BROWSE Thousands of music fans will converge on Adalen, Denmark, June 14-16 to catch the Northside Music Festival (northside.dk), where Phoenix, fun., Imagine Dragons, the Flaming Lips and others will rock out. While many of the acts are international, Denmark’s capital, Copenhagen, a few hours’ drive from Adalen, has undeniably amped up its own music profile in recent years, producing a bevy of buzz bands including Kashmir (who will perform at Northside), Quadron, Indians and Efterklang. Kashmir frontman Kasper Eistrup says Copenhagen is his favorite city in all of Scandinavia, insisting it has “more original food, fashion, art and culture than Stockholm, Oslo or Helsinki.” The festival is a perfectly timed excuse to visit, as winters can be brutal. “We all wait for summer,” says breakthrough folk hero Indians (real name Soren Juul). “We have a fantastic beach. You can see Sweden on the other side of the water.” But Brooklynite Nabil Ayers, who works with Efterklang and Indians as manager of label 4AD, hasn’t noticed any winter blues on his Copenhagen jaunts. “Everyone’s on bikes every day of the year,” he says. “It’s how they get around. Everyone is healthy and happy.”
EAT If you can’t book a table at NOMA (noma.dk)–considered by many the best restaurant in the world–check buzz spot Nimb (tivoli.dk/nimb) on the edge of the Tivoli gardens. Ball out with the wine-paired tasting menu for $350, or go for the more reasonable brasserie options starting at around $14. For a quick, “very cheap” meal, Indians’ go-to is Vietnamese hot spot LeLe (lele.dk) in Vesterbro, a young “hipster” neighborhood. “I like the simple pho soup, and they also have really nice seafood,” he says. But if you want a more classic Danish experience, Eistrup suggests Smorrebrod, open rye-bread sandwiches topped with cured meats, pickled herring, smoked salmon and other goodies. “Try Slotskaelderen, a place that has endured since the late 1700s, in front of the old parliament building,” he says. “The walls and ceilings look like they’re about to cave in. I always order beef tartare with raw egg yolk, horseradish, capers and homemade pickles, with one large Carlsberg and one small glass of Linie Akvavit Snaps.”
CHILL The Hotel Fox (brochner-hotels.dk/en/our-hotels/fox) is a must, says Ayers, who compares it to New York’s trendy Ace Hotel. “It has a hipster vibe. Every room is designed differently, with tons of neat photographs.” For cheap drinks, check out Western Saloon in the fashionable Frederiksberg area, says Ulrik Orum-Petersen, partner of Volcano Management, which represents Kashmir. “It’s definitely a theme bar, but it draws a crazy lineup of people always looking for good conversation.” Eistrup is partial to Bo-bi Bar, in Copenhagen’s center. “[It was] established in 1917 by a sailor who returned from New York City and introduced American drinking culture here,” he says. “There are red drapes, tapestries and carpets, with a fantastic Edward Hopper-esque atmosphere. Order a boiled egg and a Refsvindinge beer.” To connect with the local music scene, try Indians’ and Ayers’ favorite spot in the Norrebro district, Musiksmag (musiksmag.com), a “small basement club where a lot of musicians hang out,” Indians says. “You talk about touring and records, and the bartender is also the DJ–he only plays vinyl.”
GIG Kashmir played its first gig at Klaptraeet, a small cafe in Kultorvet square with outsized historical heft. “It used to be the apartment of Danish philosopher Soren Kirkegaard,” Eistrup says. ÂIndians loves Vega (vega.dk), a renowned two-room space where he saw his first show. “It’s the best venue in Denmark,” he says. Indians landed his first gig, however, at Loppen (loppen.dk), a 300 to 400-person venue in Christiana, a long-running squatter commune. “One thousand people live there now, in old factories and buildings,” he says. “There’s free hash, a lot of pot. It’s a good place to get psychedelic–musically.”