{"id":9448,"date":"2023-10-16T19:45:38","date_gmt":"2023-10-16T17:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/?p=9448"},"modified":"2023-10-16T19:58:35","modified_gmt":"2023-10-16T17:58:35","slug":"true-bar-kaliningrad-the-citys-latest-music-venue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/expatkaliningrad.com\/ru\/true-bar-kaliningrad-the-citys-latest-music-venue\/","title":{"rendered":"True Bar Kaliningrad the City’s Latest Music Venue"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

True Bar makes its debut on the Kaliningrad music scene<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

16 October 2023 ~ True Bar Kaliningrad the City’s Latest Music Venue<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Invited to the opening of a new music venue by singer-songwriter Andrey Berenev, the 14th<\/sup> of October 2023 saw us, my wife and I, rendezvousing with our friend and drinking collaborator, Inara, at a caf\u00e9 close to the venue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wondered what type of music the bar would be playing; would it be underground? The music venue is. It is located on Krasnaya street. You can\u2019t miss it, not because you can\u2019t miss it, but because it has three notable landmarks: a caf\u00e9 on either side of it, one of which we assembled in, and opposite an arts and crafts shop selling imaginative artwares inspired by the city\u2019s alter ego K\u00f6nigsberg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True Bar Kaliningrad the City’s Latest Music Venue<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The entrance to the bar lies in the forecourt that it shares with this shop and one of the two coffee shops. As it is below decks, you won\u2019t see a building, just an elevated entrance, with the club\u2019s name and logo attached to the wall. The place you are looking for is True Bar<\/mark><\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the past two weeks, after a warm and sunny autumn debut, the wind has been howling, the rain has been pelting and the temperature has taken a turn for the worse. We were spared the rain on the evening of our visit to the new club, but the wind had not relented, and each gust was bitterly cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we had arrived early, we hid in the arts and crafts shop for a while, and when we emerged discovered three or four young people waiting at the entrance to the bar. My wife, Olga, and our friend, Inara, were chuckling at the possibility that tonight\u2019s venue would be exclusively for them ~ \u2018youngsters\u2019 ~ and that we would be the oldest patrons there. I made a mental note of this, whilst the track from Fred Wedlock<\/a> played in the background: Would there be concessions at the bar for OAPs, sometimes know as OFs (Old Farts)? I was glad that I was wearing reasonably young person\u2019s clothes. Do you think there\u2019s a chance he missed them?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bar was a bit behind schedule in opening, which meant that our small group of prospective clientele was growing by the minute. It was reassuring to note that among our fellow shiverers, one or two people of a more mature age had joined the throng, including singer-songwriter Andrey Berenev, who had invited us this evening. This was the first time I had met him in person. You may recall in my former post, The Badger Club<\/a>, Olga had gone to the venue alone, and I had written about the club having been inspired to do so by her account of that evening and from the photographs she had taken.  In a manner of speaking, however, Andrey had met me; he remembered me from Victor Ryabinin\u2019s<\/a> funeral.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When at last access to the bar was no longer denied to us, we shot downstairs like ferrets down a drainpipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

True Bar Kaliningrad <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The main staircase, which is a bit dim, so don\u2019t go there in your carpet slippers, descends to what for me was a most welcoming sight indeed, the bar itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Behind
I suppose that does mean we are pleased to see you?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A second staircase takes one down to the club floor. There is no stage, as such. The performers perform with their backs to the upper deck, the small bar area, which is big enough to serve as a viewing gantry. Every inch of the club area is utilised. Including the lower staircase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Mick
Perhaps not the usual vegetarian response to pigs ears on the menu<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The club seating is a simple \u2018homemade\u2019 series of backrest slat benches arranged in pairs either side of a solid table. It\u2019s what it is; and it works. People come here for the music and the atmosphere, and, of course, to drink; everything else is secondary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have used the word intimate already, and it gets more so when you want to go to the toilet. I\u2019m not suggesting that you have to share the loo, but to get there you have to single-file between two lines of people: those spread out against the bar and those leaning over the balcony. As I said, one of the leading features of the club is its unconditional intimacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Aleksandr
It’s amazing the fun you can have with cheese straws and vodka<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I wondered what the sound quality would be in the club and was pleasantly surprised. The ceiling slopes down high at the \u2018stage\u2019 end and low at the other, which is not peculiar as the club sits below a vehicle ramp. My mind kept playing tricks with words ~ it often does. Here, was the word \u2018garage\u2019, and there the word \u2018music\u2019. I got the impression that the bands were none too pleased with the Vox amplifying system, but the general acoustics seemed fine to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Olga
Olga Hart: an esoteric experience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

As I mentioned earlier, I had not met Andrey Berenev before and neither had I met Aleksandr Smirnov. The latter made what can only be called \u2018an entrance\u2019, when he suddenly appeared dressed in his all- leather, self-made, signature \u2018chimney sweep\u2019 outfit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From that moment onwards, all female tats, short skirts and shimmering stockings, as questionable and nice to view in that order, were instantly upstaged by Mr Smirnov\u2019s imaginative rig, which, I am appalled to admit, made my red cravat and waistcoat look inexcusably tame. The only other gentleman in the room whose appearance attracted attention was he who was wearing a fawn-toned trench coat, carefully amalgamated with a sharp side-parting hairstyle, sixties tie and tie-clip. It\u2019s not every day you meet JFK\u2019s double.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Clubbing<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

True Bar scores high on the atmosphere chart but would benefit from a dimmer switch to bring the sheen from the lighting down to a level more in keeping with its underground ethos. In every other respect, as they were fond of saying in the roaring 20s\u2019, \u2018the joint was jumping\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the appearance of the first band to Andrey Berenev\u2019s song, which he had written with Aleksandr Smirnov in mind and to which the flamboyant and charismatic chimney sweep took to the floor with relish, the atmosphere was beyond electric. If you like it lively, you got it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Andrey<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

True Bar is a true bar. Maladits!<\/em> I say in my very best Russian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copyright \u00a9 2018-2023 Mick Hart. All rights reserved.<\/strong><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

True Bar makes its debut on the Kaliningrad music scene 16 October 2023 ~ True Bar Kaliningrad the City’s Latest Music Venue Invited to the opening of a new music venue by singer-songwriter Andrey Berenev, the 14th of October 2023 saw us, my wife and I, rendezvousing with our friend and drinking collaborator, Inara, at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9450,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[116,40],"tags":[2047,2044,2046,2222,2045,2225,55,2223,2224],"class_list":["post-9448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kaliningrad-bars-restaurants-cafes","category-visitors-guide-to-kaliningrad","tag-aleksandr-chimney-sweep-kaliningrad","tag-aleksandr-smirnov","tag-aleksandr-smirnow-badger-club-kaliningrad","tag-andrey-berenev-kaliningrad","tag-andrey-berenev-singer-guitarist","tag-kaliningrad-nightlife","tag-mick-hart-in-kaliningrad","tag-true-club-kaliningrad","tag-true-club-music-venue-kaliningrad"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t