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i realise i’ve never written about blu jaz here, even though i go there ohsovery much. it sets itself apart from most regular live music joints in town which cater to a much more upmarket/yuppie demographic. no soft lighting, cream walls and dark wood here, but instead random ceiling fixtures made from CDs, wild zebra prints running along the walls and a random mishmash of furniture.
the food here is affordable, and more importantly, the music is good. while the acoustics could do with some work, i like how the musicians who play here just really like making music. you can tell from the chemistry that flows from off stage and envelops you.
blujaz, 11 bali lane, tel: 6292 3800, http://www.blujaz.net/
lots of people have been telling me i need to get myself to quarubar, and finally i made it here and was glad i did.
the drinks are delicious and the cocktail menu stretches on and on. the high ceilings and dark beams, coupled with the muted decor are low key enough for me. i liked too how the crowd was pretty mixed. old uncles, young folks, yuppie sorts. nothing too uppity or pressure to look beautiful!
my one gripe is the huge sports screen that’s smack bang to the side of the music stage, but if the music is good enough, which it was, you barely even notice it after a while. dawn ho, their resident singer on the weekends was pretty damn amazing. what a big voice for a petite frame. come see for yourself.
quarubar, blk 11 dempsey road, tel: 64799929, http://www.dempseyhill.com/tenants_quarubar.htm
now, i’m not normally a fan of clarke quay and most of its joints. but the pump room is something else altogether. the house band, jive talking, will get you jumping with their 90s songs and contemporary covers. the crowd too, is game to play along, headbanging, singing, and dancing along to the good music. there’s a great atmosphere at this joint, and it’ll likely put a smile on your face.
food here is not bad, though a little on the pricey side.
- Pump Room, Clarke Quay/ Tel no:6334 2628 http://www.pumproomasia.com/
i first came here a year ago after googling for good music joints about town. it was a thursday night i think and rani singam was singing, bringing the house down. imagine walking along kiliney road, rounding the corner at a petrol station and suddenly being confronted with a luxuriant verdant haven of soft light, green shrubbery and good music. wouldn’t blame you if you thought it was a mirage of sorts.
inside, the shophouse (?) space has been thoughtfully redone, with open concept seating on the top, a mirrored slanting wall to add depth and bounce off the lights in the space, exposed brick walls to add warmth and a high ceiling to make the bar feel very airy.
i like coming here on weekday nights when there are fewer people and those who are there are there for the music. they sit, they listen, they show their appreciation to the singer– music takes centerstage. and rightly so, because the performers who do their thing at bar stop tend to be very good. i normally get an umeshu on the rocks and a slice of their decadent white chocolate cheesecake. mmm.
- Bar Stop, 6 Devonshire Rd/ Tel no: 67356614
night and day
i came here right when it opened, and the caipiriniha here is one of the best i’ve had in town. randy and kelly are the two owners of the place, with randy’s archi studio upstairs. they’re both really lovely people who are more than willing to sit down for a chat with you and tell you the story of their space. with the current smoking restrictions in place, i’ve felt a little bad for smokers who have to huddle in dingy alleyways with stinky choked up gutters just to have a smoke. sure, it might build camaraderie but honestly, the novelty wears off and just because you smoke doesn’t mean two people are going to be best buds. which is why the smoking area at night and day is great. it’s like a scene from a wong kar wai film, with the dirty green stained glass windows half ajar, and just the silhouettes of people and cigarette smoke swirls visible from the inside of the bar.
great on a weekday night when it’s a little quieter.
- Night and day bar, 139 Selegie Roadhttp://www.nightandday.sg/
rich man dream
someone brought me here many months ago, and since then i’ve been a faithful regular at this bar. i’d never thought that the gotham city building was anything more than a fancy hotel/ service apartment block, so when we wandered in with the intention of proving that the sculptures around the compound were in fact made of plastic rather than bronze (they are!), and found the bar instead, we were pleasantly surprised.
the drinks here are not cheap, especially if you intend to get yourself a bottle. i’m always quite cheap here, to the chargin of the waitresses: i normally have a cup of tea. however, the space is decidedly surreal which is just up my street– if you can imagine the fussy architectural details associated with various european countries, but all amalgamated in one single space, you’d have this building. ta da! i call it a rich man’s dream, what with its gazelles galloping across the ceiling, (plastic) sculptures peering at you from all sides, the live smokey jazz that plays from the second floor and the young little things donning fairy wings who “fly” to get your requested bottle to swig. a surprise stopover between arab street and liang seah indeed.
- Divine Society, 600 North Bridge Road, Parkview Square
