Up Close with D-Block & S-te-Fan

The Bat Cave is one of three predecessor venues that merged in 1998 to form Poppodium 013, Tilburg's flagship pop music complex. The original Bat Cave opened in 1985 in a basement space on Langstraat, and throughout the 1980s and 1990s it served as a small, raw stage for underground, punk and youth culture acts, giving local and touring bands at the margins of the scene a place to perform. When Tilburg's growing music scene outgrew its scattered venues, the Bat Cave joined Noorderligt (the city's first dedicated pop hall, opened in 1984) and the MuziekKantenWinkel (a rehearsal and practice facility) to form a single purpose built complex in the city center. That building, designed by architects Benthem Crouwel, opened on 13 November 1998 and was the first new construction in the Netherlands specifically built for pop music in a city center. The name for the new foundation was decided through a staff competition, with Monica Lunenburg's short, punchy suggestion winning out. Within the 013 complex the Bat Cave continued operating as a distinct room before being rebranded as Stage01 around 2010. Today the broader 013 venue it belongs to holds two main auditoriums after a major renovation completed in 2016 reduced the number of halls from three to two while significantly enlarging each one. The main stage can accommodate up to 3,000 people (configurable to 2,300 or 1,400), and the smaller hall seats 700, double what the original small room held before the rebuild. The venue hosts more than 400 events per year across hip hop, heavy music, alternative and electronic programming, and has served as home to festivals including Roadburn, Incubate and Neurotic Deathfest. The name 013 comes from the telephone area code of Tilburg.