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World class music venue on the outskirts of Milton Keynes promoting over 350 gigs annually across two performance spaces - fantastic opportunities to see both well established and up and coming bands and artists of all genres in superb surroundings.
Also an extensive music education programme including the annual National Youth Music Camps whose alumni include Guy Chambers, Dominic Miller, Thom Yorke, Alec & Jacqui Dankworth.
The Stables
Stockwell Lane
Wavendon
Milton Keynes
Bucks MK17 8LU
Box Office 01908 280800
www.stables.org
Home to the world famous Irish music session fronted by the award-winning Grace Kelly.
Holder of the world record for biggest Irish session held in a pub.
Session every Wednesday, live Irish music every Saturday and Sunday. Friendly staff, cosy atmosphere.
Opening Times
Monday 11am - 11pm
Tuesday 11am - 11pm
Wednesday 11am-11pm
Thursday 11am - 11pm
Friday 11am - 12midnight
Saturday 11am - 12midnight
Sunday 11am-11pm
www.myspace.com/unionpub
Union Irish Music Lounge
845 Stockport road
Levenshulme
Manchester
M19 3PW
0161 224 1271
A little disappointed not to see m19 Bar in sunny Levenshulme village not get a mention in the top ten guide (www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/apr/09/manchester.musicbars). It's home to Acousticfest - Manchester's premier acoustic showcase, which has been running for about three years and has hosted acts from as far away as Australia in its monthly acoustic festivals.
Highlights have included live sessions from Tom Hingley of Inspiral Carpets fame, Mike McGoldrick (BBC Instrumentalist of the Year), Eleanor McEvoy (from Ireland's best selling folk album - Woman's Heart).
Watch out for its A-A Festival from April to August featuring more than 80 acts including an Alternative Glastonbury weekend in June and Dylan Festival in August.
847 Stockport Road
Levenshulme
Manchester
M19 3PW
0161 224 8135
www.myspace.com/acousticfest
www.m19bar.com
Fantastic basement club in the centre of Manchester. Great staff and good drinks. Just make sure you have your dancing shoes on...
46-50 Oldham St
Northern Quarter
www.mintlounge.com
A club with lots of character, the Thekla is a boat and consists of two floors and a heated deck. Brilliant food is served all day and in the evening it turns into a live venue, which is often followed by a club night. Whether the performers are well-known or up and coming, the Thekla always seems to get it just right.
The Grove
East Mud Dock
Bristol BS1 4RB
0117 929 3301
www.theklabristol.co.uk
Intimate underground music venue in the heart of Dalston. Sounds and styles may shift night-on-night, but it seems all of the promoters have their fingers on the pulse of their respective scenes. A local sweatbox that parades hyped acts at least six months before they truly blow up... but then can't afford to them back once they have. I admire that in a venue though.
38-44 Stoke Newington Road. London N16 7XJ
Small, intimate venue, with superb atmosphere: you could almost be on stage with the band. Close to the heart of York, but worth a visit from anywhere in the UK just to catch a special set in a unique venue.
While we're at it: catch the Tivoli in Utrecht, NL, before it disappears! (Zeche, Bochum, D, is probably Europe's finest: it's got everything.)
www.fibbers.co.uk/
Fibbers is situated in The Stonebow on the Minster side of the River Ouse
Small, intimate, underground venue with original retro decor in the dark, Jute Mill area of the city centre. Great music policy featuring DJs like Don Letts, Norman Jay, Gilles Peterson, 100% Dynamite, Toddla T, Mr Scruff, Qool DJ Marv and bands such as Earl Zinger, The Bays, Antibalas, Fat Freddys Drop, Blackalicious. Mellow, chilled out crowd and great bar and door staff. A happy face, a thumping bass, for a loving race...
www.myspace.com/thereadingrooms
Blackscroft
Dundee
Someone had a genius idea of making an old boat into a club. The acoustics are great - equipped for both DJs and bands who can pump out their tunes to a resonating effect within the boat's hull. It offers a triple decker sandwich of floors, the top being a bar and (lucky for smokers) a large outside deck complete with heaters! Straight down to the bottom, the hull becomes the main dance floor including a second bar. The selection of bands that play ranges from local to large, alternative to just plain awesome. Thursday is club night, Friday and Saturday if you want the next step up for music!
