Rød Bare Blå get busy around 12:30. Photo: Krystof Diatka
Molde by Night

Two in one: Rød Bare Blå

The amount of places to go out is limited in this town, which does not necessarily say anything about their quality. Let’s have a look at Rød Bare Blå on the main street in Molde.

You can find yourself in Rød Bare Blå on a Tuesday afternoon sipping on coffee or enjoying something from a decent food menu. Or, on a rough Sunday morning, you can realize you have spent half of your monthly wage there on mostly lost memories from Saturday night. A mixture of a restaurant, coffee shop, bar and club is a business plan being practiced by almost all nightlife spots in Molde to stay profitable. In Rød Bare Blå, due to the division of a nice main floor and a basement more like a club, this multipurpose establishment feels less forced than it does in Tangenten, for example.

Easton Davis performing life music in Rød Bare Blå. Photo: Krystof Diatka
Easton Davis performing live music in Rød Bare Blå. Photo: Krystof Diatka

Old decorations and paraphernalia scattered around Rød Bare Blå reveal the history of the establishment, which has its roots with the Molde old jazz club – Storyville. This gives the main floor a certain jazzy atmosphere, which is underlined by a live music performance taking place every Friday and Saturday.

«We are trying to attract all different types of people to Rød Bare Blå», said the manager Elisabeth Hoem. «You always meet someone you know.»

Dana Bazarova and Dovilė Augulytė. Both agree that Rød Bare Blå is the best place to go to in Town. Photo: Krystof Diatka
Dovilė Augulytė (left) and Dana Bazarova (right). Both agree that Rød Bare Blå is the best place to go out to in Town. Photo: Krystof Diatka

The evenings start fairly slow in Rød Bare Blå, but that is common for nightlife spots in Molde. For some reason Norwegian party-goers tend to reduce the time they spend in pubs, clubs and bars, already heavily limited by law, to a minimum. Still, they end up paying 100-150 NOK in entrance fees for the two hours of partying. The atmosphere starts picking up around 11:30, and as soon as you get through a number of drunk

Vidar Kvilhaugsvik (left) thinks that Rød Bare Blå is the only real night club in Molde. Morten Lygresten likes the variety of people he meets in Rød Bare Blå, but also likes that the students come to party there too. Photo: Krystof Diatka
Vidar Kvilhaugsvik (left) thinks that Rød Bare Blå is the only real night club in Molde. Morten Lygresten likes the variety of people he meets in Rød Bare Blå, but also likes that the students come to party there too. Photo: Krystof Diatka

middle-aged locals performing their not-so-aesthetic dance moves near the door, you will reach a very lively party with an unmatched variety of party-goers that crosses the whole social spectrum of Molde.

Overall, the evenings in Rød Bare Blå flow with a rather joyful spirit.  One must admit that the two parts of the establishment, with totally different designs

The basement part of Rød Bare Blå. Photo: Krystof Diatka
The basement part of Rød Bare Blå. Photo: Krystof Diatka

and feelings, complement each other to create a great party experience. No wonder most of the college students started going there instead of the previously popular Kompagniet.