Gruppo Sportivo

On 13 November 2026 Gruppo Sportivo will play at Metropool in Enschede. The Hague band around songwriter and guitarist Hans Vandenburg emerged in the mid-1970s and moves between pop and new wave, marked by dry humour, short songs and abundant vocal harmonies. The interplay between Vandenburg and the female singers in call-and-response sharpens the melodies, while light rock, ska accents and a retro touch colour the whole.

The group made its name in the late 1970s with "10 Mistakes" and "Back to ’78", followed by "Copy Copy" and "Pop! Goes the Brain", and rediscovered its momentum in the 2010s with new material such as Great (2018).

Live, Gruppo Sportivo roams freely through its catalogue: compact tracks, choruses that stick, guitar hooks, driving keyboards and rhythms with a light swing. Expect English-language material, a set that alternates between early favourites and more recent songs, and that playful edge that has characterised their performances for decades. At Metropool that sound comes straight at you: tight, melodic and with room for backing vocals, breaks and that typical mix of pop energy and down-to-earth irony.