The Grove, East Mud Dock, BS1 4RB
next to River station restaurant.
www.theklabristol.co.uk
Small, vibrant and atmospheric, this pub venue is a great place to get your socks off. This place makes city bars, with their coolness and high pretensions, seem comparatively parochial. Get out to the sticks and enjoy this wunderland for music lovers.
2, High St, Midsomer Norton, Bath, BA3 2HW
Tel: 01761 410904
Free parking
Small venue that doesn't pander to fashion. Nothing quite so thrilling as watching Wilco perform with four thrashing guitars, up close and personal. Great stuff.
Talbot Street, Nottingham
This is a wonderfully atmospheric pub that constantly looks shut from the outside so is never too busy. Upstairs is a room that could be your lounge. Every Wednesday they put on live music and they never fail to impress me. The old chesterfield chairs allow you to go beyond relaxation and let you take in the acoustic sounds played out to you.
Number 2 Queens Crescent, Chalk Farm
Now I know it's a church but it also doubles as a fantastic music venue. I've been to a lot of London venues and this is my all-time favourite, great acoustics, good ambience and it also has the benefit of not being too big or impersonal.
Nearest tube: Highbury and Islington
Ok, it may only be suitable as a summer venue but what a venue!
Beautiful courtyard setting, small and intimate, slightly sloping down to the stage to give a good view, and some cracking acts. Kasabian and Prodigy playing there stand out as being awesome gigs. Even though it can sometimes take a while to get a beer, at least they have a orderly and well managed queuing system!
The Strand, central London.
While Brixton is a close second, the Astoria is my favourite due to the ease of getting a beer, the size of the venue and its central location. Given that it doesn't look like it will be around much longer, go there while you still can!
The only downside is having a toilet attendant trying to offer you aftershave - you may want that in a nice bar but not midway through Maximo Park!
Tottenham Court Road
One of Liverpool's biggest club venues. You're guaranteed to get your stomp on at any of the nights put on at Nation... from Chibuku Birthdays, Cream Nights to Medication... the DJs are tuned in and always raise the roof without fail.
L1 4BX, Liverpool
Probably the best live music venue for bands that are just about to hit it huge, or major acts getting back to the grime pit for a real atmospheric and intimate experience and nowhere else can lay claim to hosting the Libertines in a major venue before all the hype and nonsense.
A great performance at the Astoria ultimately proves whether you can last or fade. Sadly it looks like the Astoria itself may die a death before too long.
Whether you're standing at the back or moshing at the front the Academy is ideal - small enough for that intimate atmosphere, big enough to generate some noise and passion. OK, so it's sponsored by Carling, so the beer's not great so for a pre-gig pint and some nosebag, nip into the Dogstar on Coldharbour Lane for some good value Mexican food.
Carling Academy Brixton: 211 Stockwell Road London SW9 www.brixton-academy.co.uk/
Whether you're standing at the back or moshing at the front, the Academy is ideal - small enough for that intimate atmosphere, big enough to generate some noise and passion. OK, so it's sponsored by Carling, so the beer's not great. For a pre-gig pint and some nosebag, nip into the Dogstar on Coldharbour Lane for some good value Mexican food.
Carling Academy Brixton: 211 Stockwell Road London SW9 www.brixton-academy.co.uk/
Watching bands here is more of a musical experience than just a 'gig'.
Despite the venue being miles from any sort of humanity, the looming site of this magnificient glass building with its atriums and arches makes the one and half mile trek up the hill all worthwhile! Once inside Ally Pally you will be amazed by the amount of space there is and the decadent interior: gold-painted scrolling handrails on winding marbled stairs carpeted with lush velvet makes going to the loo feel like a royal visit!
The huge expanse of the building means that acoustics travel far and wide, making even the smallest band sound magnanimous. An excellent example of this was The White Stripes gig where the stark two-piece made so much noise that many were afraid Jack White's shrieking vocals would shatter the glass ceiling.
Alexandra Palace is truly a venue fit for kings!
Alexandra Palace Way
Wood Green
London
N22 7AY
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