The UK’s best underground venues
When it comes to music, ‘underground’ is a very vague term. Many use it as a byword for subculture; others see it as connoting a form of creative activity with little care for laws and regulations. As with so many things in music, the exact definition depends on how radical you are.
You could say that underground music is that which is opposed to mainstream values and aesthetics. Punk was an underground phenomenon (at least initially) because its progenitors rejected modes of musical expression favoured by established rockers. Seattle’s no-wavers were the same.
But underground music can also carry political connotations. Take the UK dub scene of the 1970s and ’80s for example, which was nurtured by West Indian communities in Brixton, Croydon and elsewhere and stood in defiance of authority and police brutality.
Defining what makes underground music is important in helping us establish what makes an underground venue. The two share a symbiotic relationship, and, often, venues uphold the values of the subcultural music-makers who reside there – although sometimes they are simply spaces run according to grassroots principles. Below you will find a selection of UK music venues which we believe wear their underground status as a badge of honour.
The UK’s best underground venues:
The New Adelphi Club (Hull)
Location: 89 De Grey St, Hull HU5 2RU
The New Adelphi in Hull is that rare blend of heritage rock venue and forward-thinking springboard. After falling into the hands of Paul Jackson in 1984, the Adelphi quickly established itself as a place where up-and-coming bands could prove themselves.
In fact, Jackson gave a little-known band called Pulp a shot when none else would. “There was a time when only Hull and Sheffield would give us a gig,” frontman Jarvis Cocker told the Adelphi crowd in 1998. Today, the venue stands by the open-minded principles that defined its golden age – hosting brilliant gigs as well as social events where musicians can meet and trade ideas. If more venues were like The Adelphi, the world would be a much better place.
The Social (London)
Location: 5 Little Portland St, London W1W 7JD
Next time you’re in the big smoke, make sure you head down to The Social – just a soggy chip’s toss from Oxford Circus. This particular venue is underground in both a subcultural and subterranean sense, given that the live room is tucked beneath the bar at the bottom of a steep flight of stairs.
The Social frequently hosts night put on by Heavenly Recordings (Katy J. Pearson, Baxter Dury) and Sonic Cathedral (BDRMM, Andy Bell), and has a very good reputation amongst the city’s free-thinker and boundary-pushers. Small but mighty, this buzzing venue has seen performances by everyone from Aphex Twin and Flying Lotus to Jack White and Fat White Family.
Trades Club (Hebden Bridge)
Location: Holme St, Hebden Bridge HX7 8EE
Frequently cited as one of the best small venues in the UK, Trades Club in Hebden Bridge is a socialist members cooperative, bar, venue and club that has been putting other UK cultural hubs to shame since 1982.
With its sprung floor (thank you ballroom dancers), brilliant acoustics and community-focused ethos, Trades Club continually proves itself to be one of the most surprising and immersive venues around. Not a month goes by when there isn’t something worth checking out. I mean, come on, how many venues do you know that’ll put on Shonen Knife one day and Clem Burke the next?
Avalon Cafe (London)
Location: Juno Way, London SE14 5RW
Avalon Cafe is one of only a small handful of London venues that has really earned its underground status. Located in an industrial nether-zone in Bermondsey, South London, this hub of creativity always feels like it belongs to the bands who call it home.
The brilliant thing about Avalon Cafe is that anyone is free to book the space, giving promoters, independent record labels, DJs, art collectives and bands the chance to put on nights of their own devising. Avalon Cafe also boasts its own radio station and – as the name suggests – cafe.
Brudenell Social Club (Leeds)
Location: 33 Queen’s Rd, Burley, Leeds LS6 1NY
Established in 1913, the Brudenell is run according to an “open music policy” which believes that all music has the power to facilitate change and social interaction. Creative freedom is at the heart of everything this Leeds venue does.
A surprisingly spacious haunt, the Brudenell has been one of Yorkshire’s most important small venues for countless years now, hosting everything from experimental noise rock bands like Black Midi to Britpop darlings Suede.
King Tut’s Wah Wah Hut (Glasgow)
Location: 272A St Vincent St, Glasgow G2 5RL
King Tuts isn’t exactly underground in the sense that it’s under-the-radar; quite the opposite in fact – the Glasgow venue is one of the most famous in the world. It’s where Alan McGee saw Oasis for the first time. In 1990, it hosted a little-known band called Blur. For God’s sake, Manic Street Preachers praised the venue’s mushroom soup in front of thousands of people at T in the Park.
A venue with that kind of heritage could easily have forgotten its roots, but King Tut’s continues to showcase new and emerging bands to this day. It is, without a date, a venue that every music fan should visit once in their life – if only to taste King Tut’s own lager.
