Five top holidays for music fans

21.07.2023 - 08:48 / roughguides.com

If you're feeling tired of your local concert hall, or you fancy combining a trip with some world-class music, you may want to consider one of these truly memorable music holidays, from Rough Guides' Make The Most Of Your Time On Earth .

The young François Luambo Makiadi – better known as Franco – was barely 11 when he was first spotted jamming on a makeshift instrument in the market district of 1940s Léopoldville, as Kinshasa was then known. By his early twenties, Franco was the biggest star in Congolese dance music. He called his Cuban-influenced musical style “rumba odemba”, after a favourite Congolese aphrodisiac. Franco went on to open four nightclubs in Kinshasa and throughout the last two decades of his life, the 1970s and 1980s, Kinshasa was a throbbing live-music hub. Even now, the seedy but lively Matonge district around Rond-Pont Victoire, between Kasa-Vubu and the centre, buzzes after dark.

For a dose of raw-edged nightlife, head up to the rooftop terrace at the down-at-heel Hôtel de Crèche, near Rond-Pont Victoire: live bands play here most nights. Meanwhile in Gombe Commune, the more salubrious central district, well-heeled locals and expats pack out the dancefloor at Chez Ntemba, an after-midnight club. If you want to catch a big-name band, see the local press – near the Congo River, the swish Grand Hôtel Kinshasa and Halle de la Gombe sometimes host stars such as Werra Son, Youssou N’Dour and Papa Wemba, all of whom cite Franco as a formative influence.

Kinshasa’s live music venues include Hôtel de Crèche, Chez Ntemba, Grand Hôtel Kinshasa, and Halle de la Gombe (www.ccf-kinshasa.org).

Beirut is packed with live music shows every night, with even the more popular bands often playing in tiny, packed-out bars for free. You might hear Arabic rhythms over the top of a saxophone, or electronic soul in French and Arabic. To plan your night you’ll need to pick up some of the flyers dumped at the entrance to Ta Marbuta in Hamra or at the Art Lounge bar in Karantina. Then head across town to walk up the hilly Monot Street, home to the popular Facebook Pub and the city’s see-and-be-seen crowd. But Monot is losing its edge to Gemmayze, at the bottom of the hill, a change kick-started by a red-neon-lit bar called Torino Express.

The bars start emptying out after midnight, when queues start to form at clubs such as BO18 and Sky Bar. BO18 is in a converted bunker, and when the sun rises over the Mediterranean, the roof peels back and the party steps up a gear. The open-air Sky Bar, meanwhile, has a 360-degree view of the city lights, framed by the mountains and the never-ending shoreline and patronized by Armani-clad, Hummer-driving playboys. It may all feel a little too cool for school, but Beirut