Amsterdam - Amsterdam Bruges and Brussels - page 199

There's also What's On in Amsterdam, Time Out Amsterdam,
the Thursday edition of many Dutch papers, and the International
Herald Tribune 's special Netherlands inserts (all sold at news-
stands).
Box Office: The Last Minute Ticket Shop at Stadsschouwburg
Theater is the best one-stop-shopping box office for theater, clas-
sical music, and major rock shows. They also sell half-price, same-
day tickets to certain shows (daily 12:00-19:30, Leidseplein 26, tel.
0900-0191—€0.40/min, www.lastminuteticketshop.nl).
Music
You'll find classical music at the Concertgebouw (free 12:30 lunch
concerts on Wed Sept-mid-June, no concerts mid-June-Aug;
arrive at 12:00 for best first-come, first-serve seating; at far south
end of Museumplein, tel. [phone], www.concertgebouw.nl)
and at the former Beurs (on Damrak). For opera and dance, try the
opera house on Waterlooplein (tel. [phone]). In the summer,
Vondelpark hosts open-air concerts.
Two rock music (and hip-hop) clubs near Leidseplein are
Melkweg (Lijnbaansgracht 234a, tel. [phone], www.melk
weg.nl) and Paradiso (Weteringschans 6, tel. [phone], www
.paradiso.nl; see page 86). They present big-name acts that you
might recognize if you're younger than I am.
Jazz has a long tradition at the Bimhuis nightclub, east of
the Red Light District (concerts Thu-Sat, Oude Schans 73-77, tel.
020/788-2150, www.bimhuis.nl).
The nearby town of Haarlem offers free pipe organ concerts
on Tuesday evenings in summer at its 15th-century church, the
Grote Kerk (at 20:15 mid-May-mid-Oct, see page 206).
Comedy
Boom Chicago, an R-rated comedy improv act, was started 15
years ago by a group of Americans on a graduation tour. They have
been entertaining tourists and locals ever since. The two-hour,
English-only show is a series of rude, clever, and high-powered
improvisational skits offering a raucous look at Dutch culture
and local tourism (€20, more on Sat, less for second Friday show;
shows run Sun-Fri at 20:15, second show Fri at 23:30, Sat shows
at 19:30 and 22:30, confirm times when you buy your ticket; ticket
office open Mon-Thu 11:00-20:30, Fri-Sat 11:00-23:30, closed
Sun; no Mon shows Jan-March; in 300-seat Leidseplein Theater,
optional meal and drink service, enter through the skinny Boom
Bar, Leidseplein 12, tel. [phone], www.boomchicago.nl).
hey do Best of Boom (a collection of their greatest hits over the
years) as well as new shows for locals and return customers. When