Music venues & clubs – All our local tips

All jazz lovers coming by train won’t see much of Zagreb if they enter Bacchus. Situated less than 100m from the central train station, this bar offers food and drink for both body and soul, serving as a perfect welcome, farewell or just a quick resting place for an inquisitive wanderer.

A bar with history, a former legendary notorious hot spot and gay meeting point, reopened its doors in 2008. with a new concept, slowly regaining it’s undeservedly lost cult status.  The first thing that one notices upon entering is the details.

Everything here is about details. Every time you look around you will notice something new, from numerous antique writing machines, gramophones, radios, television sets, car models and wardrobes to a trapped baby doll, yellow rubber duck and a shark gnawing on a disco ball, to name just a few. The counter itself is made of an old bookshelf filled with books, and you get the check in one of them.

Jazz is played Wed-Sat, and the programme can be checked on their web page. If the weather is nice, you can sit in the garden up front, which reminds of a grandma’s back garden, extremely pleasant and relaxing.

The bar is rather small, with just 8 or so tables, which adds to the appeal, but should be taken into account when coming in the evening.

The wine list is rather short but carefully selected, featuring wines from Argentina, Chile, California, Republic of South Africa as well as Croatian pride and glory.  Besides wines, they offer a great list of cocktails and rakija made with herbs, berries, sour cherries, honey, pear, myrtle, and even nettle.

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Bacchus Jazz Bar | Art & culture, Bars, Music, Relaxing | Wine bottle from Kn 110
Trg Kralja Tomislava 16 | Lower town | +38514922218
10:00 – 00:00 daily

If you’re looking for a place where you can have a drink during the day and dance to some good music at night, check out the Boogaloo Club.

More than once I’ve seen this place half-empty during day hours; you’ll probably find a few groups of students, as the club is situated between a couple of colleges. However, in the evening it quickly gets packed with people, especially on concert nights. If there’s a tribute band having a gig in Zagreb, most likely it’ll take place here. There have been music tributes to famous Croatian bands, but also the widely popular musicians and bands as Guns ‘n’ Roses, Nirvana, The Doors, Bob Marley…

Even if you’re not into the whole tribute thing, Boogaloo won’t let you down- you could get a chance to listen to well-known rock and metal bands, let yourself go a little crazy on disco nights and dance to techno/electro music until the early morning hours. No chance you’ll be disappointed – this club is a place worth visiting.

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Boogaloo Club | Bars, Music | Concert ticket from Kn 25.00
Ulica Grada Vukovara 68 | Trnje
08:00 – 02:00 daily

The best way to describe Gjuro 2 is to say that it is a must-visit-club. Gjuro 2 is one of the oldest clubs in Zagreb, it has a long tradition and a great reputation. The name Gjuro 2 suggests that there is also Gjuro number 1, but actually Gjuro 2 was, before it was renamed, just Gjuro.

This club guarantees loads of fun almost every day of the week, every day a different program for different tastes. Wednesday is a day for R’n'B fans (R’n'B Confusion) , Thursday is for Business class, on Friday is a Mash’s (R)evolution and Saturday is dedicated to house music (Gorgeous Gjuro).

Gjuro 2 is among the most popular clubs in Zagreb, so during the weekend nights don’t be surprised to see a crowd outside waiting to come in. Also prepare yourself for a queue when you step inside. But that shouldn’t bother you cause in the end it’s all worth it.

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Gjuro 2 | Bars, Music | Ticket Kn 20.00
Medveščak 2 | Upper town | +38514683367
Tue & Thu -Sat till 04:00

First things first – this ain’t no fancy lounge bar or a cozy bean-bag chair club, you need to have some balls when going here. When a couple of alternative hotspots around the city closed, Krivi put (Wrong Way) filled the much needed space by becoming the starting point (god forbid the ending point, since it closes at 2am) for people that love and know how to party.

The insides look pretty grim, with uncomfy wooden benches and a huge open podium and graffiti covered walls, but when did that mean anything. The most important is that the drinks are cheap, the music good and loud and the crowd filled with positive energy.
By coming on Thursdays or Saturdays you can sometimes get lucky and see a concert, if not, you’ll probably see the band members mingling around with other punk/rock/ska music lovers.

Anyways, no words can do justice to this place, it’s like Marmite, you either like it or not. If you have ever drunk a bottle of the cheapest wine on a bench in a city park, you’d feel at home in this place. If not, you can always join somebody on the benches out front and then get inside! No entrance fee, dark atmosphere, sweaty crowd, loud energetic music, cheap drinks (eeeeeeexcelllent rakija)… I hope you’re not reading this far because you should already be on your way to Krivi put!

