The best music venues in London: the full list
The city's 20 best places to see live music, as voted by Time Out readers
Mon Mar 26 2012
The 20 best music venues in London
Scala
Although the venue has vacillated between use as a picturehouse and concert hall, the Scala’s one consistent trait has been its lack of respect for authority.
- 275-277 Pentonville Rd, N1 9NL
The O2
The plucky 20,000-seater has proved the critics wrong and established itself as the capital’s de facto home of the megagig.
- Peninsula Square, SE10 0DX
The Forum
The Forum became a music venue in the early 1980s, and its size and location mean it’s been vital to generations of London gig-goers.
- 9-17 Highgate Rd, NW5 1JY
Jazz Café
Given its reputation, you wouldn’t think the Jazz Café was a newbie on London’s music map, but it was only converted from a branch of Barclays in 1990.
- 5 Parkway, NW1 7PG
Barbican
It might look like it was built in 1920s Uzbekistan (then turned inside out) but the Barbican is about to celebrate its thirtieth birthday.
- Silk St, EC2Y 8DS
O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire
The building’s baroque interior exudes a grown-up glamour few venues can match.
- Shepherd's Bush Green, W12 8TT
100 Club
These days it's a hub for blues rockers, pub rockers and trad jazzers, coming into its own for secret gigs by A-list bands.
- 100 Oxford St, W1D 1LL
Shacklewell Arms
The Shacklewell Arms occupies the position in fashionable hearts that was held by the Old Blue Last in the past.
- 71 Shacklewell Lane, E8 2EB
Ronnie Scott's
Opened by British saxophonist Ronnie Scott in 1959, Ronnie’s has since amassed as much history as the British Museum.
- 47 Frith St, W1D 4HT
XOYO
Although it’s as east London as pretending to like pie and mash, XOYO is a venue in the un-grand New York tradition.
- 32-37 Cowper St, EC2A 4AP
Alexandra Palace
Poor old Ally Pally: this landmark hilltop venue opened in 1873 as The People’s Palace, but it’s been devastated by fire twice.
- Alexandra Palace Way, N22 7AY
Roundhouse
The Roundhouse was built in 1846 as a turntable shed for steam engines, and the venue has married beauty with beastly behaviour ever since.
- Chalk Farm Rd, NW1 8EH
Vortex
There are few venues in the city you could visit on spec at any time and be guaranteed to hear something interesting.
- 11 Gillett Square, N16 8AZ
Royal Albert Hall
Besides its astonishing acoustics and an atmosphere which rivals the Vatican, its elegance makes the venue feel like part of the performance.
- Kensington Gore, SW7 2AP
Koko
Camden features heavily in London’s pop history, but Koko has had a hand in the gestation of numerous sounds and styles over the decades.
- 1a Camden High St, NW1 7JE
O2 Brixton Academy
This art deco gem straddles the chasm between the pomp of a stadium show and the intimate atmosphere of a club.
- 211 Stockwell Rd, SW9 9SL
- 96-98 Pentonville Rd, N1 9JB
The Windmill
The Windmill is certainly not your average music venue, but its unprepossessing exterior is a cloak for its dedication to new leftfield music.
- 22 Blenheim Gardens, SW2 5BZ
Cecil Sharp House
Headquarters of the English Folk Dance And Song Society, Cecil Sharp House is a great place to visit even when there isn’t any music playing.
- 2 Regent's Park Rd, NW1 7AY
Union Chapel
The devil might have all the best tunes, but the Union Chapel is proof that him downstairs knows bugger-all about architecture.
- Compton Terrace, N1 2UN
More of London's best music venues
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So, after tallying up the votes and after a few seriously hard equations, we've compiled a list of the twenty best music venues in London. Where does your favourite rank? Let's take a look...
See the twenty best music venues in London
Check out the full list
Here are all 20 venues at a glance. Did we miss your favourite? Let us know
See the full list
The musicians' picks of London's music venues
It wasn't just the public who chipped in: Noah and The Whale, Florence Welch, Skepta and many more musicians gave us their two cents on the capital's best venues
See the musician's picks of music venues
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