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Buddy Bar: The Most Popular Music Spot on Sal
If you’ve been researching bars in Santa Maria, you’ve probably seen or heard Buddy Bar mentioned everywhere. It’s that characteristic, orange-colored corner building on Rua 1 de Junho that many travel blogs seem to rave about. But what’s the real deal with this place?
First, Let’s Talk About Cape Verdean Music
You can’t understand why Buddy Bar matters without knowing about Cape Verde’s music scene. This tiny island nation punches way above its weight musically — think of it as the Nashville of West Africa, if Nashville were spread across ten volcanic islands and sang in Creole.The music here isn’t just entertainment. It’s how Cape Verdeans process their complicated history of colonialism, slavery, and migration, and many other more recent challenges. When someone plays morna (that slow, soulful style Cesária Évora made famous), they’re tapping into centuries of longing and loss. Coladeira is morna’s upbeat cousin — the one that shows up to family gatherings ready to dance. Then there’s funaná, which the Portuguese tried to ban for being “too African,” and batuque, which women invented using their laps as drums when actual drums were outlawed. And there is, of course, a not-less interesting mix of fresh styles of music from younger Cape Verdean generations.So What’s Buddy Bar’s Deal?
Here’s the thing: Buddy Bar, self-proclaimed as the ‘Casa da Música’ (House of Music), is not a typical bar. Unlike most bars that throw around grand titles, this one actually earns it. Every single night from 6 PM to 4 AM, the air is filled with the soul-stirring sounds of live music. Not recorded, not DJ sets — actual musicians with actual instruments playing actual songs, almost night by night. It’s a unique experience that you won’t find anywhere else in Santa Maria.
The place itself? Tiny. Maybe forty people can squeeze inside, with another 20-30 on the sidewalk tables. The walls are covered in local art, the lighting is dim enough to hide the wear and tear, and yes, it gets absolutely packed after 10 PM.
Who Plays in Buddy Bar?
This is where it gets interesting. Buddy Bar doesn’t really advertise its musicians, except on occasion, days before the event. But mainly, you show up and then see who’s playing. Could be a virtuoso violinist who’ll make you reconsider your entire life. It could be Jao Silva doing his Friday night thing. The uncertainty is part of the appeal.
For local musicians, Buddy Bar is more than just a venue. Musicians in Cape Verde don’t usually make enough from music alone, so most have day jobs. Buddy Bar provides one of the few steady gigs on the island, with two sets nightly (roughly 9-11 PM and 11:30-1:30 AM). It’s the difference between playing occasionally at beach restaurants and having reliable weekly slots. Keep in mind that, by visiting Buddy Bar, you’re not just enjoying the music; you’re really supporting the local music scene.
(And check out this awesome stage mural they have inside!)
The Good, The Bad, and The Complicated
The Good: The music can be transcendent. When you catch the right performer on the right night, you understand why people travel halfway around the world for Cape Verdean music. The drinks are reasonably priced (cocktails around 6 euros), they’ve got 15 types of gin for some reason, and the staff — especially Andreea and Roberto — get shout-outs by name in reviews, which tells you something.
The Bad: Remember that tiny space I mentioned? It becomes a serious problem when 100 people try to cram in. Service slows to a crawl, you’re basically standing in someone’s lap, and good luck getting to the bathroom. Also, there’s this persistent issue with locals aggressively asking tourists for drinks.
The Complicated: Here’s what nobody wants to talk about — Buddy Bar is changing. Longtime visitors complain it’s playing more Ed Sheeran covers and less traditional Cape Verdean music. It’s the classic tourist trap evolution: a place becomes famous for being authentic, attracts crowds who don’t actually want authentic, and slowly becomes what tourists expect rather than what made it special. I genuinely think that this potential loss of authenticity is something we should all be concerned about.
How Buddy Bar Fits Into Santa Maria
Santa Maria has three types of bars: resort bars for package tourists afraid to leave their hotels, beachfront spots for sunset selfies, and places like Buddy Bar that attract everyone from backpackers to expats to locals.
Ocean Café on the main square is Buddy Bar’s most significant competitor — bigger space, more food options, but less consistent with live music. Hotel Morabeza has a rooftop bar that books decent acts. But Buddy Bar carved out its niche with the every-night-live-music guarantee, even if that niche is getting fuzzy around the edges.
Should You Go?
Despite its problems, Buddy Bar remains one of the few places in Santa Maria where you can reliably hear live Cape Verdean music in a setting that feels authentic. Yes, it’s touristy. Yes, you might get hassled. Yes, your cocktail might take 30 minutes to arrive. But when the atmosphere works and that morna singer hits the perfect note of sodade, none of that matters.
Practical tips if you do go:
- Get there by 8 PM if you want a seat.
- Bring cash and count your change.
- The gin selection is weirdly excellent.
- Be firm but polite with anyone asking for drinks.
- That violinist everyone raves about?
- No set schedule, just luck.
The Bigger Picture
Buddy Bar is a microcosm of what’s happening to Cape Verde as tourism explodes. Local culture becomes a product, authenticity becomes a marketing term, and places that started as community gathering spots morph into whatever pays the bills. It’s not evil, it’s just economics.
The question is whether places like Buddy Bar can keep enough of their soul while adapting to survive. Based on the programming shift toward international pop music, the answer might be no. But for now, on any given night, you can still walk into this cramped little bar and hear music that’s been echoing across these islands for centuries.
Let’s hope it will never become another generic tropical bar playing “Despacito” on repeat. Cape Verde — and the tourists who claim to love it — deserve better than that.
