PODIUM HARDENBERG
 
 
In the last couple of years, the Podium venue at Hardenberg in the eastern part of the Netherlands has become a serious player as far as getting rock and metal shows together is concerned. 
No less than for instance Megadeth, Rob Halford, DIO, Soulfly, Annihilator, Yngwie Malmsteen, Saxon, Venom and Bruce Dickinson have already played on the Podium stage. Not bad, huh? 
The man responsible for all this firework is Herman Potgieter. REZ drove down to Hardenberg to take a closer look at the Podium, the recently opened bar The Troubadour and of course owner Herman himself…
 

Hi Herman. When and how did things get started with the Podium venue?

I was the owner of a small bar called "De Stam" down here in Hardenberg since 1995. We started organising bands every now and then and things went pretty okay. By 1998 I decided to build a huge venue next to the bar together with a compagnon. We called it the Podium. Since then we've been doing allright and I believe the Podium has become quite a well-known venue already. 


What else have you been doing before you started running the Podium?

Well, I was born on the 5th of May 1963, haha. In case you wanted to know that?! I think I'm what they call a self made local promotor. Up until 1991 I was the owner of my own bar. In 1992 I was asked to be the DJ in a rockbar called "De Stam" and three years later I was managing the place. Another three years I started booking bands for the Podium being the co-owner.


Can you give us some technical details about the Podium venue?

Our maximum capacity is 900 people. 
The stage is 13 x 8 x 1,6 m. 
The clearance (hight) is 5 m. 
We have our own PA system hung up, the Meyer Sound (MSL 3) with a capacity of 20.000 Watts. 
Also the lights on stage are our own, it's about 100 KW of PAR's, spots, Golden Scans, Martin Destroyers, Strobes & blinders. 
We have two soundtables (Midas & Crest - forty channels), ten monitors, forty microphons, amplifiers and a Avolight Pearl 2000 lighttable. 
With this kind of professional equipment we can almost do every show without having to get some extra stuff from others. Both the bands and the visitors are satisfied with what we supply them with.


We're planning to restyle the entire venue this year. We'll get rid of all the wood and head for a more industrial look. I want to built a biker bar right at the spot where at this moment the shoarma bar is located. Besides that we also want to do more in the disco classics parties. Ski-hut parties and stuff like that. More into dance and no more house. Another plan is to built an extra venue next to the current Podium with a capacity of 1.500-2.000 people. This way we can book more popular bands and organise more in the dance-area. 

Besides doing rock and metal shows, the Podium is so much more…

 Yes, that's correct. Every Saturday night the Podium is the place to go to for a very diverse audience. We have house and dance music in our dancing alongside doing rock and metal gigs in the large hall. There's party music in "De Stam" and pop music in the newly opened bar "De Oase". We have a grillroom and snackbar if you want to eat something. In fact, the Podium is a multi-venue for each and everyone of us. We're also doing parties for schools and stuff. You name it, we've got it!


Please tell us a bit more about how you booked a band like for instance Venom. How does this work?

 Most of the time, bookers call or e-mail me if they want their band to play the Podium. If I think it is interesting, we negotiate about the date, number of shows in The Netherlands, the amount of visitors I expect to show up and ticketprices. Taking all this into consideration, I decide whether to book this band or not. With Venom it also worked this way. Sometimes I'll approach a management myself, if I know a certain cool band will tour our country. Throughout the years, the Podium has become a well-known and appriciated venue which makes it easier to book bands.


What's the situation with the Podium as far as the financial side of the business is concerned? Is it profitable already? 

Being one of the few venues in our country working without any kind of financial support from the government, the Podium is purely a commercial company owned by two people. We simply have to make money, otherwise we're forced to close our doors. Doing all these rock and metal shows costs so much money. You have to pay the band, hotels, equipment, catering, promotion etcetera. 

We can't run this place by doing these shows alone so that's why we have the dancing, the other bars etcetera to make some money. We're lucky to have a succesful Saturday night overhere with a lot of people coming to our Podium, so the concerts we do are a bit of an extra to us. You could say we give the people entertainment with a high rock'n'roll level! Throughout the years The Podium has become quite a business with some 140 people on the pay-role. We got 12 full-time employees, the rest are part-timers. 


 

Herman, would you be prepared to tell us some juicy details about some of the artists who have played here?

We won't tell you any juicy details, the Podium doesn't work that way. Allthough we are able to write a pretty interesting book already, haha. We had a weird experience when Glenn Danzig played here. He had someone of his crew checking out the place in search for possible explosives. Huh? Danzig didn't go anywhere without his personal bodyguard and didn't want anyone but himself to do the monitormix on stage. Taking pictures was forbidden as well. He acted like a number 1 asshole. But most of the time -especially with the good old rockartists- it's very pleasant co-operating with our guests. They just want to give the audience what they deserve and are very easy going. Too bad it's more and more about the money nowadays. 

The Podium was and still is a huge succes. November last year you opened another place called The Troubadour. 



It's more a bar than a venue for huge live acts, also situated in Hardenberg. 
Can you tell us a bit more about this new adventure?
 
With The Troubadour we got ourselves a very classy bar, located at the river De Vecht. The view is fantastic. We tried to give this bar a very adult and classy atmosphere yet casual at the same time. On a Sunday afternoon we can get jazz artists to play in front of 30+ years old people and at a Friday or Saturday night rocking acts like The Bintangs, Jan Akkerman, Venice or Jan Rijbroek come to The Troubadour to entertain an audience from 20+ years old. In the first few months that we're opened now the interest in our bar has been overwhelming, so we're very happy. Please take a look at our website for more information: www.de-troubadour.nl

Herman, thanks very much for your time. What's your ultimate goal with The Podium and The Troubadour?
 
 I hope that The Podium becomes a steady and inviting place in the rock and metal scene in our country. People shouldn't always have to go to Amsterdam or Rotterdam to see great bands, we can also do this in the eastern part of The Netherlands. I recently read a Dutch newspaper with a poll on 20 favourite Dutch clubs organising pop and rock music in general and The Podium was also mentioned. This while beeing the only one without any support from the government. This makes me feel very proud and confident that we're on the right way.


(Review: Johan Godschalk, 
Pics: Marcia Gransbergen)

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