I find myself in need of resources for booking my own band (a sludge/death/grind band), in order to get playing out of town.

Can anyone recommend an online list of metal-friendly clubs and venues?

I would recommend deciding where you want to go and then contacting bands that you dig in the places you want to play. In most cases they will be happy to help and put something together for you or at least point you in the right direction.

Yep. Already doing that, thanks.

Perhaps we should put together a list of our local venues that book independent metal bands? Would anyone find it useful and use it?

Would certainly be nice to have a reference point, especially for those who haven't done this shit before or are going somewhere they don't have contacts already. Maybe make it a sticky thread at the top of the musicians forum and someone could just update the original post with any submitted information.

To make a list that was anywhere near comprehensive would be a large and difficult undertaking. Especially with the number of small clubs that open, close, change management ect.

Great idea! There are several good venues in my area. I'll be happy to post info about that, and if there are changes I can update.

Birmingham AL USA

The Spring Street Firehouse is a great all ages venue for extreme/heavy/underground music. http://springstreetfirehouse.com/ springstreetfirehouse@gmail.com 412 41st Street South Birmingham AL 35205 basic house pa.

The Nick is Birmingham's oldest rock'n'roll establishment, very metal-friendly. They've seen it all. http://www.thenickrocks.com/ for booking contact Nolen-Reeves Music. c/o Dan Nolan. 1574 1/2 Piedmont Road. Atlanta, GA 30324. Phone: (404)876-8436. The club itself is located at 2514 10th Avenue South Birmingham, AL 35205 (205) 252-3831 very good house pa.

Bottletree is kind of a indie/hipster place but they have metal shows fairly often, with bands like EYEHATEGOD and Phobia coming through and freaking out the Portlandia clones. http://www.thebottletree.com/ 3719 3rd Avenue South Birmingham, AL 35222 (205) 533-6288 decent house pa.

Patera's in Pelham is small, fun, very metal friendly. there are some local NYDM/ALDM guys booking that place, if you are in that network. 2846 Hwy. 31 Pelham, AL 35124
ph: 663-7515 fax: 663-7516 alt: 663-7571 PATERASPIZZASUBS@BELLSOUTH.NET basic house pa.

Matthew's downtown has metal and hardcore shows all the time. The owner/booking contact is Kavon. He is very cool. 2208 Morris Ave, Birmingham, AL 35203-4212 1 205.467.5141 basic house pa.

No GA or FL metal players around, eh?

For us New Englanders there's the Webster in Hartford, CT and the Palladium in Worcester, MA. Both book a lot of the big regional and national bands as well as local unknowns. The email address for the Webster is booking@webstertheater.com; Rusty also books for an agency up here called Break Thru Music, at both the Webster and the Palladium.

For New York and New England in general, there's also Tainted Entertainment. They book a lot more "real" metal shows in New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania. We're actually playing a show for them in June at Pickwick Pub in Poughkeepsie, NY with Horna and Rituals of the Oak. Their email address is Taintedent@aol.com.

Atlanta

529 - Small bar/venue that does 18+ shows. Cool spot for shows w/ cheap booze. http://529atl.com

The Earl - Medium sized Restaurant/Bar/Venue. 21+ / Best sound in Atlanta with great food and decent booze prices. http://badearl.com/

The Drunken Unicorn - Medium sized venue/bar that does 18+ shows. Good sound, cheapish booze. http://thedrunkenunicorn.net/

Wonderroot - Non profit small basement venue. All ages. This place rules and usually all the door money goes to the bands since they're a non profit. http://www.wonderroot.org/

Archive Gallery - DIY warehouse space / All ages

The best way to book anywhere in Atlanta is to contact local bands and have them help you out. Most venues won't book an unknown band without good local support and they won't find locals for you.

I'll need to take some time to write down all of them and add descriptions/contact info - some places book local bands, but a lot of the venues seem to have had a very limited number of metal shows. It's an incomplete list but these are the places I can think of off the top of my head.

Connecticut!

Major venues (book national acts)

Webster Theatre - Hartford, CT
http://webstertheatre.com/
The main room is a cave, there's a shoebox room/bar as a second stage. Recently acquired by the ownership of The Palladium in Worcester, MA.

