The strongest imprint I have of this place was seeing a band called Islands play here a couple years back. It was the middle of Summer on one of the hottest days of the year and the air conditioning was off, or not working. Since the venue is located in a basement (so no windows), was absolutely packed combined with the band keeping us waiting for about 45 minutes, everyone was very sweaty before the gig even started! That show is one of my favourites ever, but when the roof is dripping with moisture from the body mass beneath it, with the owners refusing to open doors or turn the a/c on, it becomes more than a little intolerable.

I must admit experiences with other bands and club nights have been more tolerable than the above.

Pros
- amazingly good bands
- interesting clientele
- drinks are cheap
- trendy area (so you have options of bars in the area)

Cons
- pretentious atmosphere sometimes on club nights (some may consider that a pro)
- needs better ventilation
- some friends have complained it’s hard to get to if you don;t live locally.

Nestling in the middle of Dalston, this is a killer venue regularly used by Indie/ Rock Promoters such as Eat Your Own Ears, Upset the Rhythm and Club Motherf*cker. No surprise then that its filled with young trendy types dressed in skinny jeans and tight T-shirts pulsing around to dirty rock anthems and swathes of disco. Your favourite new venue. Fact.

Grungy, sweaty little basement venue that has some great new acts playing. I went to see the amazing Marnie Stern there recently and the place was packed out. Despite the low ceiling the acoustics are pretty good and you can always nip upstairs into the street for a bit of fresh air (or a fag) if you get claustrophobic.

Basement venue and club.
Drinks are cheap.
Great for a night out or to catch a good band.
Different promoters put on different nights, but the once-monthly Gipsy Motel is a great place to start (check for dates). Rock&Roll, blues and gypsy bands play live. Fire eating and burlesque shows. Often packed but friendly and relaxed. No dress code but plenty of people are dressed to impress and red and black are de rigueur.

Bardens pretty much sets the pace when it comes to up-and-coming bands from all over the world being put on by independent, DIY promoters. The main reason for this is that it is a cheap place to hire out. Shows here cost around £5, start around 8pm, and finish around 12am for band nights / 3am for club nights.

They gave the place a refit a year or two ago, and it has a lot of personality - little semi-booths with different murals on the walls, a couple of old chesterfields lying around. The PA is pretty good, the stage is about six inches off the ground (which is good for breaking down barriers between artist and audience, but bad if you actually want to see anything), and they have no lighting rig - only a set of halogens that they dim for the performers.

They serve the standard array of lagers and spirits. It's not a cheap place to drink (around £3 a pint), especially given that it is pretty much just a dive bar with a live music bent. I can only suppose that they keep prices that high to offset the low rental cost.

Downsides are that the place is underground, which means that there's a nasty smell in the air (especially since the smoking ban), they only let 10 people out at any one time for a cigarette (which leads to long queues, especially between bands), and the bar staff can be pretty surly at times. Oh, and the small fact that it's a good 15min bus ride from the nearest tube station.

Overall, though, it's a great little underground (literally) venue that has a lot to offer in terms of quality and variety of acts. You just need to be able to be bothered to make it there.