This grubby old pub plays host to what it calls the "alternative music" scene in Bristol, and…read moreyou'll have gathered from other reviews that this is specifically metal and rock music. I am truly surprised about this; I visited during the day for a lunchtime beer, and it felt no more exciting or "alternative" here than any other old man pub I've ever been to. There were just blokes sitting about drinking pints. But, I suppose I was just there at the wrong time of day, before the pub transformed into its nighttime altar ego.
As Will P says, don't be put off by the identity of this pub as a live rock music venue. The actual music goes on downstairs in the basement, and upstairs is just a pub, and it's in quite a good location, tucked inside St Nicholas Markets. I was looking for refreshment in an old pub during a market shopping day, and that's what I got.
So, a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde venue, it seems. But that's not a bad thing. It's in my list of "Pubs Plus"; that is, pubs that offer something over and above the basic pub experience. There are a few like this in Bristol, and it's always quite hard to tell what these pubs are hiding behind their old beer barrels.