The Knowhere Guide

The Local Music Scene in Derby, Derbyshire*

Derby, Derbyshire Record Shops and Venues

Record Shops

• Reveal Records on St. Peters St. Small shop, but cheaper than the rest.
• reveal on st peters street or off to nottingham. metal & punk section upstairs is worth a browse.
• Reveal records is the only decent place in derby!
• Reveal Records on St. Peter's street is great for all record stuffs. They're upstairs punk and metal section is the best in Derby.
• LT Music on market hall balcony now shut down, only independent store in the city is Reveal on St Peters Street
• reveal on st peters street, the only place to get anything worthwhile or out of the mainstream. HMV & MVC also worth a try for day-to-day stuff. There are lots of charity shops in the city centre that also have CDs & DVDs. No regular CD fairs held in the city to my knowledge, nearest is Rock City, Nottingham.
• Reveal Records is, no doubt about it, the best independant record shop in the country. stokcs all genres of music. It is next to oxfam on St. Peters street.
• Reveal Records! best 4 punk metal rock emo ska indie!!!
• hmv, reveal records
• reveal records
• Reveal Records derby city centre, the best for rock/metal/alternative.
• Reveal Records, St. Peter's Street
• Reveal Record on st peteres street, up from MacD's
• HMV on East Street in Derby Centre is pretty good, you can listen to some vinyls and put them on the decks that are set up in the shop.
• reveal records rules
• 'reveal records' this is so the best shop for records! you get some amazing deals! and they have a good range too.
• REVEL RECORDS IS THE PL;ACE 2 GO GOOD VALUE SHITE PUNK,HEVEY METAL,DEATH METAL, ITS GOT IT ALL AND SUM HIPHOP UPSTARS SUM WERE IN TOWN U GO FIND IT
• reveal records
• Reveal Records is still the top independent shop. It's now moved from Main Centre (which is all going to be pulled down soon) to St. Peters Street, next to the Oxfam shop. BPM on the Strand specialises dance stuff.
• reveal...by far the best! or if your looking for classics such as madness or queen try market stalls or even reveal!
• reveal records has moved to near Topshop its amazing in there and also BPM records near Optimum just off sadlergate
• ahh its down by optimum its called BPM, near sadlergate just down the arcade and to the right.
• Reveal Record is mazin shop dead cheap and always hav the best punk records
• Bpm on the strand is an impressive place to buy your new tunes whatever your into as well as HMV and Virgin both good in thier own ways.
• mvc, its crap but cheap, and at the end of the day once the label is peeled off who knows\cares where it's from
• There is an interesting little second hand record sale in the guildhall on Friday or Saturday. Be warned though 90% of the stuff in there is from your granddads era
• Reveal has to be one of the best record shops in Derby as it caters for so many tastes and has such friendly Knowledgable staff, everything from slipknot to DJ Food, mainstream skate stuff to underground dance choons, Dub to P/F unk
• 'more then music', hidden down an obscure part of the eagle center.
• hmv
• Reveal records-Best music shop in Derby.
• Wayahead has now gone. My advice is go to Nottingham...
• Midas Records on St. Peter's Church Models on Normanton Rd.. They live in an old court building and so are not visible to the street. Specialise in Electronic, old and new prog rock and ambient. Like to work mail order but will welcome visitors if contacted in advance.
• Second hand shop in Market Hall.
• BPM in The Strand for indie and dance stuff.
• Virgin and HMV in Victoria/East St. Our Price in Eagle Centre.
• Way Ahead records on Sadlergate & main centre is good and cheap for indie.

