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Lounge 69 is a nightclub appreciated by those who like to listen a good music and see beautiful and young people.
When I went there, they played electronic music. I'd recommend you ask for one of their good drinks and to wear comfortable sandals and clothes, because you will probably dance all night!
Rua Prudente de Moraes, 416 - Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro
(55) (21) 2522-0627
00 is a very famous bar, nightclub and restaurant in Rio.
I liked to go there because I ate great food and then danced with my friends all night! There are so many beautiful people there! Especially the girls.
Avenida Padre Leonel Franca, 240 - Gávea, Rio de Janeiro.
(55)(21)2540-8041
This is a karaoke place where you can rent a private room with your friends and sing your favourite songs. It's much better than doing it in front of a crowd of strangers. It can't remember the last time I laughed so much!
Queens,
17 Queensway,
Bayswater
www.karaoke-at-queens.co.uk
A unique British gastropub. Friendly locals of all nationalities, fantastic music and food with a cosy atmosphere. Live music at weekends from September 2008. It won't be long before you find yourself talking to Elaine and Shuki the owners. You might pop in for one but you'll end up staying until closing time (it's that welcoming)!
16 Bilrothstrasse, 1190 Vienna, Austria
Tram 38 Hardtgasse
Google map: tinyurl.com/nam37e
Located in a Manchester-style old warehouse, Singapore’s most fashionable and famous club is always rammed with a variety of folk. And despite the incredibly hip vibe, it’s extremely friendly. If you want a breather from the mad action downstairs, hit the quieter members' bar on the second floor.
The new Singapore has drawn in some of the world’s best known DJs and the Ministry of Sound. Like its London division you'll find house, trance, progressive, techno and breaks here. It’s the place to be seen but, unlike its Elephant & Castle counterpart, not at all closed to a slightly older crowd who might have thought their hardcore clubbing days were behind them. In fact, the clientele is so mixed and the atmosphere unintimidating that even the relatively conservative Business Traveller magazine (a bible to so many business travellers!) was touting its virtues earlier in the year.
If you’re looking for somewhere to wind down, there are plenty of sedate but hip options in Singapore. Art-bar fusion is currently a big thing in the city. The Majestic Bar features the 7.6m tall ‘Living Man’ metal sculpture by Zadok Ben David and other works by regional artists Yuki Chong, Donna Ong and Sandra Lee. And Night & Day – Bar + Gallery + Friends, which opened in September. Set up by Kelley Cheng and Randy Chan – founders of iSh magazine and zArch Architects, respectively – the revamped four-storey Art Deco building serves as a space for gallery-goers to chill out with a drink in hand, while soaking up graphic art. Another option is the Merbau Gallery Bar. It’s ultra-trendy and has recently hosted architectural photography exhibitions, social events and networking cocktails.
But if all this hipness turns you off, try the Post Room at the Fullerton. Its modish décor and comfy couches and chairs are wonderful, and it might just be the best place in Asia to enjoy oysters with Dom Perignon. Finally, Harry’s Quayside Bar is the best place for jazz on the island, ideally positioned on the beautiful Boat Quay and was the haunt of renegade Barings Bank broker Nick Leeson. You can't really ask for more than that!
If you get some down-time, go to the Huxington Tea House in the Yu Yuan Garden. This is apparently Shanghai’s oldest tea house and they perform a traditional tea ceremony every evening from 8.30pm to 10pm. Be sure to get a table on the top floor looking out over the lake. And for something livelier to do in the evening, The House of Blues and Jazz gets a good range of international acts and is an intimate venue with a music-loving crowd.
With a wealth of potential flamenco available we asked the receptionist at the Museo del Baile Flamenco - incidentally a must for anyone interested in the subject - she recommended La Casa de la Memoria. It's a cultural centre in the Santa Cruz district - a short walk from the cathedral. It's got very limited space and it's worth booking in advance or reserving by phone. No tapas, no drinks just dance. Tickets 14 euros with performances most nights at 21.00.
28 Casa Ximenez de Enciso
Tel 954 56 06 70
Listen to the traditional sounds of the underground music scene in Greece (a strangely likable blend of blues and bouzouki) at this little club away from the tourist crowds of Plaka. Rembetiki Stoa Athanaton is a popular place with a fun crowd just north of the Monastiraki flea market. As with much of Athens, things didn’t start warming up until midnight.
Sofokleos 19
Massive electronic music festival at the beginning of July each year which transforms Amsterdam into a hub of dancing and revelry! 50 Euros for a ticket is a steal, with loads of concerts and experimental films, electronic music videos and art installation all available over five days.
This year’s highlights were Justice and Erol Alkan. Awesome performances!
Around the city
www.5daysoff.nl
If you’re looking for food with a view, try The Signature Room at the John Hancock Centre. With better views than the building’s observation deck, this is Chicago’s brunch centre. The prices are reasonable and you’re guaranteed to wow your colleagues/clients. The service can be a little variable – it took the waitress 15 minutes to find me a fork – but the weekend live jazz more than makes up for the occasional shoddiness.
