Name: Beans & Fatback | BIRD
Start: 2025-11-29T20:30:00+01:00
Location: Raampoortstraat 26, 3032 AH Rotterdam, Netherlands

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After ten years, Beans & Fatback is back, and how! On Saturday November 29, the Amsterdam band will be at BIRD with their sizzling mix of rock 'n roll and garage rock.

With their new album Hold Fast, frontmen Onno Smit and Paul Willemsen return to the frontlines of the underground. Think: the gritty grooves of Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, the attitude of the New York Dolls, the recklessness of Eagles of Death Metal, and the poetic fringes of Lou Reed. The record is an unpolished ode to the post-punk scene of late 1970s New York - grim, thrilling, and uncompromising.
Their inspiration? They found it in the book Taxi, Journey Through My Windows by Brooklyn taxi driver and photographer Joseph Rodriguez. Between 1977 and 1987, he captured the raw street life of New York from his taxi, one of those photos now graces the album cover.
But make no mistake: Hold Fast is not a soundtrack for a sultry campfire evening. This album is a wild ride, a sonic storm of sultry vocals, gritty guitars, and pounding drums. A musical adrenaline kick about temptation, loss, and holding on to what you really find important.
As Onno himself says:
“Hold Fast is a nautical term for 'hold on.' When everything around you collapses and the storm rages, that's your anchor. To your dreams, your principles, your humanity.”
After previous successes with With Skin Attached and Heroine Lovestruck (with tracks appearing more than 50 times in American series, films, and commercials), Hold Fast is the long-awaited, uncompromising follow-up. Onno Smit and Paul Willemsen have been a golden tandem for over 20 years - in Beans & Fatback, but also in Lefties Soul Connection, Michelle David & The True-tones, and the New Amsterdam Rhythm Band.