OPEN BARS (15)
The Asylum
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
One of Birmingham's premier live music venues, hosting a wide range of rock, metal, and alternative acts, from established international bands to upcoming local artists.
Hope and Anchor
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A historic pub in Upper Street with a basement music room that was crucial in the 1970s pub rock and punk scenes. A Grade II listed building. A historic pub atmosphere upstairs, with a recently refurbished basement live music venue featuring a new PA, enlarged stage, and lighting rig. The upstairs pub functions as a traditional pub, while the basement is a dedicated 80-capacity live music venue.
Irving Plaza
🇺🇸New York, United States
A historic ballroom-style venue with capacity of ~1,200. Irving Plaza has served many identities: a 1940s ballroom, a Polish community center, and from the late '70s onward, a crucial rock concert hall. Known for hosting diverse genres – punk, new wave, metal, alternative, pop – over different eras.
The World's End
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A world-famous pub and a North London landmark, reflecting the eclectic nature of Camden itself. Located just south of Camden Town tube station. Boasts two bars and a mezzanine balcony seating area. The central area is designed to reflect the open marketplace that once inhabited the location. The pub itself is a large, atmospheric space for drinkers, separate from The Underworld music venue located beneath it.
Mercury Lounge
🇺🇸New York, United States
A small club (250 capacity) in the Lower East Side. Mercury Lounge is known for breaking new bands since the 1990s in an intimate, no-frills environment. It was a linchpin of the early 2000s NYC rock revival.
The Hatchet Inn
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Grade II listed 17th-century pub once famed for its gothic rock club nights; now renovated with beer garden and function rooms.
The Flapper
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
Independent live music venue and pub, known for its canalside location and support for local and touring rock/metal bands.
The Black Heart
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
The Black Heart is a renowned rock and metal pub in Camden, often described as a "heavy metal hotspot". Nestled in a lamplit, brick-walled back alley near Camden Town Tube Station, it is about a fifteen-minute walk from King's Cross St. Pancras. The interior is decked out in exquisite all-goth attire; its walls painted black and smattered vibrantly with music artwork, fairy lights sparkling in the dimness, unisex bathroom stalls plastered with band stickers and extremely entertaining graffiti. The downstairs bar is a bustling social hub for metalheads and night-creatures from all walks of life, offering craft beers, shots (including the 'Lucky Sod' Irish liqueur), cocktails, and mocktails.
The Devonshire Arms
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
Affectionately known as "The Dev," it is Camden Town's devoted home to the musical underground and one of London's leading goth and metal venues. Features a mock-Tudor façade and a buzzy and dark interior. It's described as a goth pub with serious attitude and a haven for goths and metalheads. A place where lovers of rock, goth, punk, and metal congregate.
Subside Bar
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
Rock and alternative music bar known for its late-night hours and DJ sets.
The Mothers' Ruin
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Late-night dive bar with upstairs gig space and downstairs club (RATHOUSE), known for eclectic alternative nights.
The Crown
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Historic market-area pub with rock/metal soundtrack upstairs and 300-cap basement venue for gigs and club nights.
The Fighting Cocks
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A rock 'n' roll bar and venue described as small in size but big in attitude. Proudly independent. A haven for the inked, the pierced and the damned. Has a rich musical history dating back to the 1930s (jazz, then rock 'n' roll jam sessions). Features a best jukebox ever, old school arcades, and pool. Offers a huge selection of draft and bottled beers, lavish cocktails, seductive real ales, troublesome shooters and the nuttiest drinks deals in town.
Bar Vinil
🇪🇸Barcelona, Spain
Vinyl-centric indie/alternative lounge with retro décor and sofas.
Blondies
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
An excellent rock'n'roll dive bar with live music founded by Australian sisters Verity, Sharmaine, and Rochelle Cox. A down-and-dirty Mecca for music-lovers with delightfully wonky furnishings reflecting a DIY spirit. Known for insane music and a cultural hub for good vibes, great drinks, and even better company.
CLOSED BARS (47)
The Rathskeller
🇺🇸Boston, United States
Kenmore Square cellar that launched The Cars, Pixies, Mission of Burma.
Ex'n'Pop
🇩🇪Berlin, Germany
Schöneberg living-room bar where Nick Cave, Einstürzende Neubauten & local post-punk bands jammed inches from the beer taps.
Le Phonographique
🇬🇧Leeds, United Kingdom
Tropic Club
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
The Banshee
🇬🇧Manchester, United Kingdom
The Intrepid Fox
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A historic pub with roots dating back to 1784, named after statesman Charles James Fox. Originally at 97-99 Wardour Street, it became a prominent goth and heavy metal venue by the 1970s. Known for its distinctive dark, goth-rock aesthetic, featuring black-painted interiors, a mock graveyard, and other macabre decorations. It was a key meeting point for the goth and metal scenes. After closure in 2006, it reopened at 15 St. Giles High Street (2007-2014) before final closure.
