The Heineken Music Hall was Amsterdam’s defining mid-size concert arena from its opening on 1 February 2001 until the end of 2016, hosting Beyoncé, Radiohead, Pink, Madonna, Coldplay, and dozens of other headline acts in its purpose-built 6,000-capacity main hall.
In January 2017 the venue was rebranded AFAS Live after Dutch software firm AFAS Software replaced Heineken as the naming sponsor — but the address, the acoustic design, and the international touring calendar remain unchanged. It is still one of Amsterdam’s busiest and most acclaimed concert halls, and people searching for ‘Heineken Music Hall’ or the sometimes-used nickname ‘Heineken Arena’ are almost always looking for this same building.
Quick Answer
The Heineken Music Hall was a 6,000-capacity indoor concert venue at Arena Boulevard 590, 1101 DS Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands. It opened on 1 February 2001, was operated by Live Nation, and was officially renamed AFAS Live on 1 January 2017 when Heineken’s 15-year naming sponsorship expired.
The venue continues to operate today under the AFAS Live name, at the same address, with the same 6,000-person main hall. It is not the same building as the nearby Johan Cruijff ArenA football stadium, even though the two are sometimes confused as ‘Heineken Arena.’
Venue at a Glance
Location: Arena Boulevard 590 (also listed as Johan Cruijff Boulevard 590), 1101 DS Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands. Nearest metro: Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA, roughly a 2-minute walk. Type: indoor concert hall. Opened: 1 February 2001. Construction: 1996–2001. Cost: €30 million. Architect: Frits van Dongen, Architekten Cie.
Main hall (Black Box) capacity: 6,000. After-party hall (Beat Box) capacity: 700. Owner: City of Amsterdam. Operator: Live Nation. Estimated annual visitors: around 650,000. Current name: AFAS Live, in place since 1 January 2017.
Capacity: The Black Box and Beat Box Halls
The Heineken Music Hall’s main hall — known internally as the ‘Black Box’ — holds up to 6,000 people across a roughly 3,000-square-metre standing floor. In Dutch, this is the figure people mean when they search for the venue’s ‘capaciteit’: the Black Box seats or stands up to 6,000 bezoekers, making it one of the largest fully indoor concert halls in the Netherlands outside of arena-scale sports stadiums.
Architect Frits van Dongen designed the hall from the ground up for amplified music, meaning the acoustics were engineered for live sound rather than retrofitted into an existing sports venue — a key reason touring acts and their sound engineers consistently rate the room highly. The layout was also built without obstructing pillars, so sightlines stay clear from most points on the floor.
A second space called the ‘Beat Box’ accommodates up to 700 people and was designed specifically for after-parties and DJ sets that follow the main headline show. This lets the venue run a full concert in the Black Box and a simultaneous or follow-on club night in the Beat Box, maximising programming on a single evening. Both halls continue to operate under the AFAS Live brand today, with the same capacities as under the Heineken name.
Address and How to Get There
The official address is Arena Boulevard 590, 1101 DS Amsterdam-Zuidoost (some listings use the name Johan Cruijff Boulevard 590, following a local street renaming in the area). The venue sits in Amsterdam’s Zuidoost district, directly opposite the Johan Cruijff ArenA football stadium, inside the broader Arena entertainment cluster alongside Ziggo Dome and Villa ArenA.
Getting there by public transport is straightforward: Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA metro station is about a two-minute walk from the venue entrance and is served by metro lines 50 and 54, plus regional bus and train routes. From Amsterdam Centraal the metro journey takes roughly 15 minutes, and the operator recommends public transport over driving whenever possible for concert nights.
Drivers can use paid parking nearby, including a lot directly beneath the venue and several ParkBee-affiliated lots within a 2–15 minute walk. Doors on concert nights have historically opened around 18:30, though exact times, ticket sales channels, and current bag-policy details vary by event and are kept current on the operator’s own site — check the official AFAS Live website (the venue’s operator since the Heineken Music Hall days) for the specific show you’re attending.
Heineken Arena vs Heineken Music Hall: Clearing Up the Confusion
The terms ‘Heineken Arena’ and ‘Heineken Music Hall’ are sometimes used interchangeably online, but strictly speaking the venue’s official name from 2001 to 2016 was always Heineken Music Hall — it was never officially called ‘Heineken Arena.’ The ‘arena’ confusion comes from its location directly next to the much larger football stadium in the same Arena entertainment complex.