The Signature Room at the 95th® 875 N. Michigan Ave. Chicago, IL 60611 Tel: 312.787.9596
signatureroom.com
For something completely different, try X/O in Boys Town. This ultra cool spot dishes a delightful variety of creative eclectic small plates – including tapas with a twist – and offers some of the city’s best cocktails. The champagne concoctions and martinis are as spectacular as the atmosphere – fuelled by a DJ with a Hoxton haircut at weekends. If you can, try to sit on the patio.
3441 N Halsted Street Chicago, IL 60613 Tel:(773) 348-9696
Fancy a boogie? Sound Bar and Enclave are your passes to the best late-night hedonism Chicago has to offer. The former has two levels and is invariably packed: downstairs plays hip-hop music and upstairs grooves to an unrelenting house beat. You can engineer your very own oasis of calm, though, by booking a table in the VIP room. The drinks are phenomenally cheap, you get waitress service and the chance to retreat if the music becomes too much or the people too raucous. Not the best club in the world, but a good laugh nonetheless. Altogether better is Enclave. This upscale location has undergone a full year of renovation: new floors, new (clean) bathrooms, new furnishings, impeccably styled bar areas, etc. And it’s been worth it. This is now the premier dance spot in Illinois, with beautiful people to match. Get a table in the circular, curtain-swathed VIP area and forget all about work.
Sound Bar
226 W. Ontario, Chicago, IL 60610, Tel: 312.787.4480 sound-bar.com
Enclave: enclavechicago.com
The Sacred Music Festival is excellent and well worth the trip, but is difficult to get to due to the limited, expensive and indirect flights to Fes from the UK. A UK company called Naturally Morocco arranges tailored trips throughout Morocco, including the Sacred Music Festival. They suggest flying to Marrakesh (with train to Fes) because flights are cheaper and nonstop. They will arrange all of that and they have a great selection of riads to stay at. Whilst in the north, it is well worth having time to see some of the mountains, coast or another city.
You can buy tickets at www.fesfestival.com/2008/index.php
If you've done the Budapest basics, you should absolutely take an afternoon and visit Bela Bartok's house museum in the Buda Hills. This is a hymn of praise not only to the conductor, but his passion for Hungarian folk culture.
Among the highlights: his oversized, primitive recording device which he dragged all over historic Hungary, having local residents sing their songs into it, and his furniture, most of which is handmade from various parts of Transylvania. The ladies who staff the museum can give you a tour in English and are very nice and accommodating.
While you are there, make sure you walk through the Napraforgo ut. housing estate, built in 1931 to house refugees from areas cut off from Hungary by the Treaty of Trianon. Architecture fans will delight in the display of creativity there, from Bauhaus to Arts and Crafts. Unfortunately, rich Buda residents are now buying all of them out and restoring them according to their own tastes, so the results of that could harm the ensemble, but you should go there anyway.
This is a great doubleheader excursion well off the well-trodden tourist paths.
It's best to go to Ferenciek Tere (metro blue line), look for restaurant Karpatia and wait for bus #5 just outside there. You go to the end of the line, i.e. Pasareti Ter, and look for the signs. The way to both is actually marked.
Charming little bookshop filled to the ceiling with hard to find scores and music books. Don't be fooled by its size, they even host a grand piano. The back room is both a cafè serving gourmet coffee drinks and wine, and a miniature concert hall displaying the work of local artists. Also noticed for their one-of-a-kind recycled and handpainted furnitures and off-beat concerts with a cult following. Concerts draw the attraction of hundreds including famous personalities from the neighbourhood, despite the shop seating about 50 people. Located in Trastevere and not hard to find, just look for the crowd gathering on the doorsteps and listening to live music from street at night.
Via di San Francesco a Ripa, 60
Trastevere, Rome
Tel. +39.06.45422111
www.myspace.com/daseiamusicbookshop
One of the best music venues in the city. On our visit, late on a Sunday night, we saw a three-piece comprising a double-bass player with a massive quiff, a flamenco guitarist with long jet-black hair, white shirt, black tie and trademark cigarette hanging from his lower lip and a steel guitarist who looked like a cross between Steve Buscemi and Tom Waits.
The three increased to seven when they were joined by other musicians including a clarinetist, trumpeter and a sultry singer. It's hidden away down a back alley in the Gothic Quarter but once inside, you won't want to leave. Nothing is rushed, it's not at all poncey and the vibe gets better as the morning approaches. Get there early (before 10) to secure a seat. For a change from the normal bar scene, head to the Harlem.
www.harlemjazzclub.es/
Comtessa de Sobradiel 8, 08002 Barcelona, Spain
+34933 100 755
Google map: bit.ly/qg9dBd
It's in the heart of the theatre district and is an independently run venue. I've never seen an Indian restaurant and live music bar rolled into one - it's fab.
The Spice Lounge
No. 3, Savoy Crescent
Theatre District
Central Milton Keynes
MK9 3PU
www.spicelounge.org
OK, Graceland is a no-brainer - you've gotta go!
Sun Studios - the birthplace of Rock'n'Roll - sure!
Now go to Stax, by far the most polished experience, as there seems to be a real enthusiasm for the subject rather than the "let's create as much merchandise as we can" motives that affect the others.
STAX Museum of American Soul Music
926 E. McLemore Ave.
Memphis, TN 38106
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