shock’ me with their vulgar answers purely made for their rock star image rather than based on any sort of truth… but my mind was slightly diverted to the Tiamat soundcheck. I was not surprised to see them being less loved by the Baroeg visitors. Such a different act but came with the package. Tiamat… well they certainly had a great evening there.

If you are interested in owning a piece of Dutch Metal history, you can purchase a copy of this book on the website of Baroeg