If you have seen Rotterdam’s Tramhaus perform these past few months, it means you’re pretty well informed of their rousing, hard-hitting shows, recalling the primeval punch of The Stooges or maybe even a really pissed off version of The Pixies.
“Make It Happen” a live favorite among locals, shows a more hollowed out, atmospheric side to the band, implementing the likewise hollow city marketing slogan in a more acid-spewing, cynical (and nonetheless very Rotterdam-sounding) context. When discussing the city’s punk scene, Rotterdam has been plagued with many of the same clichés as fellow port city Manchester: a supposed angular, grey-hued working class city.
Arriving here, that couldn’t be further from the truth, because Rotterdam has been subjected as much of the same maladies as other Metropolitan areas: it’s original dwellers forced to make way to so-called progress, with a ballooning housing market only benefitting the rich and privileged.
The bright-colored video for “Make It Happen” shines a light on the community living in Rotterdam’s Wielewaal district, who are set to be evicted from their beloved homes for the quote unquote future. “Drawing further on what we believe is a misleading Rotterdam city slogan – “make it happen” – we came up with the idea to make a video with the Wielewalers,” Tramhaus comment. “With the video, we hope to show their struggle to a wider audience.”
Watch the video below and find “Make It Happen” on streaming outlets.