The Rock Garden
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
Planet X
🇬🇧Liverpool, United Kingdom
The Magnet
🇬🇧Liverpool, United Kingdom
Circo Voador
🇧🇷Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Jilly's Rockworld
🇬🇧Manchester, United Kingdom
The Channel
🇺🇸Boston, United States
1,700-cap South Boston rock bar where U2, Ramones, Metallica played early tours.
Club Quattro Nagoya (first site)
🇯🇵Nagoya, Japan
The Vogue
🇺🇸Seattle, United States
Grunge fashion HQ and tiny stage that hosted Alice in Chains, Tad and Mudhoney.
The Warehouse
🇬🇧Liverpool, United Kingdom
Banana Hall
🇯🇵Osaka, Japan
Uonna Club
🇮🇹Rome, Italy
Via Labicana basement where Litfiba, CCCP and the Italian underground played inches from the bar counter.
The Square Club
🇬🇧Cardiff, United Kingdom
The Cooperage
🇬🇧Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
The Clarendon Hotel
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A large old pub/hotel complex in Hammersmith that became a legendary music venue. The Clarendon's upstairs Ballroom and downstairs Broadway bar were home to pivotal alternative music events from the late 1970s through 1988. Most famous as the host venue for Klub Foot, the epicenter of London's psychobilly scene throughout the 1980s.
The Barrel Organ
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
The Toucan Club
🇬🇧Cardiff, United Kingdom
Madame Satã
🇧🇷São Paulo, Brazil
Rock Stock
🇲🇽Mexico City, Mexico
La Batuta
🇨🇱Santiago, Chile
Rockotitlán
🇲🇽Mexico City, Mexico
Cemento
🇦🇷Buenos Aires, Argentina
Knaack Klub
🇩🇪Berlin, Germany
Prenzlauer-Berg institution that hosted Die Ärzte, Rammstein and countless indie showcases in its 70s/80s heyday.
Klub Park
🇵🇱Warsaw, Poland
Student-run wooden lodge on Pola Mokotowskie where rock bands and Juwenalia parties raged for decades.
J.C. Dobbs
🇺🇸Philadelphia, United States
South Street bar that booked Nirvana, Pearl Jam and Green Day pre-fame.
Medusa's
🇺🇸Chicago, United States
Wrigleyville all-ages goth/rock club famed for Nine Inch Nails & Ministry sets.
O'Banion's
🇺🇸Chicago, United States
River North punk bar where Naked Raygun, Ministry & Effigies played their first gigs.
Off Ramp Café
🇺🇸Seattle, United States
Club where Pearl Jam debuted (as Mookie Blaylock) and Soundgarden filmed videos.
Gold Rush
🇺🇸Nashville, United States
Elliston Place dive that fuelled Music City's rock underground and fed generations with "Gold Rush Burgers."
The Bristol Bridge Inn
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Pub-venue celebrated as a 'gem' of the late-70s alternative scene.
The Green Room
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Intimate alternative venue managed by Les and Rich in late-70s/early-80s.
The Falcon
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
An influential pub and music venue, particularly during the 1990s. A hub for London's Britpop and Shoegaze scenes, also important for the "Camden Lurch" indie bands.
Madame Wong's
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
Chinese-restaurant-turned-rock bar that booked The Police, Oingo Boingo and The Go-Go's before they hit arenas.
Al's Bar
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
A fabled punk dive bar located in the Arts District of downtown L.A. in the American Hotel. Opened in the late 1970s, Al's Bar became the longest-running punk venue on the West Coast, known for its gritty atmosphere and nurturing of the underground art-punk scene.
Bristol Bierkeller
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Cavernous Bavarian-style rock bar; 1990s home to student alt nights and early shows by Nirvana & Arctic Monkeys.
Bull & Gate
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
A Grade II listed pub with a long history as a music venue, particularly from the 1980s until 2013. Hosted a wide range of indie, rock, and alternative acts in its backroom venue, run by promoters like Jon Beast (Timebox/Hype!) and later Club Fandango.
Bunkr Parukářka
🇨🇿Prague, Czech Republic
Cold-war fallout shelter turned beer-&-rock bunker on Vítkov hill; famous for anarchic concerts and graffiti.
Cathay de Grande
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
A subterranean punk/New Wave club that operated in the 1980s beneath a Chinese restaurant in Hollywood. The Cathay de Grande was a hotbed for the early hardcore punk scene and the burgeoning alternative rock movement in L.A. Its mix of musical styles and notorious reputation (it was in a sketchy basement) made it both beloved and infamous.
Club Lingerie
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
A hip nightclub and live venue on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, active primarily in the 1980s. Club Lingerie was known for an eclectic booking policy – hosting rock, punk, funk, rap, and more. In the '80s music scene, it was a place where up-and-coming local bands and even national acts would play more intimate showcases, and it doubled as a trendy dance club on off-nights.
Mayfair Ballroom
🇬🇧Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom
Duchess of York
🇬🇧Leeds, United Kingdom
Edwards No. 8
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
Multi-floor metal bar known for thunderous sound, cheap drinks and queue-round-the-block Fridays.