OPEN BARS (3)
Webster Hall
🇺🇸New York, United States
A historic large nightclub and concert venue in the East Village. Webster Hall was originally built in 1886 as a ballroom. In rock history, it's famed for its 1980s stint as The Ritz, one of NYC's top rock clubs. Today, Webster Hall (capacity ~1,400) remains a prime venue for live music and dance nights.
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.
Albatross
🇯🇵Tokyo, Japan
A bridge between the rock scene and the art world, Albatross occupies a narrow three-story structure in Golden Gai rumored to have been a brothel in a past life. The owners lean into this with a decadent "Taisho Roman" aesthetic featuring crystal chandeliers, stag heads, disco balls, and red velvet linings. One of the few Golden Gai bars with a rooftop terrace offering views of the Shinjuku skyline.
CLOSED BARS (32)
Eric's
🇬🇧Liverpool, United Kingdom
The Rathskeller
🇺🇸Boston, United States
Kenmore Square cellar that launched The Cars, Pixies, Mission of Burma.
Phrank’s (Historical Venue)
🇺🇸Nashville, United States
Nashville's first punk club, officially "Herr Harry's Phranks & Steins Rathskeller." Operated by Rick Champion from January-November 1980. Booked R.E.M.'s first Nashville show for guarantee. Shut down over licensing issues and police pressure.
The Chestnut Cabaret
🇺🇸Philadelphia, United States
West Philadelphia rock club operating 1978-1994, later reopened as The Blockley (2009-2013). Hosted Billy Bragg, Butthole Surfers, MC 900 Ft. Jesus. The Pretenders played unannounced show here night before Live Aid 1985.
Rodney Bingenheimer's English Disco
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
Created by KROQ DJ and publicist Rodney Bingenheimer ("The Mayor of the Sunset Strip") with encouragement from David Bowie to bring British Glam Rock to Los Angeles. This mirrored, kitschy storefront served as a clubhouse for Led Zeppelin, The Stooges, T. Rex, and The New York Dolls.
Mabuhay Gardens
🇺🇸San Francisco, United States
Rum Runner
🇬🇧Birmingham, United Kingdom
Mabuhay Gardens
🇺🇸San Francisco, United States
Pivotal role in the SF punk scene. Hub for punk bands like The Dead Kennedys and The Sex Pistols.
The Rock Garden
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
Carbono 14
🇧🇷São Paulo, Brazil
Rafters
🇬🇧Manchester, United Kingdom
The Warehouse
🇬🇧Liverpool, United Kingdom
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.
Danceteria
🇺🇸New York, United States
Less a club and more a cultural amusement park. Spanning four floors: live bands on first, DJs on second, video art on third, VIP room/restaurant "Congo Bill" on fourth.
Madame Wong's West
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
Esther Wong's expansion into the Westside, significantly larger than the Chinatown original (formerly The Fox and Hounds restaurant). Attracted different demographic and became major stop for touring acts.
Gossips
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
Gossips (formerly Billys) was a basement club at 69 Dean Street known for its influential goth nights, most famously The Batcave, which opened in July 1982. The Batcave was the "birthplace of the Southern English goth subculture". It featured a dark, cobweb-strewn decor, a coffin-shaped entrance, and played new wave, glam rock, and then increasingly gothic rock. The club operated seven nights a week with different subcultures each night.
The Brecknock
🇬🇧London, United Kingdom
Part of the "Holy Trinity" of North London pub rock pubs. Located on Brecknock Road in Camden, this venue was a vital proving ground before bands graduated to The Marquee or The Roundhouse.
The Starwood
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
A notorious nightclub and live rock venue on Santa Monica Blvd in West Hollywood. The Starwood was active in the mid-to-late 1970s and was a key venue bridging the glam, hard rock, and early punk scenes in L.A. It was known for wild nights and for the criminal exploits of its owner, Eddie Nash, as much as for the music.
Fforde Grene
🇬🇧Leeds, United Kingdom
The Limit
🇬🇧Sheffield, United Kingdom
Rock Stock
🇲🇽Mexico City, Mexico
Radio Londra
🇮🇹Rome, Italy
Trastevere cellar that mixed rock, punk and new-wave long before DJs turned it into a dance hotspot.
Rock-Ola
🇪🇸Madrid, Spain
Epicentre of "La Movida"; hosted The Smiths, Echo & the Bunnymen and local heroes.
The Stonehouse
🇬🇧Bristol, United Kingdom
Small DIY room charging 50p entry, key to late-70s Bristol punk/new-wave scene.
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.
Peppermint Lounge
🇺🇸New York, United States
Reopened 1960s discotheque as rock-bar in Midtown.
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.
Max's Kansas City
🇺🇸New York, United States
A combined restaurant, bar, and music club. Max's Kansas City was the hangout for the glam rock and art crowd in the late '60s and early '70s. Famed for its back-room scene of artists (Warhol's Factory regulars) and rock stars, Max's also had an upstairs music venue where numerous pivotal shows took place.
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 57
🇺🇸New York, United States
Located in the basement of the Holy Cross Polish National Church, Club 57 was a DIY cabaret and performance space operating outside the traditional rock club model.
Club 88
🇺🇸Los Angeles, United States
An unpretentious, all-ages venue in a strip mall run by Wayne Mayotte, a retired engineer. Essential for punk and post-punk scene.