London’s iconic Camden Barfly has officially returned and relaunched, with venue bosses telling NME that they’re looking to “build on their legendary legacy for a new generation”.
Initially operating from 1996-2016, the venue saw iconic early performances from the likes of Coldplay, Muse, Amy Winehouse, The Libertines, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, and many more. Ed Sheeran also famously played four shows in one night on their stage in 2011.
Financial pressures saw the flagship London space close down in 2016 with the Camden Assembly coming in its place, but now The Barfly back under new ownership of Propaganda Independent Venues and kicked off with a launch gig from Frank Turner last night (Monday June 22).
Turner’s former band Million Dead played their first ever gig there back in 2001 before countless more, with him later returning for his first ever sold-out solo show ahead of becoming a regular fixture on their hallowed stage.
“For the last 10 years this place has been something else and it’s been a great shame,” said Turner, unveiling a blue plaque in honour of his many appearances and to mark the official reopening ahead of his performance. “There’s been a crater in the middle of Camden, and now we are fully back, bringing the motherfucking Barfly back to where it belongs and where it always should have been.”
Dan Icowitz-Seidler is the creator of Propaganda clubnights and boss of the company that now operates The Barfly. Growing up in London, he would go out in Camden and even had his 18th birthday at the old Barfly before various bands he was in performed there.
“Our biggest gig and pinnacle was playing The Barfly,” he told NME. “It was always the best grassroots venue to play. I created the indie clubnight Proaganda, which has run for over 20 years and we used to promote the Saturday nights at Barfly. I used to DJ there regularly and played the final night there, so it’s a nice full circle moment or be now be bringing it back 10 years later.”
Honoured to be part of the venue’s future, Icowitz-Seidler said that it was “crazy to look back at the archives and all the gigs that happened there”.
“There was a real scene in Camden and around the venue,” he continued. “When the Barfly rebranded 10 years ago, it really lost a lot of the soul and the vibrance. I don’t think the owners really appreciated the legendary legacy and heritage of Barfly, but it’s something that we understand and want to replicate, build on and bring to a new generation.”
The Barfly have plans for more underplay shows by huge names playing the intimate venue to mark its reopening in the coming months, but its main focus is for it to become “the essential London venue for bands to play on their way up”.
“Our new tagline is, ‘Before the arenas, they were here’,” said Icowitz-Seidler. “So many of those bands have gone on to play arenas and stadiums and headline festivals. Before that, they were playing The Barfly. We want to make sure that happens for a new generation of artists.”
Recent shows have seen rising talent like Girl In The Year Above and Bleech 9:3 play the revamped venue, with Violet Grohl, Gia Ford and The North among the names billed for the months ahead.
The new look Barfly includes a vinyl listening bar, the downstairs bar refurbished, a wall of fame reflecting the venue’s history, and revamped PA and lighting systems.
“We wanted to acknowledge that we have this legendary stage above the bar and really shout about the fact it’s a music venue,” said the Propaganda boss. “It’s weird, under the previous guise you could have been in any pub. It had no connection to music.”
He continued: “It’s a 200 capacity venue, but we wanted to ensure that it’s got really high end sound and lights with a new PA and lighting rig. We want it to be a venue where you can have an incredible experience, even though it’s a smaller capacity for the bands playing it. It’s one of the venues where the artists connect with bands for the first time and we want to ensure it’s the best for that.”
The venue’s return comes amidst ever-increasing pressure for the grassroots scene. A report in April estimated that five local music venues had closed per day since 2019, with a further 2,000 feared to close by 2030. The same study estimates 1.5million young people had given up on a career in music because of the scarcity of places to start out.
With over half of all grassroots venues failing to turn a profit in 2025, 30 gig spaces lost forever and 6000 jobs gone, Ickowitz-Seidler said that the Barfly had been “working really closely with Music Venue Trust to make the Barfly viable”.
“As a grassroots venue, it doesn’t financially stack up,” he admitted. “We’re a small 200 capacity venue, our costs are really high being in central Camden, and it’s hard to make it work. That’s true of so many grassroots venues, but we’re working with MVT to work on the model and make it more viable in the longterm.”
He continued: “It’s a bit of a scary time, I’m not going to lie. I also feel that the tide is turning. People are more and more aware of the challenges we’re facing. We’ve had costs increasing, it’s harder to pay wages, utilities and rent. There’s the move towards the levy with artists like Coldplay, Harry Styles and Frank Turner adopting that.
“It’s really important to support grassroots venues to allow artists initial opportunity to hone their sound and engage with fans. It’s an essential part of the music industry, but really hard to make it work. We’re excited for the levy to come in and work its way down to smaller venues. We’re optimistic there’s a future for us and that we can make the Barfly work.”
Ultimately, the future of live music will always exist in venues like this – whether these artists go on to stadium level or not.
“I encourage anyone if they’re at a loose end to check out what’s going on at the Barfly or their local grassroots venue because we’re so reliant on everyone’s support and music fans coming out,” added the Barfly boss. “You might be about to see the next big thing.”
Visit here for more information on The Barfly.
