Kane (Dutch Band)

Kane is a Dutch rock band formed in 1998 in the Hague. It currently consists of Dinand Woesthoff (lead vocals) and Dennis van Leeuwen (guitar), who have been the sole consistent members.

At the beginning of the 2000s, Kane was seen as the biggest Dutch rock band. They achieved three number-one singles on the Dutch Top 40 and three number-one albums on the Dutch Albums Chart.

The group disbanded in 2014. In 2023, they released their first song in a decade and announced five reunion concerts for June 2024, which all sold out.

History

Beginnings and breakthrough

Kane got its start in the Hague in 1998. Dinand Woesthoff and Dennis van Leeuwen met at a Scheveningen cafe, where they were both working at the time. Both had a passion for music, and they formed a band named Citizen Kane, after the eponymous movie, and began putting on performances for small audiences. They were eventually discovered at a Hague cafe named De Paap by talent scout Henkjan Smits, who introduced them to manager Edwin Jansen and helped them sign a recording contract with BMG. With their name abbreviated to Kane, the band rounded out the lineup with guitarist Tony Cornelissen, bassist Aram Kersbergen, and drummer Cyril Directie.

Their breakthrough came in 1999, with the song "Where Do I Go Now". Their debut album, '' As Long as You Want This'', was released a year later and eventually certified 2× Platinum. It remained on the Dutch Album Chart for 105 weeks and peaked at No. 2. Kane won the 2000 MTV Europe Music Award for Best Dutch Act, beating Anouk, BLØF, and Krezip. In November 2000, the band performed a U2 cover set for the Marlboro Flashbacks tour, which was released on a live album named '' With or Without You''.

Their second album, ''So Glad You Made It'', saw the band attempt an international crossover, with releases in various European countries. They issued the title track as the lead single, together with a video that had to be censored on MTV for partial nudity. The album's third single, "Rain Down on Me", become Kane's "biggest crowd favourite". It also reached No. 38 on the UK singles chart, and the Tiësto remix was featured on the soundtrack to the video game '' FIFA Football 2004''.

On 28 June 2003, Kane became the first Dutch rock band to perform at the Amsterdam ArenA, where they sold over 26,000 tickets. Ilse DeLange performed as the opener, and DJ Tiësto played at the afterparty.

Tragedy, further success, and breakup

In 2004, Woesthoff's wife, Guusje Nederhorst, died of breast cancer at the age of 34. He devoted the song "Dreamer" to her, and it became the best-selling Dutch single that year.

"Something to Say", the lead single to the band's fourth album, ''Fearless'' (2005), became their first number-one hit on the Dutch Top 40. In August 2005, Kane scored their second number-one hit, with the title track "Fearless", which was dedicated to Woesthoff's cousin, who was suffering from kidney disease.

Three years later, Kane premiered the song "Catwalk Criminal" on New Year's Day 2008 at the Erasmusbrug in Rotterdam. It was the lead single to their fifth album, ''Everything You Want'', which was recorded in several international cities. The track "Shot of a Gun" became the Kane's third number-one single. On 28 June 2008, the band played the largest show of their career at De Kuip in Rotterdam, in front of 42,000 people.

Kane's sixth album, ''No Surrender'', was released on 27 November 2009. The title track was the lead single and reached No. 3 on the Dutch Top 40. It was also performed live with actress Carice van Houten in January 2010 on a televised broadcast to raise money in relief of the Haiti earthquake. The band's seventh album, ''Come Together'', released in 2012, had been planned to come out in 2011, but it was postponed due to the success of their greatest hits album, ''Singles Only''.

In September 2013, Kane announced that they would stop touring for the time being. On 27 December 2014, the band announced that they were breaking up, after 16 years together. In a statement on their website, the band wrote: "We said what we wanted to say, longer than we dared to predict, with more support than we ever hoped to dream. Honoring the fire, it's time to close the book."

Return

In September 2023, Kane announced plans to reform the following year. They sold out five reunion shows at the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam in what was billed as the "reCONNECT" concerts for June 2024. The band also released a new single, "What Are You Waiting For?", on 26 September 2023, their first new song in ten years. This was followed by another single in December 2023, "War Ends Today", which is a protest song against "the Gaza War", with proceeds donated to Save the Children in Palestine.

Music and reception

Kane's style of rock music has been described as post-grunge with a notable U2 influence. ''AllMusic'' once compared their sound to Matchbox Twenty. Alongside the success of Anouk and Di-rect, Kane's popularity in the 1990s helped make the Hague the center of Dutch popular music for the first time since the 1960s.

Despite their commercial success, Kane received poor reviews from music critics, who disliked the band's "bloated rock" sound and Woesthoff's "growling" vocals. Woesthoff was also seen as arrogant and difficult to work with, given that the band has had 19 former members. Some ex-members have spoken out against the atmosphere and power structure within the group. Referring to their reputation, Woesthoff has said, "Don't let yourself get worked up and just do your thing". '' De Volkskrant'' compared Kane to a Dutch version of the Canadian rock band Nickelback in terms of their reputation.

Band members

Current
* Dinand Woesthoff – vocals (1998–2013, 2023–present)
* Dennis van Leeuwen – guitar (1998–2013, 2023–present)

Past

* Tony Cornelissen – guitars, background vocals
* Cyril Directie – drums, percussion
* Aram Kersbergen – bass guitar
* André Kemp – drums
* Martijn Bosman – drums
* Paul Jan Bakker – guitar
* Matto Kranenburg – bass guitar
* Dion Murdock – bass guitar
* Yolanda Charles – bass guitar
* Robin Berlin – guitar
* Joost Kroon – drums
* Ivo Severijns – bass
* Nico Brandsen – keyboards

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

Singles

Other charted songs

References

External links

*

Kane
at the Popinstituut, via the Wayback Machine

Kane
at the Muziekencyclopedie of the Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision

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Dutch rock music groups
Musical groups established in 1998
Musical groups disestablished in 2014
MTV Europe Music Award winners
Musical groups from The Hague