The Friends of Amstel LIVE!

The Friends of Amstel LIVE! started on January 15, 1998 under the title De Heeren van Amstel LIVE!, after the name of the first recording location, a café on Thorbeckeplein in Amsterdam. Over the years, the program has been presented by Barry Hay, Manuela Kemp, Ellen ten Damme, Daphne Bunskoek and Xander de Buisonjé. After the first edition, the program was called De Vrienden van Amstel LIVE, to avoid the impression that only gentlemen performed in it, and because it was now also recorded in other cafés elsewhere in the country.

From 1999, each series of the program was concluded with a concert in Ahoy Rotterdam. Nowadays there is only the concert in Ahoy, which takes place annually in January. In recent years it has grown into an indoor event with more than 100,000 visitors per edition. The concert will also be broadcast on TV.