Going out in Curitiba - Day & Night Drinking

So, whether for some odd reason you tought of stopping by in Curitiba on your Latam backpacking trip or you're just in town for business, I'll cut the chase: few landmarks will impress you here (the MON museum basically). Many bars and clubs are fun and will impress you. That's exactly why off the 20 stops the Tourist double-decker offers, you're only allowed to unboard to see 4. "Don't waste time sigthseeing", the four lonely cupons whisper.

So I wrote a post about going out in Curitiba , largely based on personal experience and therefore exempt of country and rock bars, which are quit popular amongst Brazilians. Below is a map with all the places mentioned and some more.


NIGHT CLUBBING

Electronic music is definitely not the most popular genre in Brazil. In Curitiba however, the scene is pretty evolved and there are some good clubs to be found.


Club Vibe

If you like house and techno this is the place to be. This legendary club in Curitiba has international DJ´s and a great soundsystem that guarantee for a good night out, except when they don't have beer to sell. Regularly open on weekdays, as the same big names move on to D-Edge in São Paulo for the weekend.

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Paradis Club

This is a cosy club with different music styles, depending on the party. The infamous 'Funk You' parties land here and they also program a lot of Jazzy, Funky, Groovy, Disco Dj's. Get on up, Stay on the scene, Get on up, Like a sex machine!

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Danghai Club

Growing in popularity, this place might be snooping away a bit of the Vibe public. Programming national and sometimes international dj's, usually techno, the club has a complimentary breakfast at 7am.

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Studio Club

Also a new kid on the block, be it a block outside the city. The Studio club mostly brings local house and techo dj's in what they call a "sofisticated, exclusive and harmoniuous club", featering an outside area with a pool (nobody uses, ever). You might want to wear sunglasses to fit in.

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NIGHT DRINKING

Cocktail bars and cafés in Curitiba, to enjoy a drink with friends or fuel up before the party.


Le Voleur de Vélo

This fine bar not only serves delicious cocktails but also sells bikes, put all over the walls.  The interior and the drinks breath originality, gaining Vogue's aproval as "one of the hipper spots in Curitiba". The terrace is great for an intimate drink with friends on a hot summer evening. The Gin-Tonics are my favourite here!

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Tiger Cocktails


Before hitting the club, you can get some great drinks at the Tiger Cocktails Bar. The bar is part of the Lagundri restaurant and therefor bestows some of it's exclusive air on it. The "Moscow Mule" and "Nancy Sinatra" are definetely worth a try!

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+55

This bar / restaurant is pretty big, yet on weekends fully packed. Besides pushing Budweiser buckets they have a large food menu, ranging from greacy sausage to fine sushi. Live bands regularly play and they've had their experiments with electronic music, such as the Corona Summer Sunsets. They do their best to attract singles and it's a known hunting ground.

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Street Drinking Vicente Machado

On the Vicente Machado street there's several tiny bars one next to the other. As they don't have much or no seating at all, they end up serving local beers to people in the streets. It's a pretty hip crowd that gathers there on fridays after work or hot Saturday evenings. Wattafuck is right in front the +55 bar and 'Pizza' some 50m down. You can't miss the crowd, blend inn.

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DAY DRINKING

So let's imagine you took the sightseeing bus and you're 4 stops down and back where you started at f**king mid-day. what to do? Get a drink, right?

Maneko's bar

Join the retired resident crowd at Maneko's for some shameless liquor as of  11am. This bar is as old as the street in front and serves a mean "bife parmegiana" (steak with tomato sauce and cheese on top) , making it a great option for lunch. 'Passarinho', the whistling waiter, will jokingly take your order and yell it to the kitchen.

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Bar do Alemão

As the name betrays, this is a German inspired bar, great for day drinking. From 11am onwards you can drink big pints of German lager and eat "Wurst" over here. It's located on the Largo da Ordem, in the historic centre, a neighbourhood best enjoyed during daylight hours anyways.

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Barbaran - Ucrânia bar

This Ukrainian bar sometimes proves hard to find but is worth the while. Besides cold beers they have good finger food (minced meat!) at reasonable prices. Opens around 4pm. Go early cos it's busy.

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Rua São Francisco

This recently revitalised street in the centre is an alternative hipster hangout and features many bars serving local artisan beers, bar food and burgers. The bars are rather small so the street gets packed pretty quickly in the evening. During lunch hour it's more chill and the Negrita bar is a great option. The square "Praça Bolsa do Ciclista" is community project of Curitiba's citizens and boosts recycled art and mini city gardens. A 'Robocop' from the municipal police keeps the place under constant surveillance.

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Party Map

A custom made map with the best places to go out in Curitiba.