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Krivi put | Bars, Music | Beer Kn 12.00
Joispa Runjaninova 3 | Lower town
10:00 – 02:00 daily

If you’re done with sightseeing for the day and are looking for a place where you could hang out with your co-travelers, grab a drink (or two, or three…) and listen to some good music, I suggest you check out the KSET club.

Founded by students of electrical engineering and computing at the FER faculty in Zagreb, KSET is a great little place for people who are not really into mainstream music that’s blasting full-volume in most clubs today. They are known for their themed nights that range from indie to jazz, with a special tribute every now and then – it just might happen that you come across an evening dedicated to your favourite musician or band!

The atmosphere at the club is fantastic – depending on the choice of music, it can be relaxed or vibrating with energy. The clientele usually consists of college students, and drinks are pretty cheap when compared with some other clubs in Zagreb. Do I really need to add anything else?

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KSET club | Bars, Music | Beer Kn 7.00
Unska 3, | Trnje | +38516129758
20:00 – 04:00 daily

From the 1970, when it was open, Saloon has been one of the most popular and prestigious clubs in Zagreb. Today it has a reputation of a cult center, and is a place where many people from public and social life gather. Saloon even has famous „godfathers”: every year some person from public life takes that title. The interior of Saloon is really stylish and it is also one of the reasons why people enjoy coming here.

Saloon is now most known for the “After party of all after parties” program. Every Friday to Saturday and Saturday to Sunday Saloon is the only place in Zagreb where you can party in the morning hours starting from 04:30.

So if you still don’t feel like going home in that hour, Saloon will welcome you for only 20 kn and there you can squeeze the last atoms of your energy by dancing to the sounds of house music.

It’s also good to know there is no strict dress code, but try to dress nicely!

Thursday: The Old School
Friday: Flashback & Dance Electric
Saturday: Croatian Music & House/R’n'B
Every Friday & Saturday: After Party of all After Parties, start 04:30

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Saloon | Bars, Music | Entrance Kn 20.00
Tuškanac 1 | Upper town | +38514834903
Depends on the program

The core of student life in Zagreb is the Student Centre, popularly known as SC (pronounce it as S-Tzay, otherwise people won’t get what you’re talking about). I’ll be honest – the main reason people go there is to eat, as it’s the biggest student restaurant in the city. But don’t give up on SC so quickly – there’s a bunch of structures besides the cafeteria where you can have fun, and you don’t have to be a local to do so.

First of all, there’s Teatar &TD, an experimental student theatre that gives quite attractive shows. Not your thing? Go see a movie or a photography exhibition – you can find your way through the complex using the legend on the big map hanging above the entrance.

My favourite part of everything this place has to offer are the concerts. The SC has brought a number of great bands to Zagreb, such as The Young Knives, Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band, Handsome Furs, Animal Collective… nothing mainstream, but fantastic music.

The slogan of the SC is the one mentioned in the title – the culture of change, and that’s exactly what they do. Through good movies, alternative music scene and various amazing cultural festivals, they’ll do their best to open up your mind and show you there’s more to this society than you can see in the newspaper and on TV.

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Student Centre | Art & culture, Music, Theaters | Concert ticket Kn 80.00
Savska cesta 25 | Lower town
24 hours daily

Tvornica is a club/concert hall/coffee bar. During a day it is a regular coffee bar full of, mostly, students from the near by Faculty of Political Science. A couple of times a year some big shoe stores organise big sales in there.

But Tvornica didn’t earn its reputation by selling coffee or cheap shoes. Great concerts of so many famous and important musicians of our time, performances, dance shows… have made this place so special and unique on Zagrebian scene.

As a club, Tvornica hasn’t got a weekly program. Instead, from time to time, it pops up with something like Studio 54, a night dedicated to the disco music from the 70s. A few years ago this was a regular Friday night scheme (also one of the reasons of Tvornica’s popularity).

Nowadays Tvornica is focused more on making its own programmes instead of just repeating one week after week, so the full name of Tvornica, which is Tvornica kulture, meaning culture factory couldn’t be more true.

Some upcoming events:

20-02-10 Pakleni šund by Tomo Ricov | 22:00 | Tickets 40kn

06-03-10 Jura Stublić & Film | 21:00 | Tickets 70/80kn

13-03-10 Hugh Cornwell | 21:00 | Tickets 120/150kn

19-03-10 Belfast Food (St. Patrick’s Day) | 21:00 | Tickets 70/80kn

26-03-10 Esma Redžepova | 21:00 | Tickets 90/110kn

27-03-10 These New Puritans | 21:00 | Tickets 120/150kn

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Tvornica | Art & culture, Bars, Coffee & tea, Music | Beer Kn 15.00
Šubićeva 2 | Lower town | +38517778673
Coffee bar 08:00 – 22:00 daily, Club 22:00 – 04:00