Brighton is a city known for its live music scene, but if you just stick to the main roads like West Street or London Road, you won’t find much, that’s why we’ve put together a local insider’s guide to the best live music venues in Brighton.
Concorde 2
286A Madeira Dr, Brighton BN2 1EN
Despite being fairly out of the way of the town centre, The Concorde 2 has grown a reputation as the leading music venue in Brighton. In the past decade it has won both the Live UK and Music Week awards for the UK’s best music venue.
Located underneath the Madeira Drive arches, The Concorde 2 is housed in an ornate Victorian building with a high ceiling and two rooms for an overall capacity of 600. Concorde 2 features a cutting-edge L-Acoustics sound system, immersive lighting, and a consistently diverse cross section of acts throughout the year, including big names alongside smaller local bands.
CHALK
13 Pool Valley, Brighton BN1 1NJ
Formerly known as The Haunt, CHALK is the most recent live music venue to open in Brighton. Located next to the bus depot in Pool Valley, CHALK has a capacity of 900. Inside, it has a sizeable main area with a revolving bar that allows for capacity changes. There is a second bar at the mezzanine level. Regular club nights and live music performances are both held at CHALK.
Komedia
44-47 Gardner St, Brighton BN1 1UN
https://www.komedia.co.uk/brighton/
Sat in the heart of Brighton’s trendy North Laine district, The Komedia is a venue for music, theatre, and stand up, it also has a Picturehouse cinema (Duke’s @ Komedia) on one of its floors.
With two active performance spaces open 7 days a week, The Komedia currently hosts around 700 live performances a year. It is also a regular feature of Brighton’s Great Escape festival.
Brighton Centre
https://www.brightoncentre.co.uk/
With a capacity of 4,500, The Brighton Centre is easily the largest venue on this list, and also the largest venue in Brighton excluding the Amex stadium, The Brighton Centre is a mainstay on most large performers’ UK tours.
When it’s not being used as a convention centre by the UK’s political parties, it’s hosting gigs by acts like Morrisey, Sugababes, Kaiser Chiefs, and Placebo.
The Prince Albert
48 Trafalgar St, Brighton BN1 4ED
https://princealbertbrighton.co.uk/
The smallest venue on this list, but by no means unimpressive, The Prince Albert is a pub located 60 seconds’ walk from Brighton Train Station. Its upstairs room has earned it a reputation as one of the best music venues for live music in the city. With a capacity of only 100, and a stage which is barely raised more than a foot above the ground, the gigs there feel intimate and special. While this makes it a great venue for acoustic and folk acts, you’re also likely to hear a selection of local indie bands and total unknowns.
While you’re unlikely to see many huge names performing at The Prince Albert, most nights of the week you can turn up and hear some great local bands for as little as £5 on the door.
Latest Music Bar
14-17 Manchester St, Kemptown, Brighton BN2 1TF
The 200 capacity Latest Music Bar is located just off the bottom of St James’ Street. With bars and stages on both floors, The Latest Music Bar packs in an impressive number of performances in the average week.
Inside, you’ll find a cosy cabaret bar in the basement which is bathed in the warm glow of multiple strings of fairy lights, and a ground floor restaurant-bar with an art deco aesthetic.
The Latest Music Bar hosts regular jazz and blues nights, as well as non-music events like the Brighton Café Scientifique (imagine a TED talk in a coffee bar) and screenings for local film festivals.
Unlike most of the venues on this list, The Latest Music Bar is also available for private hire.