London Live Music Venues

A unique venue whose high ceilings have played host to a wide variety of artists from cabaret to cutting-edge electronica. Built in 1905 as a dance hall, it made its way to 2001 in various incarnations before being renovated into the live music and entertainment venue we know today. The larger Shepherd's Bush Empire down the road gets all the mainstream gigs, whereas the Bush Hall welcomes niche artists and those on their way up. Occasionally established bands also seem to love it for secret and fan club gigs.

This former cinema with its art deco interior, proscenium arch and 140ft dome is London's most celebrated venue for live music, winning Best Live Venue at the NME awards for 7 years in a row. The famous sloping floor means there are great views wherever you're standing, though keeping your feet can be a problem at the more raucous rock gigs. Most of the biggest bands in the world have played here, and it also holds some of Britain's hardest club nights. The sound could be better, but with a capacity of 4,700, a 6am licence, one of the biggest dance floors in the capital, and a location in one of the hardest-partying areas of London, this is the only place to watch your favourite bands and DJs.

Café Oto is a vibrant live music venue with the atmosphere of a student union cafe which puts on avant garde music from the Dalston scene. Housed in the old Reeves Artists' Colour Paint Factory - the three storey building was established in 1868 - Café Oto includes a large cafe/performance space where you can get lunch, tea and alcoholic drinks with an evening programme of creative new music almost seven nights a week.

This small Camden venue, known as Dingwalls, has a bar at the back, a stage at the front and room for a couple of hundred people in between. Just as renowned for showcasing up-and-coming talent now as it was in the '70s when the Sex Pistols, Blondie and The Ramones were just a few of the seminal bands who performed there, Dingwalls continues to be a champion of new music.

Once London's largest all-seater venue, the Hammersmith Apollo has a 3,600 capacity for seated shows and a 5,000 capacity for standing-room-only gigs. It was renovated in 2002, and now works well as a venue for theatre (hosting a huge variety of shows from Riverdance to Thomas the Tank Engine) as well as rock concerts. It has been the scene of some famous rock concerts including gigs by the Beatles, David Bowie and Queen and does a strong line in comedy - it's where Live at the Apollo, screened on BBC1, is recorded. Its visually challenged exterior (not helped by its poluted location on the busy Hammersmith roundabout) disguises an impressive art deco auditorium - when it was built in the 1930s its original purpose was a cinema and it still features the original 1932 Compton pipe organ.

London's most famous gay club is a vast labyrinth of dancefloors, bars, cafes and shops. This is the kind of place where it's perfectly ok- and encouraged- to jump on a podium: skimpy outfits are preferred. The atmosphere in this deservedly famous venue is second to none. As well as the notorious club nights, Heaven boasts a regular programme of live gigs, which include both established and up and coming artists. It has also been used for a number of music videos, including 'Tapes and Money' by dance producer and DJ, TEED.

This pub is the sister venue to one of the Scottish Highlands' most successful venues, Hootananny in Inverness. Revamped and refurbished, it's fast-establishing itself as one of the finest venues in South London. The late night venue plays host to a regular programme of world music: reggae, blues, ska, jazz-funk, gyspy swing, battle rap, flamenco rock and dubstep, it can all be found here. It has a crowd covering all ages, races, and income brackets, united by their desire to listen to great music and socialise.

Hoxton Square have deliberately gone for an unfinished urban feel, with bare warehouse walls, scratched-up furniture and one huge glass wall exposing the clientele to the headlights of cars trapped in the one-way sytem. With the likes of Example, Foals and Austra gracing the venue's stage, it's a great place to uncover new music - expect sticky floors and big crowds.

KOKO offers a great mixture of live bands and club nights that have put it at the heart of the Camden nightlife. The huge stage, broad balconies and plush upstairs bars are a reminder of its former role as the Camden Theatre, and the deep red colour scheme, chandeliers and gilt molding give it a decadent air that matches the rock stars who grace the stage. It has an illustrious rock 'n' roll history, having hosted The Clash and the Sex Pistols in the 1970s, and The Eurythmics, Madness and Madonna in the 1980s. It became a much-loved scuzzy rock club in the 1990s, before being restored and reopened in 2005.

Boasting a colourful history, the Roundhouse initially started life as an engine shed. It was later transformed into a bonded warehouse for Gilbey's Gin before Arnold Wesker established Centre 42 here, insisting it became one of the most cutting-edge performing arts venue in the country. Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd played several memorable concerts and it is these performances that have sealed the Roundhouse's legendary reputation. By the 1980s it was a crumbling wreck and took Ł27 million to restore it. A shiny, angular, glass three-storey extension has been attached to the original dark-grey drum. Tickets for main performances here can be a little steep but you can rest assured that you're supporting one of the best artistic initiatives in north London.

