The young, four-piece band Dragonfruit is “Born out of a love for sample-hip-hop and neo-soul”. The Rotterdam-based band consists of vocalist Danique van der Vlugt, keyboardist and bandleader Anton de Bruin, bassplayer Bryan Manuel and drummer Thijmen Molema. Dragonfruit makes fresh neo-soul and alt-r&b inspired by hip-hop, jazz, funk and electronic music and a diverse arsenal of artists, from Hiatus Kaiyote to BADBADNOTGOOD, Kaytranada and J Dilla. Dragonfruit released their first singles ‘Gears Of The Giant Machine’ and ‘Some Say’ in 2019, after which they signed to Amsterdam-based label Super-Sonic Jazz Records. The subsequent 2021 debut album ‘Gears of the Giant Machine’ did well both nationally and internationally; for instance, the band now has several million Spotify streams and received attention from the likes of 3FM, Sublime and major international music blogs like EARMILK and Stereofox. After a sold-out release show at Paradiso in 2021, the band will return to the Bovenzaal in spring for 2023 to do it all over again.