Good Night, and Good Luck

Friday
Madame Butterfly at Staatsoper with Christian. With three opera houses in town, there’s always something on – and you can usually get decent balcony seats for under €10. No need to worry about dressing up either – this is Berlin, not Vienna… Tonight, Madame B did a good job (though I wouldn’t call her a butterfly…) but the rest was a bit mediocre… A perfect after-opera snack at the Tadschikische Teestube across the street didn’t happen, all the low tables were crowded. But Gloria Viagra and Sherry Vine and rocked the house in Big Eden with their club Squeezebox and their in-your-face act. Fucked up my tinnitus but made me feel I was finally back in Berlin.

Saturday
With Civan at Solar. Finally Berlin has a stylish sky bar where you can bring visitors. Two floors, bar and eatery, with white leather sofas swinging in chains from the ceiling and panaroma views in three directions. Rounded the night off at Vagabund on Knesebeckstrasse/Savignyplatz, a round-the-clock tanzbar classic, labelled outside as “private gay club men only” but in reality just very mixed. Weird in a great way, from the mature and imposing lady with tinted glasses in the bar to the sinister doorman.