TWENTY MUST-VISIT DESTINATIONS AROUND THE WORLD THAT SHOULD BE ON EVERY MUSIC LOVER’S RADAR. by DANA RAIDT / Illustration by JAMES TAYLOR tevie Wonder once said that music gives us memories, while Anthony Bourdain noted what many of us know: Travel forever changes MUMBAI Bollywood films might be Mumbai’s us, leaving marks on our memory. They’re both right—and for music- most famous entertainment export, but the city also has a rich music scene. heads and travelers, the most sublime memories happen when we com- George Harrison came here in the late 1960s to learn sitar from Ravi Shankar bine these two loves. Whether Tango dancers in and record part of the first solo album Caminito of La Boca from a Beatle; one of Harrison’s guitars is you’re paying homage to a mu- now on display at Café Gostana. Experi- ence traditional South Indian Carnatic sical hero or simply seeking out new sounds, Buenos Aires music at Sri Shanmukhananda Chan- drasekarendra Saraswathi Auditorium these 20 music-centric cities are full of venues, Tango has many diverse influences, but there’s no question that its heart and soul lie in or Western-style classical performances Buenos Aires. That’s despite the music and dance being censored, and even banned, at National Centre for the Performing artists, record stores, museums and landmarks during much of the 20th century as Argentina went through political upheaval. Get Arts—home to India’s only professional a crash course at the Buenos Aires Tango Festival & World Cup, which features tango orchestra. International EDM fans flock waiting to be seen, heard and remembered. orchestras, dance competitions and tango-related film and art exhibitions, or at the to the annual Sunburn and Supersonic classic Rojo Tango show at Hotel Faena. Jump into the action at the unassuming Bar festivals. Los Laureles, which transforms into a milonga (dance hall) in the evenings. Tango Queer breaks tango’s traditional heteronormative rules, allowing people of all sexual identities AUSTIN and genders to learn in a relaxed, LGBTQ-friendly environment. The massive La Bomba CHICAGO de Tiempo percussion improv ensemble takes over outdoor venue Ciudad Cultural Konex on Monday nights. Buenos Aires is full of EDM, hip-hop, rock and reggaetón clubs such Ever since 1940s Delta blues artists as Club Crobar, Cocoliche and Niceto Club. Thelonious Club has upscale cocktails (try the arrived and began electrifying their you can’t swing a 10-gallon hat in Texas without hitting a music landmark: Gang of Youths at Keith Richards: vodka, lemon and sugar), a low-key atmosphere and live jazz Wednesday sound, Chicago has been an incubator Austin City Limits San Antonio has amazing mariachi bands; Lubbock’s Buddy Holly Center through Sunday. for groundbreakers, from woke rappers honors the hometown hero; a Littlefield liquor store doubles as a shrine to (Common, Chance the Rapper, Lupe Fi- country outlaw Waylon Jennings; and the tiny town of Turkey celebrates asco) to alt-rockers (Wilco, Smashing the king of western swing (the official state music of Texas) with the Bob Wills Day celebra- Pumpkins, Liz Phair). Relive the city’s tion. But nowhere in the state is music appreciation as apparent and accessible as in Austin, blues heyday by immersing yourself in the self-proclaimed live music capital of the world. In the early 1970s, Willie Nelson ditched the history of Chess Records at Willie Nashville’s cookie-cutter country scene to grow out his hair and find community in Austin, Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, tak- spurring the once-sleepy college town to blossom into a haven for musicians who don’t SEOUL counts BoA, the queen of ing in big acts at the annual outdoor follow the rules. Two annual music festivals, Austin City Limits and SXSW Music Festival, Korean pop, among its Chicago Blues Festival (the largest bring in floods of fans and transform the entire metropolis—from hotel conference rooms artists. SMTown includes free blues festival in the world) or with to church pulpits—into makeshift venues. Laid-back spots such as the Continental Club, a theater that showcases a show at Buddy Guy’s Legends. The Emo’s, Mohawk, Antone’s and Historic Scoot Inn keep the music flowing year-round. k-pop artist psy’s 2012 hit both hologram and live Chicago Blues Experience museum is “Gangnam Style” was an concerts, as well as a new slated to open next year. internet sensation—but K-pop museum that offers more importantly, it was augmented reality tours Seattle a catalyst for the Korean (sign up well in advance cultural wave known as for the AR component). Long before Nirvana made music also thrives here to- Pearl Jam: Home and Away at Hallyu. Gangnam enthusi- Myeongdong