Clubs (Dance Music) and Music Bars

• first floor club have specialist rock / goth / metal nites, watch out for flyers.
• First floor up babington lane Derby's only rock n metal club!
• Sitwell Tavern is good for a bit of Ska, if that's your thing. Guildhall Theatre has folk acts now & again. The Vaults on Irongate is good for a bit of indie, Union Blue on Agard St for goth, Blue Dog on Sadlergate for sk8ers .. even have a half pipe in the back yard !
• Horse & Groom, Vic, Flowerpot, Bar Vida for live/indie/rock, Supanova on Babington Lane is the only rock/goth/metal type club in town. Bloodstock & BOA festivals for trad metal in summer months, otherwise it off to Nottingham
• The Vic! wicked place 2 go 2 see underground derby bands amazin ska nights! First Floor- thurs fri sat Blue Note!
• blue note, the vic inn
• scream apart from the bouncers
• Blessington carriage pub, chapel street derby, meeting place for anyone into rock/metal/indie/alternative.
• The Bluenote Club on Sadler Gate in Derby is the best for a decent night out with no trouble. The music ranges from heavy rock to a bit of hip hop now and again. On a Monday and Friday nights, most drinks are £2 each, including any double and a mixer, oh and the staff are all brilliant!!!!!
• bluno
• The mainstream clubs are Destiny & Elite (popularly known as Desperate and Easy) and Zanzibar. These are you classic places for a pint and a fight. Also total meatmarkets so if you want to pull some drunken minger, head here. If you want different music... well, the Blue Note plays the guitar side of chart music and Scream hosts a heavy night on Thursdays and an indie night on Tuesdays. Look out for nights like Technique, Off The Hook etc if you want more than just guitar rock. If you want stuff that's a bit more cutting-edge, you'd best head towards Nottingham.
• shots at the bless then onto lagers, bitters or black russians at the bluenote
• bluenote
• dont bother with Clubs go to FOOBAR on sadlergate its classy and theres no Yobs
• Destiny and Elite (formerly pink coconut, but that was before my time) is a cheap and tacky laugh. A must for all us fantastic derby students on a monday night. keep an eye on the VIP bar for the fit rugby boys and sexy hockey girls.
• Mccluskys getting a bad rap to say the least quality music, quality competitions and loads of up and coming promotions make mccluskys one of the best nights in derby.Along with Zanzibar the future of Derby pubbing and clubbing looks more than secure.
• NO club in the country allows underage drinking (honest!!)
• Scream club ofc. It's by far the best club in derby. Blue note used to be ok tho. The worst place ever is union 1 although i remember going there when i was at school cause everyone did, and hating it even then. Zanzibar is shite too as the top floor plays shite music and is full of towny underage yobs and girls in belts and the lower floor is full of people who practically need a zimmer frame to get into the place.
• Better off going to Nottingham or Birmingham
• The Union has just had a makeover and I hear its not bad! I always prefered union 2 - more intimate.
• The Future club formerly Derby's best underground venue (not a Ben Sherman shirt in sight) is now unfortunately closed down. So Derby is seriously lacking a good underground house night (Smokescreen where are you). Technique, Derby's acclaimed Drum n Bass record label have a new project on the go which see's about 25 DJ's playing a rich and varied selection of music on the third Friday of each month. They usually pull a couple of big names every month as well as providing a platform for some of the local Derby Talent. The night includes hip-hop,reggae,house,breaks+beats as well as the usual Drum'n'Bass mayhem. The Venue is the Gatehouse which is also the new home of Progress, which is a nice friendly venue with lots of rooms and places to get lost in. Alltogether a good night out.
• don't go to time near the meteor center. its crap.
