Drop Inn is a classic venue for intimate live music in the heart of Copenhagen – on the corner of Kompagnistræde – Hestemøllestræde, close to the remains of Stone Age villages from the Ertebøllet-era, 4,000 years before Christ.
Drop Inn opened in 1943 as a traditional restaurant with cabaret entertainment, but found its form when Else Thomsen – flanked by the legendary waiter’s Carl and Herluf and the beautiful Annie Bel-Kher – turned it into a haven for the progressive young people of the time, bohemians, actors, musicians, artists and politically engaged regulars who enjoyed life & live jazz music.
Legends such as Jørgen and Jytte Ryg, renaissance man Jurij Moskvitin, star actresses such as Judy Gringer and Ghita Nørby, artists such as Per Arnoldi and the writer Henrik Stangerup who stated: “you have a conversation at Drop In – then you leave, and when you come back the conversation just continues”
Pub chronicler Bent Zinglersen described Drop Inn in 1965 “The walls are hung with posters, especially for art exhibitions – Picasso, Kandinsky, Klee, Freddie and graphics from the art museum Louisiana. The audience is mainly people who are interested in art, Jazz, and such topics as the Campaign against Nuclear Weapons.”
Rebecca Brüel, med Birgit Brüel. Sangerinder. på Drop Inn. 1977
Back then, people talked about the “death-route” or the “elephant walk” to the “elephant cemetery” – where good people from all walks of life commuted from Bobibar and Andy’s to the Drop Inn till the break of dawn and beyond.
Gideon Tazelaar live at Drop Inn, photo by Gorm Valentin
The regulars gathered around 10 in the morning. At 5-6 p.m., the “dinner gang” came, and often the diners stayed when the music started playing. Later in the evening the “cultural elite” arrived and partied all night.
A selection of guests in the early 1960s
Today, the focus on cutting-edge live music in diverse genres and the relaxed cozy atmosphere has been preserved and optimized by owner Mia Schlytter, facilitating the the latest modernizations of Drop Inn, which include a cozy sunny outdoor element and a total redesign of the concert space – and the addition of a DJ after the concerts means that Drop Inn has become a kind of backstage room for music lovers and Creatives from all over the world, experiencing intimate concerts with brand new and classic talents curated by Max Thelin – son of beat-music godfather Leif Roden. Max has mixed over 500 gigs at Drop Inn and customized the PA and will most likely be behind the boards when you visit us.
Photos courtesy of Herbert Strauss, Københavns Museum