Friday night music scene in Seminyak Bali

Friday night I road down to the Jazz Bar & Grille in Sanur to meet an Aussie friend of mine Richard from QLD. Richard is a muso and is always interested to check the local scene. We arrived way too early around 8pm and the music was scheduled for 10pm. After having a beer and catching up we decided to go to JP's Warung in Seminyak, about 200 meters from my house!

JP's offers a breakfast, lunch and dinner menu and has live music 7 nights a week. I ordered a small beer, Richard a coffee and we checked out the band, which consisted of 5 musicians plus 2 female vocalists. Everyone was Indonesian and they sang in English. Renditions of songs like Red Red Wine don't really do anything for me, but are a staple of the Bali cover bands. If you are out getting wasted with your mates I suppose it can work, but for those seeking something inspiring you won't find it. JP's does feature talented bands including Latin focused Buena Tierra and the internationally recognized Saharaja.

Santa Fe was our next stop. This bar also has live music 7 nights a week and last night the band knocked out their play list, which included various Gypsy Kings numbers. "They really stretch out the songs." Said Richard, after one number got dragged out for about 10 minutes. One thing that impresses me about Balinese bands, is lack of talent never seems to deter them. They get on stage have a good time regardless. The owner of Santa Fe, a little fellow called Superman bought us a couple of drinks, which I appreciate. Santa Fe does some good food too!