Housed inside the old King's Cross Cinema, Scala might be a bit tattered around the edges but this only adds to its battered charm. The venue welcomed legends like Iggy Pop during the 70s, but didn't become a  purely music venue until 1993. Since then though it has seen an illustrious series of soon-to-be-famous bands pass though the doors, including Foo Fighters, Chemical Brothers, Scissor Sisters and Coldplay.

The Empire is, admittedly, not the most comfortable of venues - the standing area is sunk so far beneath the main stage that anyone under six foot risks painful neck injuries if they want to watch from close-up. Still, the faded grandeur of this former BBC recording theatre, a fantastic acoustic, and the cheerful international population of Shepherd's Bush all add up to a fun live experience, and many musicians cite this as their favourite London venue to perform in.

Once a gorgeous art deco cinema, The Forum is now an essential mid-sized rock venue. It's got everything you want from the North London rock scene, with superb bands week-in week-out, and a fully-lubricated, enthusiastic and music-loving crowd. Well-designed and well-organised it manages to avoid the bar queues that are a feature of so much London gigging, while the main stage has great sound and a design that brings bands far closer to their audiences than you have any reason to expect in a venue this size.

The centrepiece of the redeveloped Millennium Dome is the O2 Arena, the first purpose-built music venue in London. With a capacity of 23,000, it offers the rather soulless Wembley Arena some serious competition. Big name acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Killers, Justin Timberlake, Girls Aloud and Tina Turner have performed on stage, with the likes of Beyonce, AC/DC, Kings of Leon and Britney Spears set to appear in 2009. The 02 Arena also hosts live comedy and was used for the first ever ATP World Tour tennis finals in November 2009. It has been used ever year since for the annual tennis event - with the current contract running until 2015. A variety of other sports events take place under the dome - including darts, polo, gymnastics, martial arts, wrestling and basketball from the NBA. As a music venue, it is reportedly the most visited arena in the world. From the expensive debacle that was the Millennium Dome, something quite special has sprung.

The Old Blue Last is a legendary pub and live venue in Shoreditch, East London brought to you by the people at Vice magazine. The venue has two floors, the pub and the small upstairs room where the likes of Arctic Monkeys and Florence and the Machine have played gigs before becoming the stuff of legend. The pub hosts different nights which range from fun bouncy pop to punk parties, indie swag hipster nights to dirty drum and base as well as Vice magazine launch parties. In the live room upstairs most nights are free and even the ticketed gigs rarely cost more than a fiver.

This Grade II listed building just south of Highbury Corner functions not only as a place of worship, it is also one of London's most unique and enchanting live music venues with a diverse and enticing list of upcoming events. There's something quite magical about this place and you will be hard pushed to find a more memorable location to listen to live music in London. The Chapel has seen over a century's worth of visitors come through its doors and has welcomed artists such as Bjork, Tori Amos and Fionn Regan to the stage in recent years. Performers are framed by the stained glass window and the space is lit with the warm glow of church candles. A fully licensed bar is open on show nights, and a kiosk in the Chapel provides visitors with hot chocolates and snacks to keep hands warm in those chilly winter months.

This is London's second largest indoor arena after The O2, and though the building lacks the character of some of the older venues, the sheer scale of the place makes Wembley Arena an exciting place to watch a gig. Located opposite Wembley Stadium, Wembley Arena has hosted concerts by some of the world's most famous artists, including The Beatles, Rod Stewart, ABBA, The Cure, Spice Girls, Beyonce, Bob Dylan, Pearl Jam and many more. Comedians who have graced the venue with their witty presence include the likes of Eddie Izzard, Michael McIntyre, Ricky Gervais and Bill Bailey. Try and have a look at a seating plan before booking, as you can end up an enormous distance from the stage. Wembley Arena is also a major indoor sports venue, hosting the annual Masters Snooker tournament, boxing, mixed martial arts, ice hockey, darts, netball, basketball, five-a-side football, wrestling and even cage fighting. The Arena, which was built in 1934, originally housed a swimming pool, which was used during the 1948 and the 2012 Summer Olympics. A versatile space, Wembley Arena has also been used for the filming of popular TV shows The X Factor and Strictly Come Dancing.

Located a few minutes from Old Street tube, XOYO opened in September 2010 and was re-launched in 2012. On Friday nights the venue holds a programme of cutting edge live events - past performers include Mark Ronson, Simian Mobile Disco and Mike Skinner - while Saturdays are dedicated to parties from some of London's top club promoters, including Bugged Out!, Neon Noise Project and Upset the Rhythm. Spread across two floors, the top floor being sister bar The Shoreditch Butchery, XOYO has a capacity of 800 and aims to be an incredible platform for London's clubbers.