Westley Recommends: National Music Centre & the King Eddy
October 16, 2023
Calgary is home to Canada’s biggest museum dedicated to music. From artists and musicians to the science behind music, to the instruments themselves, you will be enraptured by the sheer amount of musical information there is to absorb at Studio Bell: The National Music Centre.
Photo credit: https://www.studiobell.ca/media-kit
Studio Bell (also called the NMC) has five stunning levels of musical appreciation. You can explore iconic Canadian artists, learn about the science of music and how it affects the brain, and make music with unique instruments and cutting-edge technology. If you really get into it, they even have booths where you can put on a pair of headphones and sing along!
The NMC is also home to the Rolling Stones Mobile Recording Studio – dubbed the Sistine Chapel of rock and roll – which has hosted the likes of Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, and the Stones themselves. It’s still available as a recording studio, and if you’re lucky, you might get to see it in use!
Photo Credit: Brandon Wallis
Not sure if you’ll be able to fit it all in this trip? Click here and take the NMC’s virtual tour, and follow @nmc_canada on Instagram to see behind-the-scenes features and announcements.
Once you’ve finished exploring the NMC head across the street to the King Eddy for drinks and more music – it’s one of Calgary’s best live music venues, and their cocktails are fabulous. First opened in 1905, the King Eddy Hotel was Calgary’s longest-operating bar and hotel at its closure in 2004. When it was acquired by the NMC in 2008, the original blueprints were taken out of archives and used to restore it back to its original glory.
Photo Source: https://kingeddy.ca/
From Flames games-watching parties, to live performances by world-renowned artists, to classic open mic nights, the King Eddy truly provides the heartbeat to Calgary’s flourishing culture.
Photo source: the Glenbow Museum archives.
Click here to view what’s showing and who’s playing, and be sure to follow @kingeddyyyc on Instagram to stay in the loop!
Once you’ve finished your exciting day of musical escapades, take advantage of our Fiesta Then Siesta special pricing here at the Westley. From November 3rd to December 30th, 2023, sleep off the party with us Thursdays – Sundays for just $139 per night.