Toads Place - New Haven, CT
http://www.toadsplace.com/
Hasn't booked much metal for years, though there's an occasional local metal band and not-quite-metal stuff like Alcest.

Oakdale Theater - Wallingford, CT (formerly/currently Chevrolet Theater, Toyota Theater, "The Dome" (lobby))
http://oakdale.com/index
Big theater that holds "smaller" shows like Killswitch Engage in the lobby. Huge place, doesn't do local bands or openers at all AFAIK.



Smaller/local venues (*starred venues sometimes book touring bands)

Acoustic Cafe - Bridgeport, CT
http://www.acousticafe.com/
Doesn't do much metal, but metal bands have played there over the years.

City Limits - Waterbury, CT
Restaurant/biker bar type place, not a lot of shows, not much metal of those, but MSW have played there recently.

Cook's Cafe - Naugatuck, CT
http://www.cooksrocks.com/ + http://www.myspace.com/cookscafe
Restaurant/bar that also books local bands.

Cherry Street Station - Wallingford, CT
http://www.myspace.com/cherrystreetstation
Bar that books local bands. They have hosted some extreme metal.

Dewey's Pub - Seymour, CT
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Deweys-Pu ... 9618707693
Pub that recently had some metal shows.

*El N Gee - New London, CT
http://www.facebook.com/elngeeclub
Opened and closed countless times, apparently it's back. Infamous punk venue, also does metal.

*Heirloom Arts Theater - Danbury, CT (formerly Empress Ballroom)
http://heirloomarts.org/about + http://www.facebook.com/pages/HEIRLOOM- ... 3072142532
Section of an old warehouse with an entrance from an alleyway. Mostly does indie/post-hardcore but also has some metal shows with local bands that I have never heard of. I saw a lot of major bands here in 2003-05 and haven't seen the place in years.

Lanza's - Seymour, CT
http://lanzarestaurant.com/
Pizza place that recently had a few thrash bands.

Rack And Roll - Stamford, CT
**website is out of date, I think the name was recently changed
Billiards bar that will book local hard rock and metal bands. Not for touring bands. I've seen a metal band asked to play quieter here, but there are also no-admission shows and cheap beer.

Seaside Tavern - Stamford, CT
http://www.seasidetavern.net/bands/
Bar room in the back of a restaurant. Haven't seen much metal there recently.

*Tuxedo Junction - Danbury, CT
http://www.tuxedojunctionct.com/ + http://www.facebook.com/TuxedoJunctionCT
Needs a real website. Books lots of awful ___core bands but I think they would do metal too. Good venue the one time I was there.

305k Gallery - Bridgeport, CT
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Gallery-3 ... 5792202986
Really new place, not sure if they do metal but they have a festival booked with Scale The Summit headlining.

Misc - youth center type places

The Beanery - Fairfield, CT
Trackside - Wilton, CT
...



RIP
Anthrax Club - Stamford/Norwalk, CT (long gone)
Daniel Street Club - Milford, CT (converted into a restaurant at the end of 2011, no more shows)
The Nest - Bridgeport, CT (demolished)
...and many more (in case anyone was looking for these places)

A few places I know of in Brooklyn that do metal shows (I don't go there too often)

Acheron
Brooklyn Masonic Temple
Europa
Saint Vitus
Trash Bar

...certainly a very incomplete list for places that have shows in Brooklyn, but it's a start!

I live in the LA area. I'm sure you all have heard of Sunset Strip. All the clubs are there, I've seen Opeth, Blind Guardian, and many others (including local bands).

Thanks man, that's a huge help.

In Michigan, Lansing is a very metal friendly city. Try the Blackened Moon Concert Hall. I would recommend Grand Rapids but not much goes through here in terms of local metal shows besides the Heavyweights which is their version of Battle of the Bands.

You pretty much listed all of the venues I know of.

Connecticut

Amity Teen Center - Woodbridge, CT. It's small, "local", but it's a really nice venue. The acoustics are adequate and the staff is very easy to work with. Metal shows there usually draw a good-sized crowd, and they have Xboxes and Playstations set up on the other side of the venue (lol).

Shamrock Cafe - Suffield, CT
Bar/restaurant. My friend/ex-band mate books shows there frequently. All shows are 21+, but they'll usually let you hang around if you're in one of the bands.

