Soft Machine
The Dutch Lesson
By 1973 Soft Machine already had a long history of playing in Rotterdam, appearing at major festivals such as Hippy Hippy Fair (1967), Kralingen (1970) and AHOY (1971, Phil Howards debut), and no less than four times at the citys most prestigious venue, De Doelen, most recently (in September 1972) on a double bill with Robert Wyatts Matching Mole. This time, however, they were booked in a smaller venue, which they filled to capacity at around 400. Part of an arts complex originally known as Ons Huis, De Lantaren had recently been renovated into a theatre and music venue.