An after-dark venue that likes to think of itself as a bit of an oddity, Madame Moustache is a nightly parade of eclectic bands and shows – a cross between a cabaret and a village hall. One night it could be 80s kitsch, another night rockabilly, crazy Balkan or 50s jamboree. There’s probably nowhere else in Brussels quite like it. As for me, I like turning up fortnightly on a Tuesday to practise my lindy hop and Charleston steps to a live swing band; watching others in braces and bowler hats spin and shuffle in the mirrored walls, and ordering beers and cocktails from bar folk in sailor’s outfits.

www.madamemoustache.be/index.php
Quai au bois à brûler/Brandhoutkaai 5-7,
1000 Brussels
+32 485 53 44 94 ‎
Google map: bit.ly/tpW3Fm

* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels

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There are many bars in Brussels trying to do something new and different. Some aim to re-create the music and surroundings of past decades, but there aren’t many places like Booze n’Blues, where you sense the owner’s nostalgia for his youth enveloping you with its dark red walls and jukebox.
References to Led Zeppelin, Frank Zappa, fraying momentoes and blues music wrapping you in a cocoon: here it is personal, like a bedroom left behind in a family home and not touched since.
The jukebox will accompany your evening, when it’s working. Likewise Fakir Hindou, the fortune
telling box on the bar, might provide an erratic prognosis of your future for 20 cents. Two attempts produced the same result: “everything will go according to your wishes”. I’m not sure it’s a good thing to have everything you want!
Booze n’Blues has been family-run for the last 13 years. The owner lives upstairs. Downstairs you could almost imagine yourself somewhere in rural America. But the owner has never been. “There’s a meeting of blues fans in Los Angeles every year”, his sister tells me. "I’d love to send him there, but he doesn’t like flying.”

Rue des Riches Claires 20, 1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 513 93 33
Google map: bit.ly/rcdCPW

* Bec is our Been there local for Brussels. You can view her profile here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/articles/brussels-local-rebecca.jsp and follow her tips here: www.ivebeenthere.co.uk/travellers/Becinbrussels

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At night ring the buzzer and neatly sidestep the doorman to enter this beauty of an art deco bar, with its upstairs gallery, custard walls and wood panelling. The faded glamour of the interior surely calls for a whisky or cocktail, to be sipped while dancing around the piano, or up above, looking down at the assembled heads. L’Archiduc also hosts free jazz concerts, “Jazz After Shopping" and "Round About Five", during the autumn and winter months; and “Tell me why I do like Mondays” jazz and blues in the summer.

Antoine Dansaert, 6, 1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 512 06 52
www.archiduc.net/
Google map: bit.ly/mjD1K8

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Ancienne Belgique or 'AB' as it is most commonly referred to is a concert hall in the heart of Brussels. Boasting excellent acoustics, it is often used for live recordings. Its prime location and its intimate surroundings make it the venue of choice for big names who want to avoid stadium crowds.

Ancienne Belgique, Anspachlaan 110, 1000 Brussels
+32 (0)2 548 24 84
www.abconcerts.be/en
Google map: bit.ly/kKlLUg

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