No events in 2010

After the sad and sudden passing of drummer Pim Koopman in November 2009, it will come as no surprise that Kayak has decided there will be no tour in 2010.

Whether and how the band will continue after this year, is too early to tell at the moment, although the band members have positive feelings about this.

As soon as there is any news, it will be posted on this site.

Pim Koopman has unexpectedly passed away

To our great distress our drummer Pim Koopman has unexpectedly passed away on Monday morning, November 23, 2009, 56 years of age. Our thoughts are with Pim’s family.

The guestbook is open for condolence notes.

Letters from Utopia

The new Kayak album Letters From Utopia will be released on the 18th of September. The two CD’s feature 19 brand new songs.

About Kayak’s future

The upcoming autumn tour will be the last one Kayak will make in its current form. It does not mean Kayak will break up, that we won’t ever play another concert, or won’t never make another album. Hence, it will not be a real ‘Farewell Tour’. It only means that, for all sorts of reasons, Kayak will not continue to be doing a CD-tour, another-Cd-tour, et cetera.

There has been no statement until now from the band, because as we write this, Kayak is still working on and looking for alternative ways to continue. This decision will also have no real impact yet for the near future, as a new album and coinciding tour are still to emerge this autumn.

But as some theatres have released information about this being the last Kayak tour, we feel obliged to come up with this announcement in order to end the uncertainty amongst the fans.

Website will be restyled

The Kayak website is going to be restyled. The new site is expected to be online at the end of the summer, shortly before the release of the new Kayak album.

‘Letters from Utopia’

The new Kayak album will be released at the end of September. It will be entitled ‘Letters From Utopia’ and the 19 (!) new songs will probably be divided between two CDs.

“We simply recorded too many songs”, says Ton Scherpenzeel. “And by cutting and editing we probably could have turned it into one long albuml, but stretching the CD-length is a technical risk for some CD players.

“We also could have opted for keeping some of the tracks as a bonus for singles or special editions, but we found out that in the end it doesn't make a whole lot of difference, sales-wise. So we are probably going to release it as a double album, which is great because now we don't have to choose which songs will or will not appear on the album.

“This concept has an additional advantage: you do not have to listen for 5 quarters of an hour to the same CD, which I personally always find a little too long. Just over 35 minutes per CD is a good length, long enough to keep the attention of the listeners going so all songs can get the credit they need.”

In April the last recording sessions will take place, and the album will be remixed during the summer.

Kayak plays with the Airforce Orchestra

Kayak has been invited by the Orchestra of the Royal Dutch Airforce to join them on stage at the Wereld Muziek Concours in Kerkrade, Holland on July 11th. The WMC is a big international event with brass orchestras from all over the world, that takes place every four year. This year's show will take place at the Roda Football Stadium, that can host up to 15.000 people.

New album and tour

This autumn Kayak will release a new, yet untitled studio album. Between mid-October and mid-December Kayak will embark on a new theatre and rock venues tour all over Holland. As soon as these concerts have been confirmed, Kayakonline will publish the tour schedule on this site.