AFAS Live (formerly known as the Heineken Music Hall) is a

concert hall A concert hall is a cultural building with a stage (theatre), stage that serves as a performance venue and an auditorium filled with seats. This list does not include other venues such as sports stadia, dramatic theatres or convention ...

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands, near the Johan Cruyff Arena. The big hall, named "Black Box" has a capacity of 6,000 and is 3000 m²; a smaller hall for after parties (Beat Box) has a capacity of 700. The venue opened in 2001 and was sponsored by

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...

until 2017. It attracts around 650,000 visitors per year.

History

The venue was specially designed for amplified music by architect Frits van Dongen of Architekten Cie. The building was constructed between 1996 and 2001, and cost €30 million. In March 2009, a concert by

The Killers The Killers are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Las Vegas, Nevada, in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After the band went through a number of short-term bas ...

had to be postponed until May because of a bomb threat at a nearby

IKEA IKEA ( , ) is a Multinational corporation, multinational conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in Sweden that designs and sells , household goods, and various related services. IKEA is owned and operated by a series of not-for-profit an ...

. In 2013, when

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

performed at the venue, he requested an all-white dressing room, including a deep pile white carpet that cost around €10,000. However, he went on stage directly from his car and did not set foot inside the dressing room once before leaving. On 16 September 2016, it was announced that the name will be changed to AFAS Live on 1 January 2017. It is named after the venue's partner and sponsor AFAS Software BV (the acronym stands for Applications for Administrative Solutions) a business software developer in

Leusden Leusden () is a municipality and a town in the Netherlands, in the province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. It is located about 3 kilometres southeast of Amersfoort. The western part of the municipality lies on the slopes of the Utrecht Hill Rid ...

, the Netherlands with 450 employees. The name AFAS Live is spelt out on the aluminum facade with 70,000 blue caps.

Events

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American Rock music, rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips (musician), Scott Phill ...

's ''Live from Amsterdam'' was recorded at the venue. The second concert featured in Within Temptation's live album ''Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live in Concert'' was also recorded at the venue. On 1 December 2012, AFAS Live (as Heineken Music Hall) hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2012. On 3 March 2018, 93-year-old

Charles Aznavour Charles Aznavour ( ; ; ; born Shahnur Vaghinak Aznavourian; 22 May 1924 – 1 October 2018) was a Armenians in France, French singer and songwriter of Armenian descent. Aznavour was known for his distinctive vibrato tenor voice: clear and ringi ...

became the oldest person to perform at AFAS Live, in what was one of his last concerts before his death in October. On 7 April 2019, AFAS Live hosted the first out of five promotional events for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), often known simply as Eurovision, is an international Music competition, song competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) among its members since 1956. Each participating broadcaster ...

. ''Eurovision in Concert'' featured 28 acts, most of which competed amongst the 41 in the Eurovision Song Contest 2019, in which the Netherlands went on to win. On 30 October 2024, the virtual software program Hatsune Miku gave a concert at AFAS Live.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Concert halls in Amsterdam Music venues in the Netherlands Amsterdam-Zuidoost Theatres completed in 2001 2001 establishments in the Netherlands Event venues established in 2001 Music venues completed in 2001