The Caballeros, band

De Caballeros is a band founded in 2009. This four-man formation that has its roots in the Leiden student association L.S.V. Minerva, plays mainly Dutch language repertoire, but does not shy away from a foray into English.
==Early beginnings==
The Caballeros was formed in 2009 by Onno "Oh-No!" Kronenberg (piano) and Bas "Stomp" Derhaag (bass guitar). Inspired by the successes of Rob de Nijs and Ramses Shaffy, among others, Kronenberg and Derhaag thought they should be able to create a similar sound as well. Kronenberg comments, "We thought, with a good singer and a nice drummer, we can make that sound too!" Soon Hans Martijn Roos (vocals) and Reinier van Bevervoorde (drums) joined the two men and De Caballeros was a fact.
==First performances and lineup changes==
The first performance of De Caballeros took place on the birthday of then Minister of Justice Ard van der Steur. This performance will go down in history as the birth of De Caballeros as an unrelenting live act, not least because at the climax of his performance Hans Martijn Roos collapsed to the ground from the grand piano amidst the audience, but after a brief recovery continued as if nothing had happened. A few weeks after this performance, Gert-Jan Hox joined the band, initially as second keyboardist, but after Van Bevervoorde's departure, Hox became the regular drummer.
==Breakthrough and great successes[edit | source text edit]==
As to when De Caballeros actually broke through, sources contradict each other. For Derhaag, the performance for the Lions in Gorssel in 2012 is a clear turning point. Kronenberg, however, prefers to speak of the performance in Vispaleis Scheveningen in 2013 as the moment after which no one could ignore De Caballeros. Many successful performances followed in subsequent years, including an unforgettable performance at Het Boekenbal in 2017 and a mercilessly loud concert on King's Day at Amsterdam's Café Van Leeuwen in 2022. The Caballeros are also always up for a musical contribution to charity projects, given their performances at the Amsterdam Homeless Shelter and the Soroptimists in Cothen. Naturally, The Caballeros were only too happy to waive their generous fees for these fine initiatives. More recent performances worth mentioning are: the now traditional performance on Koningsdag at Van Leeuwen in Amsterdam and the concert for thousands of ecstatic fans at the Lustrum of L.S.V. Minerva in Leiden.
==Tenue==
Since 2023, The Caballeros have performed exclusively in Adidas tracksuits (Beckenbauer model) or Fila tennis gear.
==Personnel==
•  Hans Martijn Roos: vocals and cowbell
•  Onno Kronenberg: piano
•  Bas Derhaag: bass guitar
•  Gert-Jan Hox: drums
==Repertoire==
The repertoire of De Caballeros is tasteful yet eclectic and mainly Dutch-speaking. Nevertheless, over the years, some English classics and an occasional German schlager have crept in. Below is a small selection of the roughly 60 songs that De Caballeros effortlessly shake out of the sleeves of their tracksuits.
•  Ding-A-Dong
•  Girl of Sixteen
•  Sing, Fight, Cry, Pray, Laugh, Work and Admire
•  Mallemolen
•  Let Me
•  Little Boy
•  Hey Come On
•  Even Forever
•  About The Wall
•  For Her
•  She Believes In Me
•  Pastoral
•  Breathless
•  Whether He Exists
•  Is This All?
•  Oh Oh The Hague
•  Again and Again
•  A Friend
•  You'll Never Walk Alone
•  My Way
•  Jack the Trumpeter
•  Cha Cha Cha
•  Malle Babbe
•  Damn Alone
•  We Shall Continue
•  Belgium
•  On the Amsterdam Canals
•  Ich Bin Wie Du
•  https://www.instagram.com/de_caballeros?igsh=MTRiMHU0a2g0MHRrNQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
•  https://www.decaballeros.nl/
Category:Dutch musical groups
Category:Musical groups established in 2009