When you need to let your hair down to just enjoy good music, great food and a relaxing riverside ambience, then Timbre @ The Arts House is the place to be. Located on the quiet side of the Singapore River, Timbre has made a name for itself as the place to see and be seen.
What does Timbre @ The Arts House have going for it? First it has been garnering rave reviews for its food. It has more than 20 types of pizza as well as tapas, salads and desserts. However, lots of restaurants have tapas and pizza. What’s unique about Timbre is that it is one of the few places in Singapore to boast a line-up of good local bands. At Timbre, the music is not background noise, it’s the reason that connoisseurs of Singapore musicians congregate there. Well known bands like The Goodfellas, EIC, Pam & Fatt and the 53A duo take turns to entertain the crowd on different nights. Whether you’re on a comfortable sofa in the restaurant or chilling outside as you dine al fresco, you’re never far away from the music.
Timbre takes its music seriously because it was started by a musician. Danny Loong, the deputy managing director who joined forces with Edward Chia to form Ublues Group which owns Timbre, is also the founder and bandleader of blues band Ublues, one of Asia’s best known blues bands. Ublues shared the same billing with James Brown, Jackson Browne, Robben Ford and many other music greats at the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival at Byron Bay Australia in April 2004 as well at the Barcelona Blues Festival in Spain. Because of his background, Danny takes music very seriously and the bands that perform at Timbre have to meet his high standards before they are allowed to take to the stage. The managing director of Ublues Group, Edward Chia, started out as a youth and arts activist and founder and chairman of Arts For Us All, a non-profit aimed at promoting the arts in Singapore and now leading Ublues Group which has also expanding the timbre brand to include festival, artistes and concert promotion with Timbre Music, food catering services with Timbre Catering, as well as bespoke cocktail bar, Klee @ Portsdown Road and the newest outlet, Timbre @ Old School located at Mount Sophia which opens on Oct 2008.
Timbre @ The Arts House is part of the Ublues Group’s growing empire which began with Timbre @ The Substation. Located on Armenian Street, Timbre @ The Substation took over the old café attached to The Substation and turned it into a successful restaurant cum live music venue that was the model for Timbre @ The Arts House. The first outlet, which was opened in 2005, quickly gather a local following of music fans hungering for great live music by its lineup of ingapore bands.
Timbre @ The Substation may not be by the river but it has a great ambience nonetheless, situated in a lovely old garden with mature trees and ancient walls that celebrate authenticity and youthful artistic expression. Dine al fresco amidst the greenery or just pull up a stool and enjoy a beer with the live music.
Timbre @ The Arts House seats about 200 people and is open from 6pm from Monday to Saturday. Timbre @ The Substation seats about 250 people and is open from 6 pm everyday.