• Zanzibar is still the best club in derby even after the revamp of the pink cocnut which is now Destiny and Elite. Unfortunately it is still as crap with fewer people but just as many old men out to perve on the young girls in mini skirts, high heels, and barely covering their nips!
• Used to go to Zanibar in my final year at uni in derby, but I heard a STRONG rumour that the building was structurally unsound and could collapse any day.
• From someone who has being going into Derby drinking for a few years now, Zanzibar has cast a new light onto Derby especially the monday nights which is student night where NUS is required unless u r me then a smile will get u in the door! the other fab thing about it is they get rid of all those annoying pissheads who tend to ruin a night in SLOPPYS aka Flannigans!
• Dont forget the fantastically, wonderfully, sexual students of Derby!!!! For them theres the Riverside on Mill Street, Union One, Union Two and the Late Bar. They're all cheap and nasty, but still attract all of the students. You've got to be a student of Derby to go into Riverside, but if one of your mates is a student, them it'll cost u a pound! (Sorry, i work there!!) Riverside is more of a Pub than a club, but we've still got DJ's Matt and Sharooz on a Wednesday night, and loads of other excellent tunes pumping out of the sound system!!! Come to Derby Uni, and check em out!!
• Eclipse no longer exists, unfortunately.....not!!!! Its now an even better club, if you're fifty!!! It's called McCluskys now, and its pants!!! BIG PANTS!! There is also another club called Zanzibar, which is where the bingo hall used to be, on the Spot, opposite C&A!! Thats ok, if you want to pull a thirty year old. But the student night is excellent, good music, shit beer though!! Its taken all the business away from the Pink Coconut, so dont know how long thats going to last now!!! Oh well, what a shame!!!
• zanzibar, that cool but massive, dont loose your friends like I did and ended up moping at the bar like a sad old lawn bowls champion. There are rumours that it is closing for refurmishment soon so beware! by the way, boom nightclub is prize cactus, its like trying to have a night out in my attic!
• The Blue Note on Saddler Gate is a great night out after the likes of Vaults, The Blessington Carridge (The Bless) and The Late Bar.
• The Boom, Sadler Gate, Derby. Excellent nights (blues, samba, rick) with great deejays. The bar staff are friendly and efficient and the women are beautiful.
• Progress in Derby has moved from Willow Row to Time nightclub, on th edge of Derby near Morrisons, sos can't remember the name of the road!!!. Still pumping top bannana club, def. recom.
• Nuffin' beats the Loft, at the Wherehouse, by the Casino
• PINK COCONUT IS NOW BADLY DUE AN OVERHAUL .TYPICAL OF LATE 80'S /90'S CLUBS IS A GOOD NIGHT OUT GOOD MUSIC BASICALLY DANCE ORIENTATED FACING COMPETION FROM BRANNIGANS NEXT DOOR £2 TO GET IN OPEN TILL 1AM
• The best music night I've been to in Derby is Fudge at the Future, which plays a brilliant mix of punk, hip-hop and some dance. It is generally held on saturday nights, once or twice a month.
• The old Holy Trinity club has recently been taken over by the Student's union and now offers (at least) two fantastic nights out on Friday - Indie Rock and Saturday 60's - 90's. Although the people are the same as the old crowd, the price of the drinks is unbelievable. Check out the Blessington Carriage if your tastes don't tend towards the rave scene for cheap beer and an excellent pre-club night. There's a battle of the bands contest on at the moment, with top bands fighting it out at Bar 101, where all drinks are, yes £1.01.
• Swamp Club for cajun music near station I think.
• Eclipse (revamped Ritzys) in Babington St.
• Renaissance has now gone on tour, it was in The Conservatory.
• Progress is a top club!!!!! It is on Willow Row in Derby. It costs nine pounds to get in, doors open at about nine, and finishes about 2.30 am. It regularly has the likes of Jeremy Healy and Sasha gracing the decks, and a brilliant atmosphere is guaranteed.
• Paradise near Rollerworld.
• Pink Coconut (Funkiest Soul Room) off Duckworth Square.

