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| Thanks to www.travelpuppy.com |
| Brussels Nightlife Brussels Nightlife - TravelPuppy.com Brussels’ location at the heart of Europe encourages top artists and budding stars to tour here but the city has a thriving homegrown scene of its own. Jazz has been strong since the 1920s and there is year-round live jazz in a cluster of venues, climaxing in the annual Brussels Jazz Festival. The club scene is relatively new, drawing the crowds after much lingering in the city’s many bars and Irish pubs that overflow mainly with expatriates. The legal drinking age in Belgium is 16 years and the price of a beer is approximately €2. Aside from the tacky discos for tourists, there is the big-name-DJ-drawing The Fuse. The best send out their sounds into the night, around Place de St-Géry, Manneken-Pis and in the Marolles district. The Clubs open at 2300 hrs, heat up at midnight and survive until about 0600 hrs. Being foreign and dressed in tune with the club’s image helps the admission process along considerably, entrance is sometimes free but will more likely will cost around €7. The Fnac, in the City 2 complex on Rue Neuve, is the best place for club tickets, although the Tourist Office on Grand-Place may be able to assist. Perhaps the highlight of the clubbing year is the Klinkende Munt outdoor music festival, held every July in Brussels at the Place de la Monnaie, Petit-Chateau and the Beursschouwburg. Listings and information on nightlife events in Brussels can be found online (website: www.noctis.com). Tels Quels magazine (in French) has the most comprehensive gay nightlife listings. Bars Belgium is famous for its superb selection of beers, not least those created by Trappist monks at various monasteries throughout the country. Brussels, furthermore, has its own idiosyncratic varieties, notably Gueuze and the fruit flavoured Kriek varieties. A wide selection (over 150) of Belgian beers can be found at the Loplop Cafe, Schildknaapstraat 29). Centrally located beer havens include La Bécasse, Rue de Tabora 11, A La Mort Subite, Rue Montagne aux Herbes Potagères, and La Rose Blanche, Grande-Place 11. Le Soleil, Rue des Capucins 63, is an intimate little bar, tailor-made for an evening of good beer and great chats. A number of bars transform into clubs as the night wears on, including lively Le Sud, Rue de l’Ecuyer 43–5, open Thursday to Saturday. A quieter evening is on offer at the Théâtre de Toone VII, Impasse Schuddeveld 6, off Petite Rue de Bouchers, where puppets form a backdrop to the drinking. For the younger audience, the bars around Place St Géry are quite popular venues. Casinos There is a casino in nearby Namur. The Casino de Naumur, Avenue Baron Moreau 1, is open daily 1400–0500 hrs. Visitors are required to hold a passport or ID document and dress code is smart and strictly no trainers. 21 years is the minimum age for entry. Clubs Top international DJs play techno, house and jungle at The Fuse, Rue Blaes 208. Mirano Contintal, Chemin de Louvain 38, is tacky with a yuppie crowd, while Le Bal, Boulevard du Triomphe, is just tacky. Tourists might meet other tourists at Espace de Nuit, Rue Marché aux Fromages, near Grand-Place, while most of the hipper clubs have a gay and sometimes lesbian night. The Brussels trendy set goes to Les Jeux d’Hiver, Bois de la Cambre. Live music Jazz dominates the live music scene in the city. There is jazz on Saturday and most Sundays at L’Archiduc, Rue Antoine Dansaert 6. Frequent concerts at Fool Moon, Quai de Mariemont 26, featuring anything from jazz-funk to drum‘n’bass and some Latin music. Although VK is a trek away at Rue de l’Ecole 76, this is where alternative sounds including hip hop, rock and indie music. Magasin 4, Rue du Magasin 4, offers a more central venue for indie and hip hop. Folk fans should try Thunderbird Café, Quai du Commerce 48, where there are usually twice-weekly gigs on offer, as well as excellent food. Informal weekend jazz ‘jam sessions’ are a feature of the LopLop Café. The main venues for touring big-names are the Forest National, Avenue du Globe 36, and AB (Ancienne Belgique), Boulevard Anspach, for the bigger gigs, and Botanique, Rue Royale 236, and Cirque Royal, Rue de l’Enseignement 81, for smaller acts. |