Bourbon Street, Amsterdam

- -For more than 15 years, local talent and far away guests have come together at the Bourbon Street Blues Café to play jazz, blues, soul and funk, or just to take part in the happy music-loving and beer-drinking crowd. The atmosphere is nothing but friendly, drinks are cheap and music is all around. Like in the Mardi-Gras streets of New Orleans, the party at Bourbon Street goes on pretty much until you decide to leave. Gates open at 10pm every night and never close before 4am.

Occasional big names, like Sting and Jeff Healey, have entered the stage at Bourbon Street from time to time. Concerts like these are rare happenings though, and tickets sell out way in advance. Regular weeks the program consists mostly of jam sessions and local talent on stage.

Sunday and Tuesday nights are traditionally blues jam session nights, open for anybody feeling groovy enough to enter upon stage. Sunday jams are being led by Terry Mann, a well known blues profile in Amsterdam and an appreciated entertainer on stage. For the Tuesday jam sessions, Mr. Mann hands over the microphone to another local blues celebrity -Lamar Chase.

During the weekends Bourbon Street gives you the chance to listen to decent bands from all over Europe and the States. There might be a cover charge for more well-known groups or musicians.

Somewhere between cheesy and charming, Bourbon Street Blues Café is a friendly beer hall with good quality live music, just off the Leidseplein square. Anybody from anywhere is bound to have a good time here! Check out their webpagewww.bourbonstreet.nl for more info

Open:
Sunday - Thursday 22.00 – 04.00
Friday - Saturday: 22.00 – 05.00
No live music last hour

Address:
Leidsekruisstraat 6-8
1017RH Amsterdam
Phone: (+31) (20) 623 34 40
The Netherlands

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Tuschinski cinema in Amsterdam

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Tuschinski is a huge, Art Deco cinema palace conveniently located between the Munt tower and theRembrandtplein. Walking in the area of the flower market, you may see two towers of Tuschinski rising above other buildings. Built by the immigrant from Poland Abraham Icek Tuschinski, the cinema opened in 1921 and it remains until today with its Art Deco interior one of the most cherished buildings in Amsterdam. Tuschinski has been thoroughly modernized and is today one of the release cinemas in the city.

History of the Tuschinski cinema
Abraham Icek Tuschinski (1898-1942) arrived to Rotterdam from Poland at the beginning of the 20c. The legend says he was just a poor, self-taught Jewish tailor aiming for America. Cinema was a new craze then and Tuschinski in a short period managed to open four cinemas in Rotterdam. In 1917, Tuschinski moved with his brothers in law, Gerschtanowitz and Ehrlich to Amsterdam, and a year later began the construction of the big cinema in Amsterdam at the cost of 4 million guilders, using according to his own words the best people, best ideas and best materials he could get.

The original project of the new cinema has been made by a young and later somehow unrecognized architect Hijman Louis de Jong and is a mixture of Art Deco with the style of the Dutch Amsterdam School in architecture, and Abraham Tuschinski's own taste. The architect could not to finish the building, Tuschinski fired him before the end of the construction, and two other architects were to complete the interiors.

The cinema has been designed as an imposing building, with a big entry, an imposing Art Deco façade and two towers on both sides, rising above the neighborhood. The interiors, designed by Pieter den Besten and Jaap Gidding were very Art Deco, with strong Jugendstil influences, just as the investor wanted it to have. The main foyer was imposing, plush, somber, lit by big yellow Art Deco lamps. The walls are from covered by carvings in dark wood, glazed tiles and bronze elements.

The huge main Tuschinski auditorium had an allure of an opera, with two big balconies one above the other, hanging above the audience. It had originally 1200 seats. In the side rooms, a cabaret named La Gaité, a Japanese tea room, a Moorish suite were located. Several smaller suites on higher floors were built. An elegant lift was taking the guests upstairs. The corridors of Tuschinski were built were not only to connect the various auditoria. Their labyrinth was meant to offer its guest the privacy. The cinema had a modern ventilation and heating system maintaining the same temperature throughout the whole building. In 1936, the cinema has been thoroughly renovated. The beautiful 2-inch thick woolen carpet in striking colors dates from this time.

