Kick ass weekend in Amsterdam

Richart's Expo

TWO events worth seeing in Amsterdam last weekend.  Richart Pintura’s     exhibition at the Jam Studios Amsterdam (Haarlemmerweg 315) on 21^st of April – Saturday, followed by Reef The Lost Cauze's live performance at   Akhnaton (Nieuwezijds Kolk 25) on 22^nd of April – Sunday.

Richart's expo (video underneath) opened no later than 7 p.m. on Saturday. And though mistaken on the flyer, it looked like people had no problem finding the street number. Pintura's perspective on pop icons, political figures and historical symbols in general, expressed through his spray painting techniques, turned inspiring enough for Chico P. Monev (drums) and Lazar Stoychev (turntables) who jammed the brains out of it.

Johnny Cash, Barack Obama, Mahatma Gandhi,      Louis Armstrong, Bob Marley, John Kennedy and Elvis Presley were just few of the portraits presented at the Jam Studios. The entire exhibition, piece by piece, you can check on Richart's blog. All the photos and footage from that night you can find on Wanderworm's facebook page. Pics you can check here and here. To see more videos click here. This article continues, giving you some details on Reef's show at the Akhnaton, right after Camilla Ericsson's photo coverage... 

Reef the Lost Cauze (born Sharif T. Lacey in 1982) is a prominent underground hip hop artist based in Philadelphia. He became well known on the underground circuit towards the late 90s and more so in the early 2000's, making his mark by winning many battle competitions within New York and interstate and displaying rare skills of what many called true MCing. Releasing the 'The High Live' album in 2001, Cauze moved on by teaming up with his past partners and friends and released 'The Invisible Empire' in 2003 to much critical acclaim and thus establishing his name among many circles and hip hop heads, as well as the underground. 'Feast or Famine' was released in 2005 again to positive critical reception, as well as his side project 'The Torture Papers' being part of Army of the Pharaohs in 2006 (info: wikipedia)

The show on 22nd was presented by Prix'd the Ami Coffee-Shop Coffee-shop,starting at 11 p.m.  Ticket was 10 Euro, but ladies could enter free with the flyer above. This event, as well as numerous other shows, taking place in Amsterdam, is all due to Sandy Karlsson who is bringing some of the world's most favorite hip hop artists in town for quite a long time. And for that, we thank her.

Ground up (photo on the left) was the band to warm up the crowd. You can check how they did it, clicking on the video below. And for those of you who don't know them (Neither did I), check out the info paragraph underneath the video.

GROUND UP first started taking shape in the summer of 2008 at Temple University's Freshman Orientation in North Philadelphia. It was her that Ground Up's two MCs Azar and Malakai met. It wasn't long before they realizing they shared an affinity for expressing themslefs via spoken and written word

As the Fall semester arrived, the two wordsmiths found themselfs creating tracks on campus. They soon called on Ground Up's exlusive produser and Bij Lincs who completed the head-nodding trifecta. (info: Ground Up's website)  

Reef started his performance right after Ground Up got off the stage. The place was packed for his opening and it stayed that way to the end. Reef's appearance you can check underneath. To see more of what he did that night go here and here

Besides the gig at Akhnaton, Reef tha Lost Cauze also made one exclusive performance at the Prix'd Ami coffee-shop earlier that day (video below).

video: Thirsty Dogg 

If you are wondering what to do this weekend, you can start  now and catch the night at the Thirsty Dogg

If you feel like crashing the party you might prefer OT301's Friday event. More info here: OT301. And by all means try to catch POWER VS POWER tomorrow night, again at the OT301

Don't miss my next performance in LONDON on 3rd of May. More info you can find on the blog. And also  here. The show starts at 21:30 - Etcetera Theatre Camden. Book your seat here. 

Last, but not least, check out my premiere shows of 'Here we are' by Dorothy Parker. Doing my debut as a director, I'll perform together with Greek actress Eirini Kariotaki at the OT301 cinema on 19th of June, and the Nieuwe Anita on 17th and 24th of June. 

Catch the Worm in London on 3rd of May!

"Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll"

Now going monthly at Etcetera Camden Theatre - London
Next Show: May 3 - 9:30 p.m. - ticket: 9 pounds (5 pounds concession)
Book here: Etcetera or call 020 7482 4857
For more info go to facebook

SEX, Drugs, Rock and Roll, performed by Georgi Daverov, first toddled in the beginning of September, 2010. The official premiere took place in Theatre laboratory Sfumato where it appeared monthly throughout the season, constantly touring around Bulgaria.

In September, 2011 the project turned bilingual after two consecutive nights in English – Griffioen Cultuurcentrum (Amstelveen) and OT301 (Amsterdam). With more than forty appearances, Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll now goes monthly in Amsterdam, London, Prague and Sofia.

The worm wanders in Amsterdam - April 15

"Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll"

De Nieuwe Anita - F. Hendrikstraat 111 (G-maps)

8:00 p.m. - Entry: 3 euro

Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll, performed by Georgi Daverov, first toddled in the beginning of September, 2010. The official premiere took place in Theatre laboratory Sfumato where it appeared monthly throughout the season, constantly touring around Bulgaria.

In September, 2011 the project turned bilingual after two consecutive nights in English – Griffioen Cultuurcentrum (Amstelveen) and OT301 (Amsterdam). With more than forty appearances, Sex, Drugs, Rock and Roll now goes monthly in Amsterdam, London, Prague and Sofia.

Book your seat by sending an email with your name and number of tickets to georgidaverov@yahoo.com

More info here: Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll and De Nieuwe Anita

Sofia - Lovech - London

ONE of the reasons for me starting a blog was to write about the experience of a self-sustained performer - giving you some details about the complications I encounter… and so on.

I just ended a three-gig tour that included two shows in Bulgaria and one in the UK.  I planned to fly on 27^th of March from Eindhoven, land in Sofia and travel to Lovech where I had to perform the same evening. Be back in Sofia for the show on 28^th. Fly to Holland on 31^st. Catch a flight to London on 3^rd of April, perform and return to Amsterdam the next day.

A week before the show in Sofia, I was informed my performance at NBU (New Bulgarian University) must be put down due to technical reasons. Still, there were a number of reservations, plus I did not want to lose a gig that's been organized for months.  Special thanks to NBU for providing alternative space, despite all difficulties. The show did take place on 28^th in one of the Academy rooms, previously used for theatre. It worked just perfectly.

The complications regarding my performance in Lovech resulted from a train delay that made me miss my flight on 27^th. As I said before, I use train connections to reach airports in Belgum and Holland where low cost flights are available, but Wizzair changed their time of departure months ago, probably due to rental issues, and currently take off at 8:45 a.m.

Hence, to catch a flight one must get on the night train from Amsterdam at 3:45 and change three times to get to Eindhoven. My last connection was forty five minutes late - enough to arrive at the airport 3 minutes after the gate was closed. With no possibility to re-book before 29^th, I took the train back to Amsterdam, hopping there’s a plane departing from Schiphol at noon.

Unfortunately, the only one affordable was on 28^th (the next day), which meant I wouldn’t make it for the performance in Lovech. Luckily, that was a high school appearance so I called the headmaster, asking to reschedule for 29^th. He said I can use the hall, but the students have been told the show’s cancelled, because I had said so few hours earlier. I wrote to couple of them about what the deal was - the rest they figured themselves - spreading the word. That was cool. Thanks for that. I flew on 28^th from Amsterdam and threw the show in Lovech on 29^th.

The gig in London had no organization problems, yet it got me a bit troubled over promotion. With less than a week to the performance there were no bookings whatsoever, but thanks to the Bulgarian Cultural Institute and all the work they’ve done promoting Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, the show sell out anyway. 

I'll be back at Etcetera on May 3rd, but those of you living in Amsterdam can see me at the De Nieuwe Anita on April 15th

April 3rd - Etcetera Theatre - Camden / London - UK

Book your tickets for my shows in London here: BOOK

Special thanks to Etcetera Theatre, PFTC, Bulgarian Cultural Institute in London, Doneva Productions,  Ekzarh Joseph Language School and New Bulgarian University Theatre

Check out my new show: The Mirror and Aaron Smith. From the Other-Dimensional stories of Detective Defective................... Coming soon.