Amager Bio is a live music venue at Øresundsvej 6 in the Amager district of Copenhagen, Denmark. Opened as a dedicated concert venue on 28 February 1997, it is one of the city’s larger club-sized venues, with a capacity of around 1,250 standing or 680 seated spectators. Around 200 concerts are held each year, covering rock, metal, blues, jazz, pop and other genres. The smaller BETA venue, with a capacity of around 200, is part of the same music complex and focuses particularly on emerging and niche artists.

The building was constructed between 1939 and 1941 as Amager Bio, short for Amager Biograf, and originally served as a neighbourhood cinema. Its reinforced-concrete construction and modern appearance earned it the contemporary nickname “tyskerbeton”. In 1976, the original auditorium was divided into two 375-seat cinemas, but the cinema eventually closed in 1986. Plans to convert the building into a supermarket were met with local opposition from residents who wanted it retained for cultural use.

Copenhagen Municipality took over the former cinema in 1989, and during the following years the building was used for film, theatre, dance, rock concerts and other cultural activities. A major conversion began after DKK 10 million was allocated to the project in 1993, including the removal of the dividing wall between the two cinema auditoriums. The new concert venue opened in 1997. The main hall is unusually wide in relation to its depth, allowing much of the audience to stand relatively close to the stage, while a balcony provides an elevated view of the room.

For much of its history, Amager Bio was operated through Copenhagen’s municipal cultural system, with Musikforeningen 5-øren and its volunteers playing an important role in concert production. In September 2025, operation of both Amager Bio and BETA was taken over by the non-profit Kulturbegivenhedsfonden Odd Productions, while the venues continue to receive support from Copenhagen Municipality.

Rock and metal have been an important part of Amager Bio’s programme since the venue opened. Artists appearing there have included Dio and Machine Head, with the latter selling out the venue on several occasions. Since 2019, Amager Bio and the neighbouring BETA and ZeBU stages have also hosted Copenhagen Metal Fest, a festival dedicated to Danish metal that has presented more than 140 different bands during its first six editions. In 2026, Amager Bio also hosted Extremely Rotten Death Fest, a two-day international death metal festival marking the 15th anniversary of Copenhagen label Extremely Rotten Productions. Alongside regular individual concerts, these events have made Amager Bio one of Copenhagen’s main venues for mid-sized metal shows.

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ADDRESS:
Øresundsvej 6, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark

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