Words of Caution

A common question among tourists is whether it is dangerous to go out in Curitiba. In comparison to many other cities in Brazil it is not. If you limit yourself to taking a taxi and going straight to the place you want to go, you'll hardly run into any trouble. If you go out for drinking in the street, just stay with the crowd. If you stroll around however, particularly in the historic city centre after dark, you have to watch out for crack addicts and thugs.

To take a taxi, it is recommended to use a taxi app on your phone, such as 99Taxis or Easy Taxi. As the drivers are personally identifiable, they are more trustworthy. It's not uncommon for malicious taxi drivers to be waiting outside clubs for drunk party goers and do detours or charge more "cos they don't have change".

Make sure you have money. This might sound obvious, but in most places you only pay at the exit at the end of the night. It's easy to spend just checking boxes on a paper card so avoid nasty surprises as you leave. Usually an entrance fee applies, ranging from 20R$ in bars to 80R$ in clubs, so include that as well.


Any tips for going out in Curitiba? Leave it in the comments!

Major Lazer - Jah No Partial - shot at Pukkelpop

Major Lazer heeft wat Pukkelpop materiaal in zijn nieuwe clip gedraaid.

Fou de Toi

Age of Love XXL

"Ken uw houseklassiekers", onder dat motto neemt Age of Love je terug naar de tijd dat langs menig Vlaamse steenweg tot in de vroege uurtjes werd gedanst op stevige house beats.

De tijd waarin mensen nog van einde en verre afzakten naar het Pajottenland om een dansje te placeren in de legendarische Extreme club bijvoorbeeld. Die bevond zich op een boogscheut van het ouderlijk huis, maar mijn ietwat prille leeftijd en de kwalijke reputatie in het dorp, zorgden dat ik er nooit een stap binnen mocht zetten. De mythe werd desalniettemin gevoed door de verhalen van oudere generatiegenoten en de talloze cassetjes met de dj sets.

Sinds 2008 halen DJ Quincy (Soulphonic, Extreme) en Nik Vandenberghe (Charlatan) met  met Age of Love parties die klassiekers van onder het stof en brengen ze met de 'club glamour' van weleer. Denk dance acts, lasers en confettikanonnen. In het verzorgde kader van de Vooruit zorgde dat laatst alweer voor het feestje van het jaar (waarvoor dank).

Paradise Circus - Massive Attack (Gui Boratto remix)

A Gui Boratto remix of a Massive Attack song. Something I needed to share.

Press Pause Play

Presspauseplay (2011) is a great documentary about how disruptive the internet is for the creative industry.

A variety of artists (Moby, Lykke Li,...), internet personalities (Seth Godin, Sean Parker,...) and critics (Andrew Keen) shed a light on how the internet changed the way business is done....and will be done.

I had seen a part of it on tv (V!rus on Canvas to be specific ) but only discovered recently that the documentary is freely available on presspauseplay.com both in a normal version as an interactive version.

It's interesting, well made, funny sometimes and for some probably eye-opening.
Recommended.

Major Lazer on tour in Brussels

For those who like a little bounce, eclectic drums and beats in a range from 50 to 150 bpm Major Lazer is probably no stranger. Diplo and Dj Switch, the original team behind the imaginary Jamaican bountykiller, made their debut in 2009 with 'Guns don't kill people...lazers do". A unique mix of dancehall, reggea, hip-hop and fidget house.

Now 3 years later, Diplo and Jillionaire came down to Brussels to show us some major musical magic. In no time the duo and their dancers got the Botanique in their pocket, taking everybody on a journey filled with fat beats, laser sounds and a gazillion samples.

Deadmau5 and a phone launch

To launch a new phone these days, billboards aren't doing it anymore. A live performance of Deadmau5 in the center of London however, accompagnied by the most advanced projecting technology, does put your product in front of the masses.

Well played by Nokia, but wether it will establish them between the iphones and Androids has yet to be seen...

Red Hot Chili Peppers kick off "I'm with you" tour @ Lanxess arena

On Friday the Red Hot Chili Peppers kicked off their European tour in Cologne, Germany. The Lanxess arena was sold out for the presentation of the new album 'I'm with You'. A long awaited gig as the peppers haven't been touring in the past 4 years.

Rise Up, Reggae Stars

Rise up  is a documentary from Luciano Blotta about 3 artists in Jamaica, trying to make a better living with their musical talent. I remember discovering 'Turbulence' when BBC originally aired it in 2010 but it's only after integrally watching a recent re-run on the dutch TV that I realised it probably deserved a blogpost too.

Da meanest - Co$$

Hypnotizing beat by Co$$ from his album "Before I awoke"

Nas & Damian Marley kick off Distant Relatives Tour

Nas & Damian Marley kicked off their Distant Relatives European tour at Couleur Café in Brussels last weekend and the way they did definitely deserves some laurels. Though time pased fast, it was a lenghty performance with of course the tracks of their new album Distant Relatives (As We Enter, Dispair,...), but also some older numbers (Welcome To Jamrock, Road to Zion), surely  to everybody's pleasant surprise. 

