OPEN BARS (15)
Strangelove
New York, United States
Midtown East graffiti-covered dive promoting cheap beer and nonstop punk playlists.
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.
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.
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.
Helgi's
London, United Kingdom
A self-described occult rock bar, considered a heavy metal bar by any other name. A true labour of love reflecting owners' tastes for 60s/70s heavy rock, psychedelia, and the occult & horror. Features vibrant psychedelic rock decorations, occult decor, good vibes, and heavy music. Known for its welcoming, diverse crowd. Described as "Hackney's heaviest late-night hotspot".
The Library
New York, United States
East Village book-lined punk dive famed for its jukebox and B-movie projector nights.
Clockwork Bar
New York, United States
Graffiti-laden Lower East Side punk dive famous for cheap beer and loud punk playlists.
Lucky 13 Saloon
New York, United States
Brooklyn's first dedicated metal bar featuring go-go dancers, live shows and a famed jukebox.
Otto's Shrunken Head
New York, United States
Tiki-punk bar mixing rum cocktails with nightly rockabilly, punk, surf and metal shows.
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.
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.
St. Moritz Club
London, United Kingdom
A long-standing basement club in Soho, described as the "ultimate Soho sheebeen," with decor largely unchanged since the 1960s. Known for its legendary club nights.
Slim Jim's Liquor Store
London, United Kingdom
The Masterful Purveyor of Good Times, a late-night rock'n'roll dive bar and grassroots live music venue. LA-style dive bar vibe with neon lights, music posters, red leather bar stools, and booths. Ambiance is electric, with well-worn leather and aged oak. Features an award-winning jukebox loaded with classics from Led Zeppelin to Guns N' Roses. Extensive stock of whiskies (over 90 from around the world), liquor, classic cocktails, and cold craft beer.
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.
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.
CLOSED BARS (19)
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 Marquee Club
London, United Kingdom
One of the most legendary music venues in London's history, operating across various locations from its opening in 1958 until its final iteration closed in 2008. Initially a jazz and skiffle club on Oxford Street, it became synonymous with R&B and then rock at its Wardour Street address. The Wardour Street venue, despite its small stage, was a crucible for emerging talent.
The Vortex
London, United Kingdom
A key punk club that emerged in July 1977, located at the Crackers discotheque, 203 Wardour Street. It aimed to fill the void as The Roxy faced initial difficulties. Larger than The Roxy, with a more professional setup including a proper stage and sound system. However, it gained a reputation for violence.
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.
The Rock Garden
London, United Kingdom
The Ruskin Arms
London, United Kingdom
Lismar Lounge
New York, United States
Notorious graffiti-covered punk-metal bar in the East Village.
Peppermint Lounge
New York, United States
Reopened 1960s discotheque as rock-bar in Midtown.
CBGB
New York, United States
The most famous punk rock club in the world. Located at 315 Bowery in the East Village, CBGB (Country, BlueGrass & Blues) ironically became the epicenter of punk and New Wave in the 1970s. A dim, grungy bar with infamous bathrooms, CBGB nurtured bands like the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie, Television, and many more. Its policy of featuring only bands with original music (no covers) gave countless innovators a start.
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.
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.
The Roxy Club
London, United Kingdom
A seminal punk rock club, considered the first exclusive punk venue in London. Located in a former gay club "Chaguaramas", The Roxy provided a home for the nascent punk scene when mainstream clubs wouldn't touch it. Its most significant period was its "100 nights" from January 1 to April 23, 1977. A "right old dump" with "disgusting toilets," it perfectly captured the raw, DIY ethos of early punk. It was a place where attendees could "be who you wanted to be and no one gave a damn".
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 Greyhound
London, United Kingdom
A historic pub-turned-rock venue in West London. The Greyhound featured a large backroom music hall that hosted many up-and-coming bands during the crucial Pub Rock and early punk era. It bridged multiple scenes from Irish folk in the 60s, to bluesy pub rock in early 70s, to punk gigs in the late 70s.
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.
The Masque
Los Angeles, United States
The Masque was L.A.'s first dedicated punk rock club – a tiny, grungy basement space in Hollywood. Opened by promoter Brendan Mullen in 1977, The Masque quickly became the nucleus of the Los Angeles punk scene. Though its official lifespan was very short, its impact was enormous – virtually every early LA punk band played there or rehearsed there.
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.
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.