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Live music venues in London

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All live music venues

  • The 100 ClubAn Oxford Street music club that has hosted live music since 1942 and staged the 1976 punk festival often called the first international punk festival, now booking rock, punk, jazz, soul and swing nights.
  • 606 ClubA basement jazz club and restaurant on Lots Road presenting live jazz, soul, and Latin music seven nights a week since 1976.
  • Amersham ArmsA New Cross pub with a 300-capacity venue at the back, running live gigs, comedy and DJ nights most weeks, in a building that has held a pub of the same name on the site since at least the 1850s.
  • The Betsey TrotwoodA Victorian pub named after the Dickens character from David Copperfield, with a cosy wood-panelled basement hosting folk sessions, indie acts, and spoken word.
  • The Bird's NestA live-music pub on Deptford Church Street at the edge of Deptford Creek, running gigs across folk, punk, blues and ska most nights, plus a Wednesday open-mic "Play for a Pint" session.
  • The Bull's HeadA riverside Young's pub beside Barnes Bridge with a dedicated jazz room, where modern jazz has been staged since 1959. It earned the nickname 'suburban Ronnie Scott's'.
  • Bush HallA 1904 dance hall in Shepherd's Bush restored in 2001 as an independent music room of about 400 capacity, after stints as a soup kitchen, bingo hall and snooker club.
  • Cafe OtoA cafe by day and one of Europe's leading venues for experimental, avant-garde, and free jazz music by night, on Ashwin Street.
  • Cecil Sharp HouseThe 1930 home of the English Folk Dance and Song Society, hosting folk gigs, ceilidhs and barn dances in a hall with a sprung ballroom floor.
  • The Dublin CastleA Victorian pub on Parkway in Camden Town with a small live-music room, best known as an early home for Madness and a haunt of Amy Winehouse.
  • Green NoteAn intimate, candlelit vegetarian cafe-bar on Parkway that puts on live folk, roots, and world music acts every night of the week.
  • The Half MoonA Putney pub and gig venue that started hosting live folk and blues in 1963 and now stages live music seven days a week, from tribute acts to new-band showcases.
  • HootanannyA Victorian live-music venue in Brixton with a beer garden, street food stalls and a second bar with pool tables, hosting jungle, disco, reggae, highlife and house nights.
  • The Ivy HouseLondon's first community-owned pub, a 1938 Grade II-listed Truman's 'improved public house' in Nunhead that mixes gigs, quiz nights, and Sunday roasts under a locally owned co-operative.
  • The Jazz CafeA Camden Town music venue that opened in 1990 in a former Barclays bank branch, with gigs across jazz, soul, hip hop and more, plus club nights and a restaurant.
  • MOTH ClubA former veterans' club in Hackney, now a music venue with a back room covered in gold glitter, hosting gigs and club nights from pop to Northern Soul.
  • The Old Blue LastA Shoreditch pub that has long been a stage for up-and-coming bands, with cheap gigs and free jazz on Sundays.
  • Ronnie Scott'sSoho's legendary jazz club, opened in 1959 by Ronnie Scott and Pete King, still hosting live jazz nightly and open to the public via ticketed shows.
  • The RoundhouseA Grade II* listed circular Victorian engine shed in Chalk Farm that has been a major music and performance venue since the 1960s, with a main space for about 3,300 standing.
  • Servant Jazz QuartersA dimly-lit basement performance space below an art-deco cocktail bar on Bradbury Street, hosting an eclectic mix of jazz, blues, folk, pop, and world music.
  • The TroubadourA coffee house opened in 1954 in Earl's Court, now a live-music venue, restaurant, pub and secret garden. Bob Dylan and Paul Simon are among the names in its history.
  • Union ChapelA Grade I-listed Victorian Gothic chapel in Islington that is still a working church on Sundays and also hosts concerts, theatre and film events in a hall known for its acoustics.
  • Vortex Jazz ClubA long-running Dalston jazz room just off Gillett Square where the bookings lean towards improvised and adventurous music, with cheap jam sessions as well as headline gigs.
  • The Water RatsA Victorian pub-theatre on Gray's Inn Road near King's Cross that claims Bob Dylan's first UK gig in 1962 and Oasis's first London gig in 1994.
  • Wigmore HallA 1901 concert hall on Wigmore Street famed for its acoustics, staging chamber music, song recitals and piano series, with weekday lunchtime concerts.
  • The WindmillA small pub venue that became the epicentre of the 2010s-20s South London guitar-rock resurgence known as the Windmill scene.

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