Minus Label Night

Altijd fijn als er jongens uit Berlijn afzakken naar het Brusselse. Zeker als ze dan ook nog eens een bak vol verse minimal deuntjes meebrengen die aanleiding geven tot heel wat feestvreugde en dansgewoel. Deze keer waren het Fabrizio Maurizi, Heartthrob en Matt John die als afgezanten van het Minus Label naar Fuse werden gestuurd. Als amabassadeurs van de "Minimize to Maximize" sound zeker de moeite dus om eens voor buiten te komen.

Massive Attack - Live at Vorst Nationaal with Martina Topley Bird

Een fijn concert gisteravond van een Massive Attack dat duidelijk in vorm is. Samen met zangeres Martina Topley Bird én met backup van een uit de kluiten gewassen videoscherm, zetten ze een stevige show neer in Vorst, die al mijn verwachtingen inlosste. 

Robert Del Naja en Grant Marshall (+ supporting act) lieten hun legendarische melancholie niet achterwege, noch de trippy beats, en wist bij tijden ook stevig te rocken, wat het uitverkochte Vorst absoluut wist te appreciëren. Een mix van hun meest gekende klassiekers en nieuwe nummers, hard en zacht, geëngageerd en soms gitzwart. De klassieker 'Teardrop' met Martina Topley Bird in de glansrijke hoofdrol (en in het oogspringende outfit) was alvast een onvolprezen voltreffer, wat mij betreft althans. Een glimps ervan staat op band.

Dat er een duidelijke socio-politieke boodschap schuilt achter de pakkende onliners en flarden tekst op het grote scherm valt moeilijk te ontkennen, maar 'te zwaar op de hand liggend' zou ik ze nauwelijks durven noemen. Ik ben ieder ieder geval naar buiten gegaan als geëntertaind muziekliefhebber, niet als een depri anti-kapitalist. Bovendien was het ook allemaal netjes vertaald naar het nederlands/frans, waarvoor dank.

Nu uitkijken naar dat nieuwe album.

Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc.

Watch the video. Visit http://www.neurosonicsaudiomedical.com/ for more information. Well, not so much info there anyway, just a very nice production.

La Mezcla

How catchy can you make it?

Ricardo Villalobos @ Fuse

Last night the dj saved my life.

A Day at Pukkelpop (with 50 Cent)

Een dagje Pukkelpop, in een lekker blakend zonnetje, het moet gezegd het was de moeite. Met alleen 50 Cent aangevinkt op m'n lijstje voor de mainstage,werden mijn verwachtingen al vroeg op de avond ingelost. Best wel entertainend. Daar getuige ook de video's van. In de boiler room blijven me dan weer vooral Ellen Alien en Tocadisco bij, hoewel ik me ook nog wat herinner van een steengoede set door Ed&Kim...Het feest was verzekerd!

Een moment opname tijdens het 50 cent optreden. Wie niet groot is, moet slim zijn:

Anderen hebben het dan weer van wat beter dichter bij in beeld gebracht:

Give praise - Saian Supa crew feat Kymani Marley

ky-mani marley

"Give Praise...
My heart is filled with Love
But Don't let my eagles fly...
cos I don't want to have to
hurt no body, no..."

A pearl of a song if you ask me.
Few of you might know so that's why I wanted to share.

Listen and Enjoy.

Meneer Zee

Het gebeurt al eens, zij het sporadisch, dat een mens zijn kamer opruimt en oude schatten terug boven komen drijven. Hetzelfde lot verging mij ook wanneer ik stootte op het trouwboekje van mijn neef Jan (met Sofie) alwaar ik het prachtige 'Zegt dat genoeg' in terugvond. Dit groots stukje kleinkunst, van zijn hand, raakt, verliefd als ik zelf ben maar toch ook bij anderen geloof ik, een gevoelige snaar. De tekst is hieronder opgenomen omdat ik het meer dan de moeite waard vind om het met u te delen. Hopelijk is het liedje binnenkort ook in muzikale vorm terug te vinden...

In één ruk door kan ik daar aan toevoegen dat Jan tegenwoordig door het leven gaat als groots verteller onder de naam Meneer Zee. Hij heeft nu ondermeer zijn eigen boek geschreven: 'Wolf' en trekt doorheen het ganse land om kinderen in vervoering te brengen met zijn uitermate fascinerende vertelkunsten. Op de website van Meneer Zee (http://www.meneerzee.be/) kunt u daarover alles terugvinden, in de badkamer, de slaapkamer of de klok. Zeker de moeite waard!

Meneer Zee - Zegt Dat genoeg

want ik hou van jou...