During the German occupation 1940-1945, Abraham Tuschinski and nearly his entire family were murdered in the Nazi concentration camps. The cinema could not bear his patron's Polish-Jewish name – it has been renamed to "Tivoli". After the war, Tuschinski returned to its glory.

Tuschinski as a stage
Tuschinski's main hall has a wide stage with large cinema organ Wurlitzer-Strunk installed there in 1940, replacing an earlier Wurlitzer model 160. Previously Tuschinski had also a resident 16 instruments orchestra and presented stage shows with famous singers and musicians. Maurice Chevalier, Judy Garland, Marlene Dietrich, Edith Piaf, Dizzy Gillespie, Fats Domino, Dionne Warwick - all of them had concerts in this auditorium. The resident orchestra was disbanded in 1969 and the organ ceased to play before the movies in 1974.

Recent years
The old cinema needed renovation. First in 1984, the whole cinema carpet has been redone using the original thread in Morocco. Somehow, despite having the identical colours and the original thread, the carpet’s patterns have been lost. Still the effort was enormous. The carpet for the main foyer was 50m long and had to flown in one piece to Amsterdam by a KLM plane. KLM covered the cost of this cargo (more than $ 100.000). In 1998-2002 Tuschinski has been thoroughly rebuilt with the aim to restore it as a historical monument. The old original mural has been discovered and the painstaking restoration of the interiors performed. At the back of the old cinema, a modern annex has added with three more screens. The technical equipment of the cinema has been modernized.

Tuschinski cinema today
Today, the Tuschinski cinema belongs to the big distributor Pathé. It has three screening rooms in its old part and three in its new wing. The nearby newly built Pathé Munt cinema has additional 12 screens.
The main auditorium of Tuschinski audience has been reduced to 740 sets including love seats and private boxes. You may order wine and small meals to your private box. The Tuschinski's auditoria are also available for special events, concerts, and weddings. All red carpet premieres in Amsterdam take place at Tuschinski with stretched limousines bringing celebrities to its front among the crowd of the cinema by the movie lovers.

Pathé Tuschinski; Reguliersbreestraat 26-34, 1017 CN Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900-1458
Homepage: www.tuschinski.nl

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Amsterdam cinemas

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Going to the movies in Amsterdam
Dutch cinemas screen all movies in their original language version, with Dutch subtitles. As most of the movies are American or English, you will have a lot to chose from. Cinemas are conveniently located in the city center. Tickets except for the weekend evening, are easily available. You may not enter the screening after the movie started. For the movie schedules check the newspapers. The movies for kids are usually released both ways - subtitled in an original version and dubbed. Additionally, sometimes Dutch movies are released with English subtitles.

Every cinema in Amsterdam screens films in their original language with Dutch or English subtitles. There are some 55 movie theatres to choose from, many of which are located around Leidseplein and Rembrandtplein. Cinemas here can get very busy on the weekends so it’s advisable to book early. Most reservations can be made by phone or online, if not, just pop into the movie theatre prior the showing. Admission prices are around €8, depending on the showing, time and day.

Like any other city, Amsterdam caters for all tastes offering first run cinemas (screening regular films) and art-houses or filmhuizen. With the exception of Uitkijk, every cinema sells popcorn and an array of hot and cold beverages. If you fancy watching an art-house film or cult classic, head for Het Ketelhuis(Westergasfabriek, Harlemmerweg), the Rialto (Ceintuurbaan) the stunning Film Museum (Vondelpark) or The Movies on Haarlemmerdijk, which has its own restaurant. For the ultimate cinematic experience, a must is Tuschinski, a grand Art Deco cinema.

Amsterdam cinemas are:

Pathé Tuschinski
An old cinema palace conveniently located between the Munt tower and the Rembrandtplein. Built by the immigrant from Poland Abraham Tuschinski, the cinema opened in 1921 and it remains till today with its Art Deco interior one of the most cherished buildings in Amsterdam. Tuschinski has been recently rebuild, a modern annex has been added, the cinema has been modernized, but the character of its old part has been preserved.
Pathé Tuschinski; Reguliersbreestraat 26-34, 1017 CN Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900-1458
www.tuschinski.nl

Cinecenter
Café, bar serving some basic meals and an art house directly behind the big theater on the Leidseplein. Good coffee you and some basic meals which you may take into the screening hall, the whole plate with a fork and knife and you may watch the film keeping it on your lap and eating. Cinecenter is known among the cinema lovers. The bar opens about an hour before the first show.
Cinecenter; Lijnbaansgracht 236, 1017 PH Amsterdam
For reservations call: 623 66 15
www.cinecenter.nl

