(Some venues  are out of the "Northern" area but  are well worthy of a mention.)

Some venues are hyperlinked

Promoters are welcome to send their venues details for inclusion on this website .

To find venues try www.yell.com

The Boot and Shoe Ackworth, West Yorkshire. Legendary rock venue. Good atmosphere  with  a friendly crowd. Recently altered stage. Good bar staff. Good bands. In-House  P.A. with own stage lighting ,good stage and drum riser. Average pay and a great landlord ***** Excellent venue

The Crimea Tavern Castleford, West Yorkshire. Again good beer, brilliant landlord and some great bands. Friendly and certainly an interesting crowd! Good bar staff service the small bar effectively. Good view of stage due to its incredible height! In-House P.A. and rudimentary stage lighting. Good pay plus the bucket. Jam nights on Wednesdays is brilliant. . ***** Excellent venue.

The Lion Castleford, West Yorkshire. Just refurbished in July/August 2005 and with new management,  this venue has lots of promise. Stage lighting has been installed and so has a PA system, so this venue is looking towards a high star rating. . This venue has seen some good bands . The lights are now fantastic, as an extra gantry of par cans has been added in October 06, the venue just gets better and better *****Excellent venue the equal of any on this page.

The Railway Hotel Knottingley, West Yorkshire Good sized pub although awkward viewing Good playing area and good crowds who appreciate all kinds of music. Own PA and lights needed but Stan the landlord is a very fair man and appreciates the bands efforts. This place has great potential. ** . RotN gave the star rating as we have been there already but there have been complaints about the telephone manner of the landlady when ringing for a booking.

The Thornhill Arms Stanningley, Leeds West Yorks. Biker friendly pub with rock nights, live bands, enthusiastic landlord/landlady..and even Curreoke...sing for your supper! Good atmosphere, good bands on.***+

The New Roscoe Leeds,  West Yorkshire. promotes many bigger artists from abroad and local bands. Excellent promoter John Keenan there for the bigger artists.  Gets a bit packed at times so viewing can be a pain. Another thing is they charge on the door and if you go 8 miles South East you can see the same semi pro bands without a charge. Low pay for semi pro bands continues to be contentious as there are two people who run the promotions there. Semi pro bands on Friday, Saturday and Sunday afternoons deal with Noel the landlord. Bigger bands, and Tribute bands and bands for the Roscoe Nights on Tuesday deal with John Keenan ***

The Cross Keys, Morley, Leeds. We keep getting good reviews about this venue so it can have three stars for now although four might be more suitable. Bands on Friday and Saturday.Could do with more patrons to appreciate the good bands on here***+

The New Inn, Churwell, Leeds. Another decent live music pub in South West Leeds, well liked by bands.***+

The Irish Centre Leeds, West Yorkshire. Big hall for big artists. Long bar with good staff. Excellent viewing from all points. Parking excellent. One huge fault though. Queuing outside in the cold is uncomfortable and frustrating. Taxis easily available. A nice venue and maybe we have given the correct hyperlink this time!.****

Tut and Shive, Yeadon, Nr Leeds. Large playing area. Punters a bit thin on the ground, but ran by an enthusiastic couple who apologise for low attendance! Not great pay for first timers.  RotN know this venue and would rate it as:***+

The Woodman, Manchester Road, Bradford (Update)This relatively new live music venue is getting better week by week as the number of punters increases, as suggested by RotN it wants to be a 3 star rating now.**+ Thanks to Brian Glover for the review. We've just dropped the rating as we were unimpressed by the clientele.

The Shay Hotel, Halifax. Rapidly becoming revered by bands due to it's management team who are live music enthusiasts. Nice surroundings. Lights and PA needed. ***+

The Angel Baildon, West Yorks. This venue has now built up its Tuesday live music nights and is fast developing into a very good music venue which is frequented by local musos and an appreciative audience. The bands have a big area to set up in at one end of the pub and its only a short carry from the front door. Raised area at the back of the pub offers a good view of the band but you don’t get the volume the back. No in house lights or PA but we are told that this is only temporary. Drinks are reasonably priced. Bar staff are very pleasant and the landlord Tony pays better money to the bands for Tuesdays than some places pay for Saturdays, usually buys them a drink as well and he is learning to play the drums (has his own kit) and will get up and play with the band if they will let him. RotN rating *** Thanks Brian Glover for this review.

