There go the three most useful tools that will help you with visiting or living in Brno:

(photo by Simon Koležnik)

Find upcoming concerts, listen to the bands online

BrnoNow picks the most interesting concerts and club events every month, but everyone has his or her own special tastes. Try the same source of events as we do: Last.fm.

The social network has a great database of concerts taking place in and around Brno, linked to the artists’ pages with representative songs.

What is more: Last.fm links to the venues’ websites, where you usually can book tickets (at least via phone).

Get the schedule of your train, tram or bus (or combined)

There is a service providing information on Czech public transport called IDOS, that has been translated to English (and German). All you have to do is click on the “English” (or “Deutsch”) link in the bottom of the page, as there is no permanent link to the translated version.

The default form helps you with finding trains and buses connecting town and villages. If you want to find your connection within Brno, click at the “Trains and Buses” field and select “Brno”. Then you are supposed to enter the street you are travelling from and the street you are going to. IDOS will generate a clean itinerary.

Notice the section “Stop Leaflets”: it allows you (for example) to print a timetable of the line you use for travelling to office and stick it to your door.

Find out how does every Brno’s street look like

Are you looking for a new flat and already tired of travelling to distant parts of Brno just to find the ugliest streets you’ve ever seen? Try the alternative to Google Street View, Norc.

Panoramas of Brno are being processed right now, with approx. half of them being complete.

What are your favorite services? Let others know in the comments!

There are several great music groups and duos in Brno. We got the links to their free songs. Download the best music in the town legally right now!

ČokoVoko

“The singing flapjacks” got a cult following in 2008. These two female singers have recorded maybe the funniest Czech hip hop record ever, and what is more: they have published it online for free!

Sadly for many of you, their tongue-in cheek lyrics are written in Czech.

The wonderful photo of ČokoVoko was taken by Sjon.

Budoár staré dámy

This is one of my favorite indie rock bands. Thumbs up for the English version of their homepage!

B.S.D. representing a home-made alternative rock band was ground during holiday in 1999. The average age of three girls (Marta – guitar/vocal, Dasha – bass and Eva – violin/vocal) and of two boys (Stepan – drums/microphone and Ondra – guitar/microphone) did not exceed 16 in that time.

Imaginative prime arrangements and easy grasp of simple melody have outgrown the group from homely diction. B.S.D. favours the secret beauty in melody and prefers rampancy to heartsease.

There are dozens of songs to grab into your iPod at the page called “Nahrávky”.

Gulo čar

The best known gypsy band of Brno found their fans in many countries, yet it stays popular in Brno. You can download their latest single, a coverversion of the legendary 1980s song Pražákům, těm je tu hej – click at the link “spustit audio”.

Květy

Květy (Blossom in Czech) are well known for their melodic, melancholic folk rock and playful lyrics. They offer dozens of mp3s for free, incl. studio versions and live records.

Gate Crasher

I saw the Gate Crasher for the first time in 2001, when they were “just” a revival group playing songs of Nirvana (they were really great in doing that, actually). Now they record their own grunge songs. You can download some of the these at their website.

Do you remember the 1980s hits Big in Japan, Sounds Like Melody and Forever Young? Alphaville are not young anymore, but they will be big forever – and you can enjoy the melodic pop on the 20th December in Starobrno Arena (formerly known as Hala Rondo; Křídlovická st.; GPS: 49°11’7.619″N, 16°36’7.372″E).

The show starts at 8.00 p.m. by a concert of the forerunner Petr Muk.

Tickets are worth CZK 600 (€ 23), or CZK 450 when bought via TicketPro.