These next venues aren't in Connecticut, but they're not too far of a trek (my band has played these multiple times)

Massachusetts

Ralph's Rock Diner - Worcester, MA
They have a metal show every Thursday (oddly enough, named "Metal Thursday"). It's a fun place for a show, but it's 21+ only, and they'll kick you out immediately after you play if you're underage.

Club Oasis - Worcester, MA
They have metal shows here fairly often and I know a lot of local bands that are regulars. The staff/security are pretty easy-going.

The Palladium - Worcester, MA
I'm sure a lot of you from the area will know this venue. It's probably the largest in the state next to the House of Blues. It's a shitty venue (acoustics suck, sound crew is retarded, food/drinks extremely overpriced), but if you can get on the bill of a big show, you'll have quite the crowd to play to.

The Flywheel - East Hampton, MA
Very small, local venue. Every now and then they'll have a metal show (usually black metal). It's a bit hard to find, even though it's on main street. It's right next to the town hall. Finding parking on the street usually isn't too much of a problem.

That's all I can think of for now. I might be able to add more later.

Weird. I came here expecting to find just a bunch of random venues I'd never care about. But I'm originally from Michigan, so have been to the Blackened Moon before, and am now in CT with a show coming up at one of those "major venues" in a little over a week. Since I'm new to CT, I'll have to look into more of those venues! Thanks for the postings, everyone.

WindsOvCreation - Regarding the Palladium I'll agree with 2.5/3 of those. $7 beer and retarded sound crews. But only the upstairs venue sound like shit, downstairs sounds pretty good if the sound crew gets their act together (which took until band 6 of 11 last time I was there).

More New England! I didn't realize so many other users were in the area.

Massachusetts
The Middle East - Cambridge
http://www.mideastclub.com/
O'Brien's Pub - Allston
http://www.obrienspubboston.com/booking.php

Vermont
Nectar's - Burlington (Hosts a "metal Mondays")
http://www.liveatnectars.com/static/liveatnectars/contact.php

Rhode Island
AS220 - Providence (the venue highly favors Rhode Island artists in booking)
http://as220.org/about/booking.html

New Hampshire
Milly's Tavern - Manchester
http://millystavern.com/manchester_night_club.htm#booking

My favorite is the aforementioned Metal Thursdays at Ralph's Diner in Worcester Massachusetts.

There's a lot of New Englanders on MA, quite a few from CT, and a few other users used to live here and remind us of times when there was a metal scene

Slim's, the DNA lounge, and the Regency Ballroom in San Francisco are metal friendly

Pensacola, Florida

Vinyl Music Hall http://www.vinylmusichall.com/
The Handlebar http://www.handlebarpensacola.com/
Sluggo's Vegetarian Restaurant and Bar http://www.sluggos.net/
American Legion 33 http://www.al33.org/
Live Night Club http://www.liveniteclub.com/
Seville Quarter http://sevillequarter.com/

Most metal shows end up at Vinyl Music Hall, The Handlebar or American Legion. The other places occansionally host metal shows but not on a regular basis.

Fubar in St. Louis is generally underground friendly, but the sound production sucks. Also, let me know if you actually come, I'd definitely come out and support.

Isn't Break Thru pay-to-play?

They are certainly (though Slims not so much these days) but unless you're bigtime, you'll probably want to look elsewhere.

All Ages Venues:
Thee Parkside is an awesome dive bar that books primarily punk/metal shows, this and the DNA Lounge are the primary metal venues in the city.
The Elbo Room is a nice hessian owned bar in the Mission, shows are upstairs in a decently large area with it's own bar, though as a downside, the same upstairs area doubles as a nightclub on weekends (every saturday maybe?) so if you're looking for a gig on one of the days they have something like that booked you'll have to settle for a matinee show (About 5PM-9PM.)
The Sub-Mission. For a touring band this might be an awesome spot given it's fairly large capacity but the venue doesn't book their own shows (so you'll need a promoter to help you out,) nor do they really promote them (they don't update their website often/ever nor are they good with social networking sites) and they take a pretty big chunk of the door sales (local bands are usually stiffed or given $10-20 even if it's packed though payouts are at the discretion of the promoter.) Despite all this, their staff is awesome and many if not most of the best shows I've been too have been here.

