OPEN BARS (3)
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 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.
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 (9)
CBGB
🇺🇸New York, United States
Situated at 315 Bowery in Manhattan's Lower East Side, CBGB stands as perhaps the most paradoxically influential venue in music history. Opened on December 10, 1973, by Hilly Kristal, the club's name was an acronym for "Country, Bluegrass, Blues," the styles Kristal originally intended to showcase. Yet, the venue became the undisputed "ground zero" for American punk and new wave. The physical space was essential to its legacy—a narrow, deep tunnel-like room with walls layered in decades of flyers, graffiti, and grime. Kristal's management philosophy was revolutionary: bands could play, but they had to perform original music. This rule birthed a scene of unparalleled creativity.
Gorilla Gardens
🇺🇸Seattle, United States
Twin-room punk/metal bar where early Soundgarden, Nirvana and Black Flag shared sticky floors.
Fugazi Music Club
🇵🇱Warsaw, Poland
Brief but mythic squat-style bar that booked early Polish grunge and hardcore; named after the US band.
Metropolis
🇺🇸Seattle, United States
All-ages punk bar that broke The Lewd and The Enemy; first to book Black Flag in Seattle.
L'Amour
🇺🇸New York, United States
Bensonhurst warehouse turned 'Rock Capital of Brooklyn' and East-Coast thrash cradle. A storied rock/metal club that was the premier venue for heavy metal and hard rock in the NYC area throughout the 1980s.
Hey Ho! Bar
🇪🇸Barcelona, Spain
Tiny punk/hard-core bar once featuring a mini skate ramp.
Lismar Lounge
🇺🇸New York, United States
Notorious graffiti-covered punk-metal bar in the East Village.
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.
Coney Island High
🇺🇸New York, United States
A punk rock club on St. Marks Place in the East Village, active in the mid-1990s. Coney Island High was a two-level club (bar downstairs, stage upstairs) that became a center of the NYC punk revival, hosting everything from hardcore matinees to ska and rockabilly nights.