The venue

The room Vester Blues happens in

Every night of Vester Blues takes place in the same room: Vesterhus, a wine bar halfway down Istedgade in Vesterbro. It holds about forty people. There is no stage, no lighting rig and no sound desk. The band sets up in the corner by the window and plays, and if you are standing at the back you are still six metres from the singer.

Why we do it in a bar

Roots music was not written for concert halls. Blues, folk and country came out of rooms about this size — places where the audience is close enough to hear the fingers on the strings and the breath between the lines. Put the same songs on a large stage with a PA and something goes missing that no amount of production brings back.

There is a trade-off and we may as well be honest about it. Forty people is not many. On the good nights the room is full an hour before the first set and some people end up on the pavement outside listening through the open door. We would rather that than move somewhere with better sightlines and worse feeling.

What is on the list

Vesterhus is a wine bar first and a music room second. The list runs to around fifty bottles from a dozen countries — sparkling, white, orange, rosé, red, sweet and fortified — and roughly a third are open by the glass, so you can move around during an evening instead of committing to one bottle. Glasses start at 70 kroner.

A good part of the list is low-intervention, organic or biodynamic, and the printed card marks which is which. Nobody behind the bar will lecture you about it. If you say “something red that is not too heavy” you will get something red that is not too heavy, and it will cost what you expected.

If wine is not your thing there is organic beer and soda from Herslev Bryghus, a farm brewery out by Roskilde Fjord, plus kombucha, vermouth and an alcohol-free sparkling.

Eating before the music

You do not need to eat somewhere else first. The kitchen sends out large sharing boards rather than plated courses — cheese where you choose two from the list, charcuterie with three kinds, Portuguese sardines with homemade aioli, olives, and a grilled sandwich with melted Vesterhavs cheese. Put two or three of them on a table between four people and it is dinner.

It is also the format that works on a music night: everything in the middle, everyone picking, nobody waiting on a main course when the band starts. The bread comes from Bageriet BRØD, the bakery a few doors down the same street, and the cheese and charcuterie from Gastronomer.

Getting there

Istedgade 29, 1650 København V. Istedgade starts at Copenhagen Central Station and runs west towards Enghave Plads; the bar is at the near end, so it is a five-minute walk from the platform. Halmtorvet is a few minutes further and Tivoli is ten minutes on foot.

That matters more than it sounds if you are coming from outside Copenhagen. You can get off a train from Malmö, Odense or the airport and walk straight here without working out the metro. Plenty of people do exactly that during the week.

The rest of the year

Vester Blues is one week in October. The other fifty-one, Vesterhus is open Wednesday to Saturday from 15.30 — until 23.00 midweek and midnight at weekends — with live music a couple of times a month and a run of concerts during Copenhagen Jazz Festival in July. The walls carry work from Danish studios and artists that changes through the year, so the room is rarely quite the same twice.

Which is to say: if you find yourself in Vesterbro on a Thursday in March, the door is open and there is a decent chance somebody is playing. vesterhus.dk has the opening hours and the current list.

Good to know

Where does Vester Blues take place?

At Vesterhus, a wine bar at Istedgade 29 in Vesterbro, Copenhagen. It is a five-minute walk from Copenhagen Central Station — you can arrive by train and be holding a glass ten minutes later.

How big is the venue?

Small. Around forty people standing, fewer seated. That is the entire point: the band plays from the corner without a PA, and nobody is more than a few metres from the music.

Is Vesterhus open outside the festival?

Yes, Wednesday to Saturday from 15.30, all year round. Vester Blues is one week in October — the rest of the year it is a wine bar with live music a couple of times a month.

Do I need a ticket for Vester Blues?

No. Entry is free every night and there is no booking. Come early if you want to sit down; the room fills up before the first set.

Can I eat there?

Yes. Large sharing boards — cheese, charcuterie, Portuguese sardines, olives, bread with Sicilian oil, a grilled sandwich. Not a restaurant with main courses, but put two or three boards on a table and it is dinner. Plenty of people eat here before the first set rather than eating elsewhere first.

What if I do not drink wine?

There is organic beer and soda on tap from Herslev Bryghus, kombucha, vermouth, and an alcohol-free sparkling wine. Nobody will look at you strangely.