21+
Hemlock Tavern:Located in the beautiful Tenderloin District, this place is actually a huge bar with an small-ish upstairs area with a tiny stage.

Benders Bar just fucking rules. They only do shows on Saturday nights and it's somewhat of a small place but it always seems packed, they pay out well, and they give the bands free drinks (what more could you ask for?) They usually will only take on 2, maybe 3 bands max so it's a great place for bands travelling alone. Mikey at Subliminal SF books at both Benders and Hemlock.

Eli's Mile High Club seems to be the primary place in Oakland for metal shows. It's an ugly dive bar in a fucking abysmal neighborhood but still pulls a decent crowd and some fun shows.

KANSAS:

Kansas City, KS/MO:

The Beaumont Club:
4050 Pennsylvania Ave, Kansas City, MO 64111
http://www.beaumontkc.com/
Awesome venue with lots of great metal shows. Local bands play frequently as well as low-mid popularity underground bands. Has a nice bar area with tables and a comfy outdoor area with a second stage where local DJs spin.

The Riot Room:
4048 Broadway Street, Kansas City, MO 64111
http://www.theriotroom.com/
Awesome venue, I've been many times and always loved it. Nice and intimate as you can walk right up to the stage and blow kisses to the singer of Nightcreation. Cheap drinks, super comfy couches in the bar area where you can still see the show, and the sound is surprisingly good for such a hole in the wall place. Also has a nice outdoor area in the back, basically a fenced off back alley. So much fun.

The Woodlands:
9700 Leavenworth Road, Kansas City, KS 66109
http://www.woodlandskc.com/
Never been here, some shows are slated for the future as I've seen. Seems like it's not a metal venue primarily. A race track?

Starlight Theater:
4600 Starlight Road, Kansas City, MO 64132
http://www.kcstarlight.com/
Nice open air theatre! Expensive, though. Mostly dad rock, but when Slayer came, they came here.

Uptown Theater:
3700 Broadway Street, Suite 300, Kansas City, MO 64111
http://www.uptowntheater.com/
I can't remember anything about this place.

Midland Theater:
1228 Main Street, Kansas City, MO 64105
http://www.midlandkc.com/
Has a fair number of metal shows. Mostly dad rock. Has a funny artdeco/roccoco design philosophy. The chairs are extremely uncomfortable and the floor is a bit uneven when they remove them in the pit area. Drinks are extremely overpriced and the large beers have the same amount of beer as the regulars. Total rip off.

Knuckleheads:
2715 Rochester Street, Kansas City, MO 64120
http://www.knuckleheadskc.com/
Never been there and it looks sketchy. Some kind of biker/country bar? Metal shows are playing there in the future that I probably won't go to.

**********

Lawrence, KS:

The Granada:
1020 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.thegrenada.com
Fucking awesome venue. Drinks are slightly overpriced. Plenty of places to chill comfortably, friendly and intimate setting, great air system, always cool inside even when it's going nuts (as it frequently does) and lots of great metal bands come here all the time including local heroes.

The Jackpot Saloon:
943 Massachusetts Street, Lawrence, KS 66044
http://www.thejackpotsaloon.com/
Get's the occasional metal show. Not metal oriented. A bit dingy, a bit cluttered for moshing. Basically a saloon.

**********

Bonner Springs, KS:

Sandstone
633 North 130th Street Bonner Springs, KS 66012
http://www.sandstoneamp.com/
An ampitheatre. I've never been. Some rock/metal tour is going through in the near future. Probably not a particularly metal venue.

**********

Best are the Beaumont, Riot Room and Granada. All of the cool metalheads I know in Kansas frequent shows in these venues, including myself, so if you want to make friends you should make a trip out.

PFS: this blog keeps tracks of metal shows in the KC and Lawrence areas, an excellent resource; http://mandatory-metallica.blogspot.com/

Should we consolidate this into one large post and look to get contributions from the metal discussion forum? That would certainly get us a much larger list of venues.

Sounds good to me. Would make a good sticky for metal discussion. *HINT*

*looks at Tony*

New thread here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=90960