Squires Cafe Bar "Squires Live!" Newthorpe, North Yorkshire. (Just East of Leeds) Commonly referred to as "Sherburn". Biker cafe but with a good stage, plenty of RCB plug sockets, easy loading, really nice management (OK so we've known them for over 30 years! ). Rock of the North approved, as it's the location of our Convention gig! From November the 17th will be a bigger player in big band promotions****

The Crows Nest Upton, Near Pontefract, West Yorkshire. Small club with a friendly clientele. The stage has been extended recently. Loading is a fairly long carry from the van but not too bad. The audience are very appreciative. Thanks to Ricky of Suite Zero for this review. We think Ricky might rate this venue as a ***

Howden Live. The Shire Hall Howden Town Centre, East Yorks. This is a wonderful concert room style venue in the centre of Howden. Parking is on street and also at a nearby public car park. The capacity is  170 to 200 depending on whether or not they use the ingenious "slide away" raked seating at the rear. There is a large stage, lighting and a decent PA which is looked after by a competent and enthusiastic sound man. The acoustics are very good indeed. A small bar is situated conveniently in an adjacent room, and access to the 1st floor concert room is via a very wide staircase or by the lift,  which makes for an easy gear hump.
On the occasion of our visit we found the staff and the volunteers of "Howden Live" (who hire the hall to stage events) to be extremely friendly and helpful. The hall itself is a none commercial enterprise maintained by trustees to benefit the local community.***** Review by Andy of Do$ch

The Gasworks Bradford Central. Recently opened live music venue boasts a 10K PA, great hospitality, a dressing room for the band, and good crowd. Thanks to Pete Goodfellow for the review. We think Pete will rate this as a ***** venue. We rate it very highly after visiting the gaff.

The Queens Hotel, Thornton Road, Bradford. A medium sized pub which only recently started having regular live bands on Thursday nights, The bands have a decent sized area to set up in, the only downside is that they face directly at the bar which can make it difficult for the bar staff to hear what the customers are ordering when the band are playing especially as the punters around this area seem to like it loud. The first few weeks were a little slow to get going but the live music lovers in the area are now turning up week after week and the place is starting to get quite busy. Colin the landlord will happily get up and do a song with the band (as long as they know the ones he does). The staff are pleasant and the drinks are reasonably priced. *** Thanks to Brian Glover for this review.

The Drop Kick Odsal Bradford  Not a bad pub with a stage and very good viewing, medium payers, reasonable beer prices. Good bar staff. Update from Brian Glover:- needs a mention that the crowd are good and the landlord (Richard) and his misses are really nice people, Long carry but if your gear has wheels the disabled ramp is great, the room is a decent size with no viewing obstacles as the pub has only been up a few years and was built with live music in mind. No in house PA but some basic stage lighting is available. ***

The Brewery Tap, Idle, Bradford. Basic old style pub with no specific stage area. Medium payers. Good staff, good crowd.  Update from Brian Glover:-  loading is dead easy from van to stage is a couple of metres to the area where you set up,  a lot of bikers and rock music lovers frequent this pub and they like it loud. Live bands Fridays and Saturdays.   **** Excellent pub with great atmosphere

The Coniston, Idle Bradford.  Just recently reopened, the bands set up in a separate area from the main bar area (plenty of space to set up in), you need a good PA to get the sound out of what is effectively a separate room. Good sized main room, great landlord/landlady and bar staff and decent ale, has always had a reputation as a rock venue, has Live bands on Fridays and Saturdays and they like it loud and Phil the landlord lets  the band play for as long as they like (within reason that is) Medium payers (Based on Rock of the North price list) **** Thanks Brian for this!

