1976 - 1981

Loomis Gang was formed in 1976 by 5 session musicians from Rotterdam: guitarist Jaap Spigt, keyboard player Elbert Waller, bass player Robert Zwaan, drummer Peter Koomen and singer Peter Kunst.

The band gained considerable renown in the province of South Holland, which attracted the attention of Alfred Lagarde, one of the Netherlands’ leading DJ’s at the time. Lagarde regularly played Loomis Gang songs on Radio 3 Rock station and presented the band as the support act to Van Halen at the start of Van Halen’s first European tour on May 5, 1978. Loomis Gang’s performance was a great success, which quickly increased the regional popularity of the band. Meanwhile, singer Peter Kunst had left the band and was replaced by Hans Vos. Shortly after that, Jaap Spigt’s sister Fréderique, a well-known singer in the Netherlands today, joined the band for a brief period of time.

In the years that followed, Loomis Gang gave concerts in numerous rock cafés and clubs and played at large festivals like Rotterdam New Pop, Midsummer Nightmare and Rottepop. Its popular song “Troublemaker” was released on “The Rotterdam Collection” an album with contributions from the most important Rotterdam-based bands at the time.

Because most Loomis Gang members combined their musical activities with a university education, having a professional musical career was impossible for them and, after the graduation of some of the members, the band was discontinued in early 1981.

Link to 'Archive'

2019 - present

It was more than likely that this would be forever, until Robert Zwaan brought the band together again on the occasion of his 60th birthday. The great chemistry between the band members was still present and plans were made to get together to once more play the old set. This resulted in the reformation of Loomis Gang in 2019. The current lineup consists of 3 of the 5 original members. Singer Hans Vos was no longer available and has been replaced by Walter Maas. Robert Zwaan suffered from a hand injury, which made it impossible for him to play the bass. The resulting vacancy has been filled by Bert de Bruijne.

In October 2021, Elbert unfortunately left the band due to moving to the beautiful but distant Drenthe and a worthy replacement had to be found. That turned out not to be easy. Toine van Rijthoven has now joined Loomis Gang and with that the ambition is back to go on stage and into the studio.

The tryouts were successfull. The band still visibly enjoys performing on stage and strongly intends to yet again become a recognized value in the Dutch music scene.