A variety of musical Flavours aboundMalaysian restaurant fills with live musicBy Abigail Wood, Special to Berkshires WeekUpdated: 07/15/2010 02:20:45 PM EDT Thursday July 15, 2010 PITTSFIELD -- These days it may seem almost impossible to find a place that has good food, good music, good people and a fun atmosphere all in one place. But walk into Flavours restaurant on any given weekend night this summer, and you will find just that.
And when you see a lively couple dancing and twirling each other all over the dance floor, you may be surprised to learn that it's the owners, Chin Lee and Sabrina Tan.
"Usually I book bands people can dance to," said Lee, although by the looks of it, these owners like to have just as much of a good time as their loyal customers.
"They just really love music and they really love having as good time with the people that come to their place, which is contagious, so I think that's why they're successful," said Melanie Krahmer, drummer and singer of the band Sirsy.
Sirsy, a rock duo based out of Albany, will be performing at Flavours on Friday night. The band is self-described as "sultry-soulful-fiery-indie-pop-rock", and gives a memorable live performance, managing to deliver a high-energy big rock sound with only two musicians.
"It definitely makes us stand out as a band -- there are not a lot of two-piece rock acts with a female drummer who's also the singer and throws in flute solos," said Krahmer. "I think I can think of one."
Krahmer and her bandmate, Rich Libutti, both said that they enjoy playing at Flavours' new location on North Street because of its Advertisement performer-friendly atmosphere and the incredible support they receive from both the fans and the owners.
"A lot of places that try and do both the restaurant and/or the club with music sometimes don't really pull it off well, but they're able to do that very well, which is cool," said Libutti.
Flavours' successful entertainment venue grew out of one simple thing: a love for local music. Lee said that when he used to live in northern New Jersey, he would attend music events as often as possible, citing concerts in the Meadowlands, Madison Square Garden, the Beacon Theater and Jones Beach.
Lee and Tan are not merely patrons of local music; they are also active participants at their restaurant's weekly shows. Libutti reminisced about a time when Tan came out of the kitchen during one of Sirsy's shows and surprised the whole audience with home-made s'mores.
Chris Merenda of Chris Merenda and The Wheel, playing at Flavours on Saturday, July 24, chuckled as he described how the owners love to dance to his band's music.
"Chin puts on his reggae dreads and goes for it," he said.
A much larger band than Sirsy, The Wheel also crosses many genres, dabbling in rock/alternative, reggae, bluegrass, blues and even some surprise pop covers, said Merenda.
With a full summer of live music scheduled at their establishment, Lee and Tan will only continue in their ongoing effort to showcase (and thoroughly enjoy) all of their favorite bands.
"[Lee] has been doing great things for the music scene just having a place for musicians to showcase what they have going on for the past few years," said Merenda. "Flavours is definitely a great hub for a lot of the local bands in the Berkshires."
If you go...
What: Live music at Flavours of Malaysia
Where: 75 North St. (entrance on McKay St.), Pittsfield
