In the Houthavens stands a former bicycle workshop that you would hardly recognize as such a building from the inside. The Other Side opened there in November 2024, and something has changed in Amsterdam nightlife since then. Not just because it looks good or runs well, but because the sound here is different. Really different.
Doeshka Vrede and Jasper Löwik are behind the concept. Both are producers, musicians and artist managers, so not hospitality people who happened to want to open a club. They knew exactly what they wanted to build: a place where sound is not just good, but spatial. The result is the world's first nightclub with L-Acoustics' L-ISA immersive audio system. Sound engineer and spatial audio expert Stefan Liem made sure it all works as it should. The system, supplied by Audio Solvation of the Netherlands, enables a 360-degree sound experience not found in any other club in the world.
How about technically? The venue has nine X12 coaxial speakers on the walls, five X12 overhead above your head, and two stacks of four KS21 subwoofers on either side of the stage, plus A15 Focus and Wide speakers. Together they provide surround sound that reaches you from all sides. But what's special is that performers can manipulate spatial audio effects themselves during their performance. They choose between stereo or fully immersive, and they can make sound move through the room as they play. That's not a gimmick. That changes how a live set feels.
You go there not just to dance, but to hear what music sounds like when someone has really thought about it.
The Other Side focuses on artistic expression and innovative live performances, with leading international DJs and producers on the program. Peace and Löwik has the infrastructure to take artists from management to recording to performing, all under one roof. The wine list here is as serious as the cuisine, but for sound: you don't go there just to dance, but to hear what music sounds like when someone has really thought about it. The Houthavens already had a reputation for new things. The Other Side fits right in with that.