That stadium opened as the Amsterdam ArenA and was renamed the Johan Cruijff ArenA in 2018 in honour of Dutch football legend Johan Cruyff. It is a separate, much larger 55,000-seat outdoor building used for Ajax home matches and stadium-scale concerts, and it has never carried Heineken sponsorship in its name. If you’re looking for that stadium, you want the Johan Cruijff ArenA, not the Heineken Music Hall — the indoor 6,000-capacity concert hall at Arena Boulevard 590 covered on this page.
History and Design
Construction on the Heineken Music Hall ran from 1996 to 2001, producing a building that cost €30 million and was purpose-built for large-scale pop and electronic concerts rather than adapted from a sports or theatre space. Architect Frits van Dongen of Amsterdam firm Architekten Cie gave the exterior a distinctive aluminium facade — originally bearing the Heineken Music Hall branding — which was updated with roughly 70,000 blue caps spelling out ‘AFAS Live’ when the rebrand took effect in 2017.
Location was a strategic asset from the start. Sitting next to the then-Amsterdam ArenA, the hall slotted into an entertainment district with direct metro access and existing event infrastructure. Its 6,000-person capacity placed it precisely in the tier of venue that international touring acts could headline without moving up to a full outdoor stadium — large enough for major names, manageable enough for strong production values and sightlines.
From Heineken Music Hall to AFAS Live: What Changed
When Heineken’s 15-year naming-rights deal ended, Amsterdam business software company AFAS Software took over as sponsor from 1 January 2017. AFAS deliberately avoided calling the venue ‘AFAS Music Hall,’ reportedly because the company wanted the name to reflect a broader mix of concerts, corporate events, and conferences rather than music alone — hence the more general ‘AFAS Live.’
What did not change: the building, the address, the 6,000-capacity Black Box, the 700-capacity Beat Box, and the operator (Live Nation). So if you attended a show at the Heineken Music Hall any time before 2017, or you’re trying to find that same venue today, AFAS Live at Arena Boulevard 590 is exactly the building you’re thinking of.
Notable Moments
Over its 16 years as the Heineken Music Hall, the venue assembled a strong record of high-profile bookings. Beyoncé, Radiohead, Pink, Madonna, Coldplay, Lou Reed, James Taylor, Marilyn Manson, and Limp Bizkit all performed on the Black Box stage.
On 1 December 2012 the hall hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, bringing an internationally televised song competition to Amsterdam. In March 2018, by then operating as AFAS Live, the venue hosted Charles Aznavour at the age of 93 — setting an all-time age record for any performer at the hall and marking one of his final concerts before his death in October 2018. The venue also appeared on live albums by Alter Bridge and Within Temptation, and later hosted events such as Eurovision in Concert 2019.
heineken music hall amsterdam FAQs
What is the capacity of the Heineken Music Hall?
The main hall, known as the Black Box, holds up to 6,000 people. A second space, the Beat Box, holds up to 700 and is used for after-parties. These same capacities carry over to the venue’s current name, AFAS Live.
Is the Heineken Music Hall the same as Heineken Arena?
Yes, in practice — ‘Heineken Arena’ is an informal name people sometimes use for the same building. Its actual official name from 2001 to 2016 was Heineken Music Hall, not Heineken Arena. It should not be confused with the separate, much larger Johan Cruijff ArenA football stadium next door, which has never had Heineken branding.
What is the Heineken Music Hall called now?
It’s called AFAS Live, a name it has carried since 1 January 2017 after Dutch software company AFAS Software took over as naming sponsor from Heineken. The building, address, and capacity are unchanged.
Where is the Heineken Music Hall located?
At Arena Boulevard 590, 1101 DS Amsterdam-Zuidoost, Netherlands, about a two-minute walk from Amsterdam Bijlmer ArenA metro station and directly across from the Johan Cruijff ArenA stadium.
How many people does the Heineken Music Hall hold (capaciteit)?
De hoofdzaal (Black Box) biedt plaats aan maximaal 6.000 bezoekers, en de kleinere Beat Box-zaal aan maximaal 700 bezoekers voor after-party’s — dezelfde capaciteit die de zaal nu als AFAS Live heeft.
When did the Heineken Music Hall open?
It opened on 1 February 2001 after five years of construction (1996–2001), at a cost of around €30 million, designed by architect Frits van Dongen of Architekten Cie.
Get More from heineken music hall amsterdam
Log the coasters, stadiums, and venues you’ve experienced, rate heineken music hall amsterdam, and see what your friends thought. Get the ThrillZing app.