Underground the Pacific Northwest syn- day thanks to local luminar- the Museum of Pop Culture. asts can explore the song’s Shopping Center is rife onymous with angst (and ies Fleet Foxes, Neko Case, It’s hard to go wrong with live namesake Seoul neighbor- with K-pop records and flannel), artists such as the Death Cab for Cutie and music in Seattle, but Re-bar, hood, a sophisticated dis- tchotchkes, while record Ventures, the Fastbacks, Modest Mouse—and in no the Crocodile and Neumos trict south of the Hangang store Vinyl & Plastic lets Jimi Hendrix and Heart small part thanks to radio all are mainstays. Sub Pop River that was rural rice audiophiles while away were giving the Emerald station KEXP, whose Gath- Records—the Seattle up- paddies just a few decades hours at listening stations. City a reputation for jaw- ering Space at the Seattle start that took a chance on ago; the light-up “Gangnam Dig through hip-hop, soul dropping rock ’n’ roll. Wan- Center hosts concerts and Nirvana back in 1989—is now Style” sculpture is a must, and funk stacks at Rm360, der through Jimi Hendrix co-working. Browse through one of the most influential of course. SMTown is an ur- owned by local DJs, then Park, next to the Northwest one-of-a-kind records from labels in the country. Shop ban theme park run by one cap off a successful vinyl African American Museum, all over the world at the Light its wares at the Sub Pop Air- of South Korea’s biggest hunt by renting a private where a Hendrix exhibit in the Attic Record Shop and port Store in Seattle-Tacoma entertainment companies, karaoke room at Luxury Chicago Blues Festival runs through May 5. Indie check out exhibits such as International Airport. SM Entertainment—which CANDICE LAWLER (AUSTIN); MICHEL SETBOUN/CORBIS VIA GETTY IMAGES (BUENOS AIRES); SCOTTOLSON/GETTY IMAGES (CHICAGO) Su Noraebang. 64 delta sky / march 2019 delta sky / march 2019 65 BERLIN PARIS Sample the City of Light’s offerings—be it classical, jazz, opera, hip-hop, rock, did david bowie end the Cold War? It depends on whom you ask. some believe sparked the downfall of the Eastern Bloc. Take the cabaret or chanson—at the Cité de la Two centuries after Johann Sebastian Bach similarly found inspi- Bowie Berlin Walk to follow in Mr. Stardust’s footsteps; Berlin Musique-Philharmonie de Paris, home ration in the German capital—composing works you might now Music Tours also offers tours of local punk, club and rock land- to a symphony hall, amphitheater, hear at Berlin’s neoclassical Konzerthaus—Bowie came to West marks. Hansa Studios has seen the likes of Bowie and U2 and is music museum and library. Wander rue Berlin with Iggy Pop in 1976, remaining for two years. The resulting sometimes open to visitors who want to get a glimpse into the city’s Oberkampf for rock and dance clubs or albums—Low, Heroes and Lodger, collectively known as his Berlin musical past and present. Contemporary jazz performers and fans rue des Lombards for jazz. On June 21, Trilogy—convey the hopelessness of a city divided by the Berlin take over the city each May during the XJAZZ Festival. And while performers take over city streets for Fête Wall. When Bowie returned in 1987 to perform on the steps of the the Ramones may be forever linked with New York City, the only de la Musique. The Olympia has been Reichstag, East Berliners braved the threat of police violence to museum dedicated to the Fast Four—Ramones Museum, Bar & graced by everyone from Jeff Buckley to gather near the wall to try to hear the forbidden music—an event Café, run by a German superfan —is in Berlin’s Kreuzberg district. Edith Piaf (whose 11th arrondissement apartment is now the Musée Edith Piaf) and today hosts French and international acts nearly every night. MEMPHIS Build ample time for music into any Memphis itinerary, because it’s bound to be busy: Beale Street, Graceland, LONDON the Memphis Rock ‘n’ Soul Museum, The Bob Marley the Stax Museum of American Soul and Museum Sun Studio are all musts. In Memphis you can start exploring the state’s new london is home to some of the best-known pop, rock, punk, metal, EDM, psychedelic, hip- Tennessee Music Pathways or launch hop, soul and dance artists of our time—and that’s not counting the expats, such as Handel Kingston into the Mississippi Blues Trail, a series and Hendrix, who have found inspiration in its Georgian architecture and cozy clubs. of markers at distinguished sites that Several companies offer tours of the city’s many musical landmarks, including memorials Without crunching the numbers, it’s tell the story of America’s musical evolu- to the departed. (David Bowie and Amy Winehouse both have impressive murals.) Geek safe to say that the per capita music tion.