Swansea Music Venues: Supporting The Places That Keep It Alive

3 hottest places in Swansea to support your local scene right now

‘Tis the goddamn season; the UK gets hot, recent graduates and old-heads alike gather in fields to sweat, and everyone who insists they don’t drink cider quickly realise it’s the cheapest thing on the menu.

With all festivals now properly up-and-running, it’s easy to get caught up in booking hotels, flights, and train tickets to cross the country for the latest pop/rock/country icon. Download just passed with 80,000 people in attendance. Reading and Leeds glistens in the near-future with all the camping tickets already sold out. Everyone is fighting for the same weekends off at work. Fans are fainting in droves. TicketMaster is crashing. It’s a blood bath out here for anyone with even one working ear.

Even I foamed at the mouth to secure tickets for All Points East in August, and paid through the nose for them too. 

But what about the year-round revolving door of local gigs at local venues? 

With the state of the arts in general right now, it’s more important than ever to support your local grassroots scene and venues. They’re cheaper. They’re built on community. They’re the perfect night out. Allow me to take you on a short tour of some of the best places in South West Wales to find your next favourite artist and support your grassroots scene….

1. Hippos - Swansea’s Premier Alternative Music Hub

Location: 07 High St, Swansea SA1 1PE

For their full gig calendar and venue info, visit the official Hippos website.

HIPPOS, which opened in place of the old Adam & Eve pub in 2022, is a well-known place for music fans of all kinds to gather. From open deck DJ nights to punk rock fuelled magazine launches to day festivals with the latest D&B collectives at the wheel, there’s something for everyone. They proudly advertise themselves as being “no frills, all vibes” on their Instagram (@hipposdo) and I’ve been there enough to confirm- they are not lying.

Recently, I attended the launch of FLYTRAP MAGAZINE, a loud, feminist, punk magazine, featuring everything from political poetry to an agony-aunt-esc section where an ant solves all your problems. It’s a fabulous piece of work run by the ever-fashionable recent art graduate Sez Amber and includes pieces from artists and writers of all kinds- in a way, it’s the perfect gathering of true underground rock culture. 

(Find them and secure your copy of issues 1 & 2 @flytrapmagazine on Instagram)

The magazine partnered with the Hippos venue to put on the launch party of a lifetime and I was lucky enough to attend as part of the press covering the event. The lineup featured local powerhouse Labotany dressed as shrubs absolutely shredding it, ground-shaking New Wave

British rock band White Leather bringing all the attitude, self-proclaimed “noisy alternative”, proudly Welsh, band Snail, (stylized as Snail.) and many, many more beautifully loud and beautifully local artists.

A longer review on the night is in the works, but the point is this: for free entry, at the legendary Hippos bar, hardcore rock fans were treated to a truly magical night of local up-and-coming talent, all brought together by one goal- supporting the arts scene of the town.

Ready to find your next favourite act? Browse the latest live music events at Hippos.

2. Bunkhouse - Bar and Music Festival

Location: 24 Park St, Swansea SA1 3DJ 

For their full gig calendar and venue info, visit the official Bunkhouse website.

Another staple of my messier teenage years, Bunkhouse is nestled away from the blinding lights of Wind Street as a musical safehouse for every kind of rocker. Whether indie rock tugs at your heartstrings or hardcore screamo gets your blood racing, this venue does it all. I spent New Years Eve there in 2021, fresh out of Covid lockdowns, seeing a boy I went to college with mix Limp Bizkit with Chase & Status to a sold-out group of sweaty partygoers, crushed against a barrier and loving it. 

Featuring a cosy local-pub feel in the front and a grotty but beautiful basement section, it’s easy to take a breather or throw yourself into the chaos- whatever you need at the time. 

(Conveniently, it’s directly opposite an adult store, and next to the lovely local food spot Darkside Cafe, so may just be a perfect date spot?) 

More recently, they threw their much-anticipated Block Party for the first time. The mini street festival sold out and, much to the joy of local music lovers, it’s coming back in May of 2027. As well as featuring many talented artists, it also brought together plenty of neighbourhood food vendors, for the ultimate culmination of Swansea culture. 

They also put on showcases for the local universities and colleges, where you can see young musicians putting on wonderful performances. It’s a lovely spot and a must-visit if you’re looking to immerse yourself in the underground alternative scene. 

Ready to find your next favourite act? Browse the latest live music events at Bunkhouse.

3. Elysium/Down By Here - Music, Performance, Art, and Community Hub

Location: 210 High St, Swansea SA1 1PE

For their full gig calendar and venue info, visit the official Elysium/Down By Here website.

Formerly Elysium, Down By Here is a newly-opened space for all things artistic and all things Swansea. Whether you pop in to see the latest featured art exhibition or catch an Afrobeat band, there is always something magical happening at DBH. You know the feelings; it’s late but you don’t know how late, you’re drinking a beer but you don’t know which number it is, and you stumble into something that changes your life. Aptly described as “Swansea’s Living Room”, this multi-purpose hub puts on some crazy, cracking nights. 

Last year, I attended their Swansea Pride after party, lovingly named Strap, and danced with cheeky Welsh clowns. Clowns are a staple here, so expect them, whether you’re attending one of their cabaret nights or not. 

They pride themselves on being an inclusive venue and a host of many subcultures. In the short year and a half I have lived back on Swansea soil, I’ve seen three cabarets, attended a fundraiser for Swansea Feminist Collective featuring rising stars Sold For Parts, and taken part in a Palestine fundraiser where I saw one of my favourite local acts, Lacrosse Club, where their beloved frontman ended up in his underpants climbing the speakers… 

On top of gigs, they also run comedy nights, poetry readings, and community outreach programmes. If there’s one place to spend your money, it is here. Whether you like ear-drum rupturing classic punk music or Ned Flanders strip teases, Down By Here is as grassroots and local as it gets, and I can’t wait to see what adventures I have in the new venue they’ve opened. 

Ready to find your next favourite act? Browse the latest live music events at Down By Here.

Not a Swansea local? 

First of all…why? 

Second of all, whether you visit my favourites or your own, it’s essential that we all put our money where our mouth is and get out to support our local music scene and venues. Without us- metalheads, sad indie kids, rabid emo fans, and everyone who gathers together under the rock umbrella- we’ll see more and more venues closing their doors for gigs. Everyone starts somewhere. Let’s be that somewhere. Let’s be the people bouncers let in with a “how you been?”. Let’s take our friends to a gig we promise they’ll like and watch them be reborn under flashing lights. Let’s support, love, and hype up all our local legends. 

Smoke that cigarette, drink that pint, and attend your heinously beautiful independent spaces.

PKL
Contributor, BritRock Heaven