The Barfly was a chain of live music venues in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

originally started by Nick Moore, Jeremy Ledlin and Be Rozzo on Valentine's Day 1997. Club nights and events tended to feature

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (Kamen Rider), Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * Alternative comics, or independent comics are an altern ...

and

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music, or simply indie) is a broad style of music characterized by creative freedoms, low-budgets, and a DIY ethic, do-it-yourself approach to music creation, which originated from the liberties aff ...

. The flagship venue was based in

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The premises are still used as a live music venue, which has a capacity of 200.

Camden venue

Prior to 2000, the flagship Camden venue had been known as The Monarch, a pub which had hosted live music gigs since the 1980s. During the 1990s it became a regular venue for

Britpop Britpop was a mid-1990s United Kingdom, British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. Musically, Britpop produced bright, catchy alternative rock, with significant influences from British guitar pop of the 1960s and 1970s. B ...

bands. The venue was featured in Episode 5 of Season 2 of TV series ''

Spaced ''Spaced'' is a British television sitcom created, written by and starring Simon Pegg and Jessica Stevenson, and directed by Edgar Wright, about the comedic, and sometimes surreal and action-packed, misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bi ...

'' which centred around lead characters Tim and Daisy having a night out in Camden. The Barfly brand began with one club in 1996, originally at The Falcon pub, before moving to The Monarch in 2000, which was then renamed The Barfly, with the old name "The Monarch" being later taken up by another nearby venue, the former Misty Moon. In May 2016, the Columbo Group purchased the Barfly from its previous owner, MAMA & Company. In June 2016, it closed the venue. After refurbishment, the space has reopened as the Camden Assembly.

Other venues

A second venue was opened in

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

in 2001 with a capacity of 200 people and other venues followed. The Cardiff venue closed in September 2010. Similarly, the

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

Barfly closed in the same year. Until 2003, The Barfly ran a venue in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

in the now defunct

National Centre for Popular Music The National Centre for Popular Music was a museum in Sheffield, England, for pop and rock music Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, deve ...

. The venue was initially housed in one "pod" of the building but this was closed down sometime in 2002, moving to what was the Zero Club (later The Plug, then Network) on Matilda Street. The Barfly vacated these premises soon afterwards, and left Sheffield altogether. On 2 June 2008, the

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

The Barfly (formerly the Gloucester Nightclub) closed down without notice.

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

Barfly opened in 2007 after the Barfly chain took over The Graduate public house. It had a 250-person capacity, but closed in the Summer of 2008. It was refurbished and became a

J D Wetherspoon J D Wetherspoon (branded variously as Wetherspoon or Wetherspoons, and colloquially known as Spoons) is a British pub company operating in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Ireland. The company was founded in 1979 by Tim Martin and is based ...

pub, which later burned down, but has since reopened. On 17 February 2009, the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Barfly also closed down without notice. During late May 2009,

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Barfly was sold to local bar owners and transformed into the Masque Nightclub and music venue. The building also contains The Masque's affiliated bar: Ink, a free-entry rock 'n' roll bar and the only tattoo studio-themed venue in the North West of England. In 2010, the

York York is a cathedral city in North Yorkshire, England, with Roman Britain, Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers River Ouse, Yorkshire, Ouse and River Foss, Foss. It has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a Yor ...

Barfly also ceased trading; the venue reopened as Fibbers on 3 September 2010. The

West End of London The West End of London (commonly referred to as the West End) is a district of Central London, Central London, England, in the London Borough of Camden, London Boroughs of Camden and the City of Westminster. It is west of the City of London an ...

Barfly venue closed in 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barfly, The Music venues in London Camden Town Former music venues in Cardiff Music venues in Cambridgeshire

Camden venue

Other venues

See also

References

External links