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 Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

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 Wales ...

alternative Alternative or alternate may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Alternative (''Kamen Rider''), a character in the Japanese TV series ''Kamen Rider Ryuki'' * ''The Alternative'' (film), a 1978 Australian television film * ''The Alternative ...

and

independent music Independent music (also commonly known as indie music or simply indie) is music that is produced independently from commercial record labels or their subsidiaries, a process that may include an autonomous, do-it-yourself approach to recording a ...

. The flagship venue was based in

Camden Town Camden Town (), often shortened to Camden, is a district of northwest London, England, north of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is the administrative centre of the London Borough of Camden, and identified in the London Plan as o ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. 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 British-based music culture movement that emphasised Britishness. It produced brighter, catchier alternative rock, partly in reaction to the popularity of the darker lyrical themes of the US-led grunge music and to the ...

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 farcical and action-packed) misadventures of Daisy Steiner and Tim Bis ...

'' 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 MAMA & Company is a live music and entertainment company which owns and operates a number of live music venues and festivals in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2005, it has since acquired many other venue-holding companies, expanding its reach si ...

. 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 (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

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 and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

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 and contemporary culture generally, a £15 million project largely funded with contributions from the National Lottery, which opened on 1 Mar ...

. 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 (now The Plug) 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 and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

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

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

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 has since been refurbished and is now a

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

pub."£1m revamp transforms old pub into new Wetherspoon"
''Cambridge News'', 9 June 2010. Retrieved 2015-11-22. On 17 February 2009, the

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

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

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

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 with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

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, west of the City of London and north of the River Thames, in which many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buil ...

Barfly venue closed in 2011.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barfly, The Music venues in London Camden Town

Camden venue

Other venues

See also

References

External links