No.295, May 2020

No. 295 - May 2020
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The Editor's Bit

We’re living in strange times! This will be the first time the Amsterdam Stun is not available on paper, but with everywhere closed, there wouldn’t be anywhere for you to pick up a copy anyway, so it makes sense to make this an online only edition so that you can still see the photos I took in March.
I went to the Flying Dutchman on the afternoon of Sunday 15th March to play pool with Lesley, but before we could rack up, they announced on TV that all bars, restaurants and coffeeshops had to close at 18:00 that day! In panic, I ran round the corner to Prix D’Ami to stock up with 5 grams of white widow before they closed and by the time I’d been served, the queue outside was huge. It was the same all over the country and after 18:00, street dealers suddenly appeared everywhere, so the government changed their mind overnight and coffeeshops were allowed to open the next day, but only for takeaway.
Spare a thought for Jamie, who took this selfie with Frankie, Lesley, me and Tineke behind him; his flight from the UK to Lanzarote was cancelled so he decided to come to “Open” Amsterdam instead. First stop after taking the train from Schiphol was the Flying Dutchman, but within 20 minutes of getting there, the big shutdown was announced on TV!
Helena came to town for Paddy’s Day, but because everywhere was closed, we had a mini-party at my place with live music from the Mary Wallopers on the TV instead.
I saw the Mary Wallopers in Molly Malone’s about 18 months ago; sadly, there will be no more live music in Molly’s! The corona virus was bad enough, but then they got a report that the foundations are so rotten, the building isn’t safe and it will take about a year to fix them, so they’ve had to close down permanently.
The cover is a guy I saw practicing social distancing in Vondelpark, with no football to talk about, Frank has got a quiz for you, the Gig List has links to musicians playing at home and the Joke Page has a lock-down theme, so enjoy this strange edition of the Stun.