by nanci tangeman photo: terisina velazzaphoto: Crossing Border This is the year Festival - No Regrets You will go! It’s another article about another festival coming to another venue in the Netherlands. You think you know what you’re going to do: read the article, maybe skim it for famous names, bands you recognise, authors you’ve read. Then you’re going to move on to the next feature in the magazine, completely forgetting to mark your agenda, or book tickets, or entice your friends out for a cultural adventure. Then, in December, you’re going to kick yourself when someone says: ‘Did you see Wesley Stace/Cassandra Wilson/Jhelisa Anderson/ Will Self/John Langford/Stuart A. Staples/The Holmes Brothers at Crossing Border last month? He/she/they were fantastic!’ Jhelisa 4 october/november 2006 roundabout Performing this year at Crossing Border Admiral Freebee Mohammed ‘Jimmy’ American Music Club & Moh the film Street Angel Niccolo Ammaniti Andrew O’Hagan Niels ’t Hooft Annelies Verbeke Nosfell Arjen Duinker Panjabi Hit Squad Arjen Lubach Parne Gadje Aukelien Weverling Pim te Bokkel Bart Chabot Prima Donkey Bas Belleman Richmond Fontaine Benjamin Kunkel Rick Moody & the Bernard Wesseling Wingdale Community Bettye Lavette Singers Cassandra Wilson Robert McLiam Wilson Catherine Feeny Roosbeef Chad Harbach (n+1) Said El Haji David Danish Samira Atari DBC Pierre Sarah Hall De Kift Stace England Die Surfpoeten Stuart A. Staples DJ Mike Conaghan Supersilent Gautam Malkani Susanna & The Magical Gjundler Abdullah Orchestra Hassan Bahara The Brian Jonestown Hélène Gelèns Massacre In the Country The Drams Jeffrey Lewis The Holmes Brothers Jhelisa The McCarricks Johan Harstad Thomas van Aalten John Power & his band Tod Wodicka Jon Langford Tom Naegels Joshua Ferris Tony O’Neill Julia Franck Trachtenburg Family Karine Martel Slideshow Players Keith Gessen (n+1) Vikram Chandra Laura Hird Wesley Stace M.J. Hyland Will Self Marc Roth (n+1) William Boyd Marcel Möring Xavier Roelens Mark Greif (n+1) zZz Midlake roundabout october/november 2006 5 Don’t do it. Don’t make the same mistake was dropped. Since there was no money In 2001, Crossing Border presented a you’ve made before, when you missed to reprint, the festival became ‘Crossing similar platform with McSweeney’s literary David Byrne jamming on stage with a Border.’ Today, to those people paying magazine with author Dave Eggers, along mentally handicapped actor; or a nervous attention, the name signals that with a film by author Arthur Bradford. Lou Reed reading his version of The something’s going to be just a little ‘The film had musical performances with Raven and discussing its influence with bit different about this festival. mentally-handicapped people. Several of his wife, Laurie Anderson; or a barefooted them were in the audience. David Byrne Michael Franti collaborating with Marie That first festival played to a sold-out (Talking Heads) was also here and ended Daulne (Zap Mama) and Luka Bloom. Or squat. So the next year it moved onto up performing with one of them.’ how about the year you missed DBC stages. Today there are nine stages, Pierre, two weeks after he’d won the 120 performers and four nights of events You WILL see/hear these people Booker Prize, even before he had a Dutch where literature, music, film and the So who are you going to see at Crossing publisher? visual arts mix in unique combinations. Border this year – since you are going It is the largest spoken word event in straight to the computer or phone to Read this article. Then book your tickets. Europe. order your tickets, as soon as you finish Today. reading this? Cees Debets, managing director of the Crossing Border, a festival that these days festival, remembers some of the previous Crossing Border always features excellent completely takes over The Hague’s cultur- performances. ‘When Henry Rollins was music. Sinead O’Conner, Coldplay al centre for almost a week in November, here in 1996, we had 700 people listening and 16 Horsepower have all started out with a squat and a typo 13 to him. Monica Ali introduced her book, headlined at the years ago. Brick Lane, at Crossing Border. And with festival. DBC Pierre, we’d heard rumours about Back then, the usual venues for literary his book and invited him here performances were always about the before he won the Booker Prize same: small and quiet, with people in 2003. listening and nodding approval. Festival director Louis Behre, a big fan of the Beat Generation, wanted to do some- thing unique. He’d seen poets This year’s programme will open with Grammy Award-winner Cassandra Wilson, who released her Thunderbird CD in April, a collaboration with T Bone Burnett. Two weeks before [his appearance at On Saturday night there will be concerts Crossing Border] he won the award and a by Jhelisa Anderson, who got her start as DBC Pierre BBC crew followed him to the festival.’ a youngster singing gospel on the road in perform in a different America’s South, and soul singer Bettye way. So he gathered artists such as DBC Pierre will return this year to Lavette, who’s finishing up her first painter/poet/author/musician Billy present the literary magazine To Hell. promo tour in 40 years. (The opening Childish with folk duo The Singing Loins ‘From 7.30 to midnight we’ll have a concert and Saturday’s concerts usually and poet/photographer/filmmaker Gerard bunch of musicians and writers working sell out – another reason to book now!) Malanga and musician/writer/visual artist together. They inspire each other: Lee Ranaldo of Sonic Youth in a squat in Andrew O’Hagan, DBC Pierre, Sarah Hall, Stuart A. Staples, former front man from The Hague for the first Crossing the Richmond Fontaine, Brian Jonestown the Tindersticks performed solo at the Border festival. Massacre,’ says Debets. ‘We did the same Roots of Heaven Festival in Haarlem thing with the n+1 literary magazine last May. He’ll return to Holland at But it never became the ‘Crossing the with Benjamin Kunkel who talked about Crossing Border, as will Mark Eitzel Border’ festival. That’s where the typo writing and the world with his friends. and The American Music Club, the indie comes in. When Behre had the first It’s a bit like The Kitchen literary salon in band out of San Francisco, who reunited posters printed, somehow the word ‘the’ New York.’ after a decade’s break in 2004. 6 october/november 2006 roundabout But, as mentioned before, it’s what the Crossing Border is different, not just What the members say: musicians do when they’re not making for the audience, but for the per- music that tends to steal the show. Jon formers. They sense that remarkable The Crossing Border website includes complete bios of all Langford will not only perform at the things go on at the festival and they the performing artists. So if you have any doubt whether festival in November, but he created the want to help make them happen. you will enjoy the wide range of performances, head online 2006 festival poster. ‘Langford is a real where you can listen to many of the musicians, decide if Crossing Border artist: a musician, writer, ‘Once people have performed here, you want to read any of the writers’ works beforehand, or poet and painter,’ says Debets. The Welsh they ask to come back,’ says Debets. just get pumped for the upcoming events. artist, who currently lives in Chicago, ‘Andy Cairns of rock band Therapy? will present The Executioner’s Last Songs, a played acoustic guitar with the Getting tickets journey through time in music, starting band’s cello player, Ticket sales began in early September, so get the lead out! with the punk scene (Langford founded Martin McCarrick, Some events will sell out, like the opening concert with the first-wave punk band, here in 1999. So, a Cassandra Wilson and the Holmes Brothers and Saturday’s The Mekons, in the late few months ago, we concerts with Bettye Lavette and Jhelisa Anderson. About 70s) got an email from two weeks before the festival, a complete schedule of McCarrick. He performances will be available online. Don’t be daunted by said, ‘I was that the complicated mix. A festival wristband (€25 – 33 plus cello player and service charges) will let you in to enjoy everything, from my wife is a 7pm – 1am. violin player. We do a live Tickets are available via Ticketservice (in major post offices, soundtrack GWK Travelex branches and local VVV tourist offices), at the with old Theatre aan het Spui box office, as well as from your usual films. I ticket outlets. Telephone bookings can be made at Ticketlijn think it 0900-300 12 50 and internet sales are available through would fit www.ticketservice.nl. in.’ We’ve invited them and we’ll Getting There see how it all works out.’ The best bet is to take public transportation. The festival locations are just a ten-minute walk from The Hague’s After the musical kick-off on Centraal Station, and night trains run to most major cities Wednesday evening, each night of until after 2am. (Check www.ns.nl, www.ov9292.nl or phone through the death of country music, the festival will feature several stages 0900-92 92 for details.). Parking is limited around the festi- to society’s ‘loss of ideals’. The show fea- with 45-minute interviews, perform- val, but if you do choose to drive, Theatre aan het Spui can tures songs from Langford’s albums by ances and readings by the different sell discounted uitrijkaarten (drive away tickets) for three the same name, which helped raise artists.