Live Music Venue Bangkok
Tokyo Joe’s
25/9 Sukhumvit Soi 26 1 (opposite Tara Hotel)
Timings: Daily 6pm-lam
This may be called the Mecca of Blues. At 9.30 every night, talented local musicians fill up the club with blues music. They occasionally play R&B, soul and jazz. Their specials – Flamenco Nights on Mondays and jam sessions on Sundays – are well received. Ardent blues fans, head to Tokyo Joe’s.
Ad Here the 13th
13 Samsen Rd, Banglumphu
This is an unassuming and unusual, but cool and funky hangout, fitted with a tiny bar, a few tables and some instruments. Young Thais, expats and the tourists, frequent the place. During weekends, the crowd even spill over to the sidewalk. The house band plays cool blues, Motown and Janis Joplin. Here you get to meet people from all over the world. You have the choice of crazy cocktails or the Thai-style Whiskey-soda-ice. The place serve inexpensive munches to go along with the drinks.
Brown Sugar
231 / 20 Sarasin Rd [BTS Rajdamri]
Timings: Mon-Sat 11am-1am, Sun 5pm-1am
This old jazz club stands on the road bordering Lumpini Park. It has an old-world feel with a small stage and tight benches. It is packed every night and to grab a seat come early enough. The club serves hard drinks and pub food, but it is costlier than what the ambience suggests. Sunday nights bring bar singers from other hotels here, as it is their day off. Together with the house pros, they bring the house down with jam sessions.
Shela
106 Soi Lang Suan
Timings: Daily7pm-1am
This is a women-only club, with friendly and flirty servers making the female clientele feel at home. Frequented mostly Thais, they serve Thai snacks and Thai whiskey-soda. Their special drinks include funny named ‘Sperm’ and ‘Freaky Ladies’. The house band plays hip-hop and Thai pop, which is usually good.
Saxophone Bar
3/8 Phyathai Rd [BTS Victory Monument]
Timings: Daily 6pm-2am
This place is well known for its live jazz and blues music. Mostly frequented by young Thais, they serve both Thai and Western food. The club’s low-ceilinged, wooden floors are packed with fun-loving youngsters daily.
Ad Makers
5I IS I Soi Lang Suan [BTS Chidlom]
Timings: Sun-Thurs 6pm-lam, Fri & Sat -1a
This is Bangkok’s temple for live rock ‘n’ roll. Classic rock hits from Hendrix to Lynyrd Skynyrd and The Police to Coldplay is played here every night. From 8pm to 10pm, a trio of hipsters strums acoustic sets as a prelude to the rock ‘n’ roll performance by the Big Boy Band. An all-female folk band plays here on Sundays. No designer drinks, mostly Jack Daniels and Johnnie Walker. The pub grub is good with varieties of spicy Thai salads.
Titanium
Sukhumvit Soi 22 [BTS Phrom Pong]
Timings: Daily 6pm -1:30am
This is a fun-filled wild club with friendly hostesses clad in Bangkok-Zeitgeist ao dai. The club features an all-female rock ‘n’ roll band playing here daily. The Vodka Room here is ‘cozier’ with the room temperature down to -10 degrees. The club has 90 odd varieties of vodka to choose from.