Getting to Know a Danish Lars

by Terje Raa

Lars is a very common masculine name in Denmark, so further identification might be helpful, like ”Mr. Intime”, since this particular Lars is synonymous with an old cafe that dropped into his lap five years ago, Cafe Intime.

Being a faithful customer for decades, I have absorbed not only a good lot of beers at Intime but impressions too. That has inspired me to conduct an experiment – ”Show me your bar and I can tell who you are”. In other words, get to know Lars by his actions, in this the only true piano bar around -  going on 90, says an estimate.

The setup is basically the same after all these years  – a grand piano occupying much of the limited space, dark red walls under an olive green ceiling lately dotted with ladies' shoes, a long bar counter, small tables along the walls, carpets to stumble in, a kitchen but no food, this is a drinking and music place. Located close to the Frederiksberg City Hall, a couple of kilometers from the center of Copenhagen.

Lars the Educator

If your first visit occurs on a Friday or Saturday night, you may have to ask the way, that's because Lars does not turn the facade lights on, or put any sign on the pavement. Not to save money on the electricity, but in order to prevent his cafe from being run down by thirsty, noisy young people. The reason is the same when he turns down the major newspapers begging him for photo reports.

You will recognize Lars immediately - tall, slim, smiles easily, says hello with a gentle touch. He is popular, which allows him to raise his strong voice and command people to remove their bottles and glasses from the shining piano lid, ”It's strictly forbidden!” The piano is reserved for fresh flowers and a seven-armed candlestick, backed by colorful leaded windows.

”Forward! Please move forward!” Lars urges people to move away from the entrance area. On busy nights with a deafening sound level, Lars is there again with a few educating words, ”Not so loud, please! People cannot hear the music!” Good that he takes it out on his customers and not on  his two daughters the age of 10 and 17, whom he has other lessons to teach, ”Get a degree!” So speaks a father who dropped out of the Technical University and the School of Architecture.

”Let's sing and drink!” Lars is no fanatic, you occasionally see him seated among other ”intimists”, drinking and shouting more than the most, though after considering whether this could be the right moment to let off steam without creating angry customers or musicians. Lars has definitely a party side himself, which makes him tolerant towards the escapades of others, but customers who drink their brains out, get a helping hand to the exit without delay.

Lars the Music Man 

At the point of taking over Cafe Intime, Lars had a dream of merging old and new, this probably goes for the music as well. The piano man, Ole, is still going strong Thursday and Saturday night. He plays the Danish songs we all know to the point of sing along, then he suddenly lifts the roof with operetta themes. This nostalgia is usually the victim in case Lars needs a few hours to present a hot name that came his way. Actually, he once played the piano himself.

Some think of Intime as a jazz place now. Every Sunday night is jazz, and ten days in July are for jazz only, that's during the Copenhagen Jazz Festival. Jazz also dominates the Open Mike on Tuesday night, whereas Open Mike on Wednesday is for ballads and chansons, and this is where even opera comes in. That leaves only Monday without live music, ”bare Monday”. However, Lars has often a surprise up his sleeve in this ”station of surprises”. And he can always restart the swinging 30's by selecting Karen Jönsson on the music machine.

The open mike nights are led by a host or hostess, themselves singers and the quality of the participants takes you by surprise, like opera stars who enjoy the nearness of the audience. The residents above have a word to say too – no drums or wind instruments, live music to stop at midnight sharp, opening hours 18 – 02. Once in a while, a happy lady walks home without shoes, she left them in the bar to become part of the ceiling decor, after the jazz seduced her to dance on her bare feet. Any shoes will not do, they must have personality.

”Red suspenders and a beard” is how one accompanist is presented in facebook. He is very well known and refuses to have his name mentioned until Lars rewards him accordingly. That says perhaps more about the Copenhagen music scene than about Lars. A bar owner can benefit from the oversupply by broadening the repertoire he offers to his customers, and Lars is an experimental type who also takes the advice of others seriously.

The musical development was not exactly planned by Lars, he and the music scene found each other gradually, despite a minimal seat capacity, around 40. Every event is announced via facebook, where members of the audience often leave Lars an evaluating comment. He seems to enjoy this feedback, and he writes with style himself, also about matters of broader interest.

Lars the Boss

Lars has a good bunch working for him, personalities in ther own right. Which makes it never boring to hang out at the bar counter. ”Business as usual!” signals Lars, who would perhaps rather do without the gossip and advice that the regulars bestow on new bartenders. However, Lars knows the value of faithful customers and is aware that we enjoy the stability he brought along. But the man is a teaser – one evening he entered the floor with a Russian-looking man to make an announcement: ”Cafe Intime's new owner, Boris from Russia!”

Previous owners and bartenders are not forgotten, they are stored in CD covers and  in frames on the wall behind the piano – a drawing of Monica, Swedish jazz singer and former owner; pictures of Oda,  a legend on the piano. You may have a question burning on your tongue, ”Gay bar?” An elderly drag artist put it this way, ”We used to go there, that doesn't make it a gay bar”.

Lars is convinced that Intime will continue for another 90 years, we all need a little nostalgia, not the only reason though that he became a  bar owner. The possibility was there, it suited his age and his ideas about the future, he was curious to explore. Now he has the opportunity to explore  the major cities of Europe too, although Copenhagen remains a favorite, especially hidden quarters where every centimeter has not been planned yet.

We do our best to support Lars by drinking harder, thereby exemplifying his own opinion about Copenhagen – a city where people are alternately hard and soft.