Ben Poole (UK)

De Piek is a small concert venue and café at Hellebardierstraat 13 in the old town of Vlissingen, Zeeland, active since 1970. It started as a youth centre, initially occupying an old school before moving in 1972 to the former Catholic Military House on Hellebardierstraat, which came with a dance hall featuring an antique parquet floor. That move allowed concerts, a café, a tea room and a ping pong room to exist under one roof. In 1977 the mayor revoked its licence for live music following noise complaints, yet the venue persisted and over the following decades grew into the defining alternative music space in Zeeland. The stage is low and the room is dark and compact, raw rather than polished, and that character is central to its reputation. Early gigs by Dany Vera and Blof took place here, and the venue has also hosted international names including Simple Minds, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Bad Manners, Gruppo Sportivo, Herman Brood and Hans Dulfer, among many others. The programme spans alternative and mainstream guitar music, along with theatre, exhibitions and regular jam sessions aimed at young people and students. De Piek also collaborates with other Zeeland cultural organisations such as Podium Z, Film by the Sea and Pop aan Zee. Since 2018 the venue has been run entirely by volunteers. Around mid 2027 it is set to leave the Hellebardierstraat premises and relocate to the newly developed Culture Hub inside the Machinefabriek, a landmark industrial building on the site of the former Vlissingen shipyard at the edge of the city centre.