The Knowhere Guide

The Local Music Scene in Hertford, Hertfordshire*

Hertford, Hertfordshire Record Shops and Venues

Record Shops

• tracks is dead there is no vinyl please kill me
• Camden
• Tracks is probably the best, quite small though, there's one in ware aswell which is bigger i think
• tracks is gd
• parliament records - good for drum and bass
• tracks has a lot of stuff, and if you act all nice to the guy there he may order in something if they dont have it. p.s it says no smoking on the door yet the man who works there smokes all the time!! whats that about!!
• Tracks...bit expensive usually though
• Tracks - top shop iknow someone who drives from south london buy cd's there
• Hi There! I've noticed that you have mentioned a DJ shop due to open in Hertford. That would be my shop, which was originally intended for Hertford, but ended up in Hoddesdon. My web address is hertforddj.co.uk. Please update my info!!! Many thanks Christian Hertford DJ Ltd
• go to tracks for the grumpy bloke...buy something u dont like and then take it back...hours of fun! parliament records for garage/jungle
• Parliament Records and Tracks are the only smaller shops of note. Otherwise you are stuck with Woolies and WH Smith which are both a bit poor really.
• Tracks which is more for the normal person. It sells all the chart stuff, and albums etc.
  Tracks - an independent shop full of goodies.
• By far the best is Parliament Music, Parliament Square. It is a kind of DJ's shop and if you want a tune which is new, they will have it, though probably on 12" vinyl.

Clubs (Dance Music) and Music Bars

• zeros hertford as a doorman of zeros,please note that if you want a good well behaved night you can have it,if you cross the line of acceptable behavior you will be ejected not beaten up as some posts suggest, we are all licensed doorman and respond with the same amount of force that is shown to us have a good night
• Zero's is a dive. Losers paradise. Wanabee's head for Elbert Wurlings, a sad collection of Hertford's try hards. The DJ is past it a rab C Nesbit trying to be funky. Go to London for a good time
• i spent the night in zeros recently & thought it was fantastic. Despite what everyone says, it still seems to be constantly busy every weekend. People slag it off all the time but keep going back every week so they must be doing something right.
• Most people go to the blackbirds, and its usually packed with queues, but theres millions of other pubs in Hertford. zeros is over the road from the blackbirds
• Elberts is still the best place for really good music and good looking women (& men). I also recommend you try a cosmopolitan cocktail.
• Starting at the flea pit end: zeros. the sweat drips off the ceiling but noone pretend to be cool so its always good. If you want somewhere a bit more stylish then elbert wurlings is just out of town - although upstairs is really just a bar and to get downstairs you have to be a member, know someone, or arrive at 7.00. if you want a proper club, go to stevenage.
• Zero's is possibly the worst club in the country, until recently it was the only place in Hertford with a 2am licence. Which meant it was full of the town's more dedicated piss-heads, gladly paying London club prices for watered down, poorly kept lager from pumps that have never been cleaned. Since the advent of late licences in some of the pubs the drinkers have gone elsewhere leaving just the kids and the bouncers. The security are a law unto themselves ,they carry out full body searches at the door and beat up anyone they take a dislike to (the club owner then pays the victims to keep quiet). Music policy: pop house, cheezy trance, infantile garage and 70's crap disco. We used to have the Music Exchange but they were closed down by plod for not selling food. Local opinion has it that Zeros' boss pulled strings with the Masons to put them out of business.
• zero
• zeros - is wicked - get beered up in the Firkin before and you will have a superb evening
• Elbert Wurlings - only for the classy
• Contrary to the reports on this page, there is another club - ELBERT WURLINGS. Maybe I shouldn't have said anything, as it's probably the classiest club in Hertfordshire..
• zeros is all there is but its a crap hole
• Corn Exchange - any night for Salsa
• Zero's but it's not cool, so don't go there
• Elbert Wurlings for the funkiest dj's and cocktails...
• try doing liquid a @ zeros.hohohoho
• zero's - awful place, but worth hanging around outside around 2 am to watch the local rituals of tribes of button-down shirts cavorting and scrapping, although best watched from a distance. if you ask the local police, who are always in attendance, they will be able to point out a good viewing place.
• Why can't we have a cool 13-17 club like Paradise or the Coconuyt Club in Hertford? Whenever I wanna go out I have 2 go in my Mum's car coz they're so long away.
• Hertford boasts the smallest, crappest 'clubs' in the whole of the UK. If you wanna dance around in a shoe box with sweat running down the walls and the DJ playing music on a system that resembles the sound quality of a walkman in a sock then don't go anywhere near.
• Hertford only has one night club by the name of Zero's but it's very small and you're advised to get really drunk before going.

Live Music Venues

• marquee club is great
• The Hertford Marquee, Railway Street
• The marquee is pretty good, quite small, but its getting bigger (popularity)
• New venue - Marquee Club, opposite Domino's pizza, above Springs Gym... 200 capacity venue with lights stage and pa... already seen the excellent Black Cab and Hertford's next big thing The Gaff. They have live bands every Fri and Sat night and the quality so far has been excellent. Also get down to the Insomnia Music Showcase nights at Elbert Wurlings they happen once a month and again you'll get to see some seriously good acts. To find out the dates check on www.insomniamusic.co.uk Also Rock night at Zeros - the next one's on May 6th with The Gaff, Black Cab, The Argonauts and The Business.
• The Marquee Club - and on Saturday 17th April, there is a rock n roll night, headlined by Sweet Touch Express
• the blackbirds pub has live music every thursday, which varies. apart from that go to the square in harlow for punk, or just into london for anything else.
• The Blackbirds has bands on thursdays The Old Barge has Jazz on last thursday of the month The Duncombe Arms has live music on thursdays & fridays The Castle hall has tribute bands quite often and The Damned played to apacked house this year.
• Check out Silverbackrocks.com for one of the best bands around.
• The Barge have bands on, Elbert Wurlings have gigs, and on Bank Holidays the house band plays, and many of the smaller pubs put on gigs
• yet again you have to go to harlow! harlow is generally thought of as a shithole but as its a younger town it got a lot more in it. there is a place called THE SQUARE which has seen some goods bands pass trough its doors
• The Stone House (formally The Price Regent) has a wicked chill out band on a Sunday from about 7pm _ Excellant just what Hertford needs!
• Zeros Night Club for the garage scene, etc
• None, unless you count Castle Hall, which occasionly gets some folk band...
• Hertford does not have to be restricted to poor venues for music. The Prince Regent has recently just opened its upsatirs until 2'o'clock for weekends, with music (Though again this is the usual blend of townie pop/house thats makes your teeth curl. The Castle would be ideal, xcept there is no late license, as is the case with the Music Exchange. Zeros is too small. Myself and a group of friends have been looking for a suitable venue to host a night of alternative dance music events (ie NOT garage/crap house) for as long as i can remember, however the thought of challenging the county councils iron grip/draconian stance on licensing of nights makes it nearly impossible. We have access to a system (That doesn't sound like a walkman in a sock (It kicks out about 33K!), lights, effects, decor and some of the best dance music talent to come out of Hertford since '87 including DJs from Looking Good, Grand Theft Audio and Intentz who have graced clubs and radio up and down the country. If the kids want a good time, their going to have to fight the council all the way. When was the last time Hertford Music week included anything that wasn't dressed in choral robes or played folk!?! Lets get it together and push. Or, put your 'ralphy' on forget about it, as long as you dont whinge about it!
• I think The Music Exchange has live bands on certain nights. The main venue though is the Castle Hall, which hosts band and all the usual operatic and panto stuff.
• The Corn Exchange sometimes have bands.

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Last updated: 2007-08-02