Cinema De Balie
De Balie is a vibrant with activity cultural center just at the Leidseplein, in front of the Pathé City cinema. You can get good coffee and cold beer in its café, you may follow interesting conferences about the actual cultural and political issues, as well as see artsy theater performances and selected films.
De Balie; Kleine-Gartmanplantsoen 10, 1017 RR Amsterdam
For reservations call: 553 35 100
www.debalie.nl

Filmmuseum Cinerama
An old multiplex which is going to be rebuild serves temporarily as the outlet of the Filmmuseum, showing art films on selected days of the week. Check the agenda for the schedule because often these are one time screenings.
Filmmuseum Cinerama, Marnixstraat 400, 1017 PL Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900 93 63
www.filmmuseum.nl

Filmmuseum Vondelpark
Film Museum is located in a big villa in Vondelpark. Apart from the real museum it functions as an art house showing old classic movies.
Usually runs the whole programs of composed of films of a chosen director, a known movie star or a certain artistic tendency.
Filmmuseum Vondelpark, Vondelpark 3, 1071 AA Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900 93 63
www.filmmuseum.nl

Filmcafé Ketelhuis 4
Art house located in the area of the Amsterdam municipal gas installations, now obsolete and turned into a cultural park. Artistic, selective and sometimes erratic programming. Ketelhuis 4 (in English: Boilerhouse 4) screens often Dutch movies and documentaries. Also a café.
Ketelhuis 4, Westergasfabriek, Haarlemmerweg 8-10, 1014 BE Amsterdam
For reservations call: 684 00 90
www.ketelhuis.nl

Kriterion
This is a student cinema, run by young people as well . It is located a bit off center, but often shows art films you are not going to see elsewhere. Check carefully the screening times. There might be only one screening of the film you want to see.
Kriterion; Roetersstraat 170, 1018 WE Amsterdam
For reservations call: 6231708
www.kriterion.nl

The Movies
The Movies is located at the end of Harlemmerdijk, about 20 minutes walk from theDam Square, going Nieuwendijk in the opposite direction to the Kalverstraat. If you continue walking this street The Movies will be on your left hand (although the name of the street will change). It is now the oldest cinemas in Amsterdam (est. 1912). It tries to combine quality programming with its commercial interests. It has also a restaurant and a café. The Movies, Haarlemmerdijk 159-165, 1013 KH Amsterdam
For reservations call: 6386016
www.themovies.nl

Pathé Arena
Big and modern multiplex out of the city, inside the commercial center near the Ajax Arena. It also has an I-max cinema. You may park the car in one of the parking spaces or go there by metro. Pathé Arena screens all the commercial hits. If you have never been to the I-max cinema, try it. because of the huge screen and the sheer quality of the projection it is really impressive.
Pathé Arena, ArenA Boulevard 600, 1101 DS Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900-1458. Access for disabled
www.pathe.nl/arena

Pathé de Munt
One of the newest multiplexes in Amsterdam. Modern architecture and very good quality of the projection, especially in two biggest halls – Munt 3 and Munt 11. Conveniently located in the center of Amsterdam, at the Munt tower and the Flower Market.
Pathé de Munt; Vijzelstraat 15, 1017HD Amsterdam
For reservations call: 0900-1458. Access for disabled
www.pathe.nl/demunt

Rialto Filmtheater
This is an old cinema now run by a group of young people as an art house. Interesting programming - Rialto often schedules reruns of artistic movies we all missed at the time of their release.
Rialto Filmtheater, Ceintuurbaan 338, 1072 GN Amsterdam
for reservations call: 0900-1458
Access for disabled
www.rialtofilm.nl

De Uitkijk
De Uitkijk means in Dutch as much as "look-out". It is a very small movie theater conveniently located on the Prinsengracht, just meters from Leidsestraat, in a proximity of Leidseplein. De Uitkijk is traditionally an art cinema programming small indie films. It also often reruns the older good movies.
Prinsengracht 452, 1017 KE Amsterdam
For reservations call: 6237460
www.uitkijk.nl

To find out weekly listings, get a copy of the Film Agenda brochure (in English) which you can pick up at the cinemas, hotels and cafes. Or try the bimonthly magazine Preview; the monthly newsletter Filmkrant or local newspapers Trouw, De Volkskrant and Het Parool. For online listings, check out filmladder.nl (in Dutch). For printable guide see Shark's Film Agenda: This week's films in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam is also famous for its film festivals. A few of those worth visiting are theAmnesty International Film Festival (20-23 March), the International Documentary Film Festival (18-28 November) and the Amsterdam Pink Film Festival (10-19 December).