Live Music Venues

• Flowerpot, Five Lamps and Victoria Inn regularly host small bands. Ryan's Bar has open mic sessions, on Sunday's and Wednesdays.
• The Fishpond, okay, it's actually South Parade in Matlock Bath but it's near Derby.
• horse & groom, the vic, the flowerpot, folk at the guildhall, some metal & goth at the first floor club on babington lane. watch out for flyers on the staircase in reveal records in the city centre to see who's on.
• The Sitwell Tavern (sitwell street off babington lane)is a must if you know it as the shitwell go and see it now its been done up and it is absolutly amazing is always packed and have some great bands on friday and saturday nights. The Vic is also one of the best places to go to see bands there are bands on vertually every night. Ryans a little irish bar next to st peters church is a must, there is an open mic night on a wednesday n sunday night which are better than any other in derby!they also occasionally have a band on. great friendly atmosphere and lovely bar staff!
• First Floor, above Reliance Electrical on Babington Lane
• The Spot centre on Sacheveral St sometimes have tribute bands on, also the Heritage Hotel on Macklin St, formerly known as the Pennine.
• Vic, Bar Vida, Horse & Groom, Flowerpot for local bands of all types/genres. Assembly Rooms & Guildhall for folk/mainstream stuff/larger name bands. Manics played at Assembly Rooms in 05 for example.
• The Vic Inn, goes without saying really, for punk, metal, indie etc. No hip hop or drum and bass
• The Vic! wicked place 2 go 2 see underground derby bands amazin ska nights!
• the victoria inn
• the vic inn
• The courtyard friargate, rock/indie night once a month with live bands.
• All I'm gonna say is The Vic (or Victoria Inn to those posh f***s out there)! It's a small pub opposite the station and well worth a visit if ur into Indie and Rock (Seafood yey - a band, they dont serve seafood). Great place to just rock out and get mashed!
• The Victoria inn is good for small local bands.
• The Victoria Inn, Midland Place (opposite the train station) - touring and local bands The Mist, Normanton Road - great small venue (with a pool table!) that can be booked for free. Susumi, The Wardwick - monthly 'Hunting For Teeth' night features some of the best underground bands in the country (last thursday of the month)
• The Vaults in Derby have open Mic night every second Tuesday night. As long as you have sheet music and an instrument/singer then you can just sign up and get started. And don't worry, no matter how bad you are no-one will take the piss out of you!!
• da vic
• ok, umm this is in nottingham but its pretty close ok. 'rock city' pretty big, they have hundreds of well known bands performing here. parking close by.
• Vic Inn : small to mid touring guitar rock bands (never any dance/hip hop/r'n'b, just rock) Susumi : the last Thursday every month, Hunting For Teeth band night. Very good! Raffles: a good variety of gigs but you have to run the gauntlet of the crack whores outside The Bless: just started having live music again! Closest place for bigger bands: Rock City, Notts / Rescue Rooms, Notts
• the vic...small, grotty and smelly...the perfect place to go....damn cheap to...big bands play but not massive!
• vic
• rock city in nottingham have big bands, the vic in derby, the shed in leices and the three nuns in loughborough
• The Vic Inn opposite the Station (train that is) nearly always has great bands on
• Flowerpot no longer runs "Electric Cafe"
• The vic Inn near the station is good for bands.
• the victoria inn is awesome if u like loud, live punk bands. top venue.
• the future klub. go and watch a band and feel the floor move a foot with the mosh.
• Quinine, indie group, should be a gig coming up soon for more info, email them on pltomlinson@freeserve.co.uk
• Victoria Inn with the fit bar maid.
• The Victoria inn is the best place for live bands and a friendly atmosphere.
• Punk: The Vic (Station End), Others: check out the S.U.
• Check out The Victoria near the station. Lots of bands every week. Also check out The Flower Pot, just round the corner from the Blessington, on King Street. (They run something called Electric Cafe every month, a venue for some of the best electronic music in the UK, forget Jean Michelle Jarre!)
• The Loft on Friargate-local bands and touring ones of Pecadiloes-Mogwai size. About 6-8 pounds. anyone can get in if they ask the bouncer nicely (I got a twelve-year old in).
• University of Derby Students Union has a few bands.
• The Brunswick near station for jazz.
• The Bell in Sadlergate (occasionally)
• The Assembly Rooms in Market Place
• The Wherehouse, 110a Friargate. 01332 381169

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Last updated: 2008-01-02