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Amsterdam Clubs

- -For night owls and party people, there are plenty of Amsterdam clubs that offer wild, fun or classy nights out. Whether you're looking to dance the night away to your favourite hip hop and dubstep tracks, wow the crowd with your style or meet that special someone, the nightclubs in Amsterdam have got you covered.

Trendy Clubs
For some, a night out is all about showcasing your latest style and hitting the dance floor to see and be seen, and there are a couple of Amsterdam clubs that are geared towards just that.Jimmy Woo, just off Leidseplein at Korte Leidsedwarsstraat 18, is the often called most stylish club to visit in the city. Its reputation as a place where the beautiful people go to party is well deserved and the odd celebrity can be seen strutting their stuff here at VIP events and after-parties.

There is more than one trendy Amsterdam club, and some of the best night spots in the city can be found in the popular Rembrantplein area. Escape, located right on the square, is a large club with a number of different rooms, all of which are designed for a stylish night out. Across the square, Rain offers a high class nightclub and bar with a carefully planned luxury ethos.

Music Clubs
If the music being played is essential to your night out, there are plenty of venues and clubs on offer that focus on or have nights specialising in certain genres of music. The most well-known of these music centred Amsterdam clubs are, of course, Melkweg and Paradiso, both of which can be found just off Leidseplein. These respected music venues host concerts by huge international acts as well as club nights on the weekends that focus on a particular genre, from house and techno to indie rock. Bitterzoet, a short walk away at Spuistraat 2, also hosts a number of music nights, with either DJs or live bands performing a mixture of funk, soul, house and even modern jazz music.

Jazz Clubs
For clubs that offer a more mature music selection, look no further than the many jazz clubs Amsterdam has to offer. The large and modern Bimhuis at Piet Heinkade 3, beside the passenger terminal where Amsterdam's cruise ships dock, is the heart of the city's jazz scene and has hosted some of the genre's biggest stars. For a venue with an older feel, Cafe Casablanca can be found just outside the Red Light District at Zeedijk 24 and has been a fixture of Amsterdam's jazz scene since 1945.

Sugar Factory sitting directly opposite Melkweg, offers a more youthful and energetic take on the jazz scene. This club is the place to be for funky jazz fusion music in Amsterdam; for a real treat, Wicked Jazz Sounds on Sunday nights is the time to come.

Student / Backpacker Clubs
Not every visitor to Amsterdam is rolling in money, and there are a number of clubs in the city with low or no entrance fees and relaxed dress codes that are friendly to students and backpackers. Dansen bij Jansen, close to Spui at Handboogstraat 11, is the most popular club for Amsterdam students. Student ID is required to get in and special drink deals and happy hours make it reasonably easy on the wallet.

On Rembrantplein, the tacky and easily spotted Club Smokey may not be the classiest Amsterdam club there is, but its cheap and cheerful approach makes it a popular spot for backpackers and students looking for an uncomplicated night out. Studio 80 is almost directly opposite Club Smokey and offers a great choice for those without much money who don't want to listen to pop music. Music nights are hosted here throughout the week and ticket prices are always affordable.

Gay Clubs
There are of course a large number of Amsterdam gay clubs that make for a great night out in the gay capital of Europe. Every Sunday hosts one of the most well respected gay nights in Amsterdam at De Trut on Bilderdijkstraat 165. The music is pop and dance oriented and the club has some strict rules, such as no mobile phones allowed inside and no straight people.

For more regular gay Amsterdam clubs, Club Roque at Amstel 178 is a bit more relaxed with its rules and offers free entrance on Wednesday and Thursday nights as well as before midnight on the weekends. The cruise club Fuxx at Warmoesstraat 96 has replaced the legendary club Cockring and also offers regular nights with a focus on fetish parties.

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