The Woodend, Woodend Cres, Windhill, Shipley.  Was a working mens club that has now been changed to a pub since it was purchased by Paul & Pat Wood who are really nice people.  Large main room  with a cabaret style stage in the centre of one of the long walls with the bar positioned in one corner of the room on the opposite wall. Easy loading and unloading  through the double doors about six foot away from the stage. The crowd are really out to enjoy themselves, The drinks are probably the cheapest pub prices around this area in fact they are as cheap as the working mens club prices. The pay for bands is above average and the landlord looks after the bands.**** Thanks Brian for this review

The Punchbowl, Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire. Caters for the whole family, good sized outdoor stage, good sized paved viewing area with picnic tables and seating. Bar staff are very pleasant and the punters are really up for a good time. Outdoor stage but the landlord is altering the pub for an indoor stage area before the bad weather comes in.***

The Golden Lion Pontefract West Yorkshire. Cosy little town centre pub with a no-nonsense attitude from the landlord towards undesirables. The regulars like their music there and the bar staff are quick and friendly. Beer is fine too, in fact it's really good. Stage area is a little bit cramped for more than three musicians. Free parking nearby. Just revisited this venue and we have now rated it higher than before, as they pay fairly. ****

The Malt Shovel Pontefract West Yorkshire. All purpose large pub on Corn Market with Charlie's Bar, a long slim room but with good viewing and easy loading/unloading for bands. High quality meals are available during the week and weekend. Friendly landlord John strives to please everyone with food, ale and music. Small PA installed and some disco styled lights. Free parking nearby. That's pretty comprehensive in our book. ****

The Magnet, Knottingley, West Yorkshire. New venue, PA and lights required. Liked by bands.***

The Poplar, Altofts, Wakefield, West Yorks. Small pub venue, not a lot of room, it's OK though. Small crowd appreciate  band's efforts. Best to set up with vox-only small PA and balanced direct back line. Pay is similar to nearby Castleford's rock pubs. ***

O'Donahues  Wakefield, West Yorkshire.  Superb beers, city centre location. Good bar staff. A bit narrow so viewing the band can be troublesome.  Not a rock pub, more suited to bluesy stuff although the new management are promoting rockier stuff, especially on Sunday tea-times.***+

The Snooty Fox Wakefield, West Yorkshire Good pub with reasonable bar prices. i.e. they don't rip you off with non-alcohol drinks. Own PA and lights. Pay not great but a free DVD recording for bands is available. A bit smoky at times.***+

The New Inn Marsden, West Yorkshire. Unlikely super venue and the reason for this is the crowd, they're great, and the landlady and landlord are too! Not much of a playing area but you won't care after all the cheering and good natured banter from the locals. Must be all the fresh air in them thar hills! Decent drinks prices too.***

The Pack Horse Royston Barnsley.  We have been told the pub is no longer promoting bands.

The Ship Royston, Barnsley.  This pub has is now booking bands again. It wasn't a bad gig previously so we'll give it three stars.Latest update is it's doing quite nicely and Julie the landlady is a great lass putting very good bands on for decent pay***

The Bush Royston, Barnsley. Good paying gig in an old working mans club, now a pub. Good concert room with a dance floor (which is used by the punters). Decent beer, good clientele, good landlord/landlady team. An in-house PA and some lights would make this a super-venue. Still  an excellent venue as it is*** This venue has stopped promoting on a regular basis and is a real loss to the rock circuit.

Royston "Klondyke" Club, Royston, Barnsley. Nice traditional club with decent sized stage but weak stage lights. Comfortable, nicely decorated place promoting good quality club rock bands. ****

The Sturdy Lads, Monk Bretton, Barnsley. Beautifully decorated pub with good clientele, decent landlord and good, sometimes very big bands. Food available too. Reasonable payers. There has been some cancellations issues with bands so it's worth asking for a contract.   ***

Barnsley Trades Club, Central Barnsley. This venue epitomises all that's good in rocking club land in the North. This venue promotes top bands, has a nice stage and lighting set up and with an appreciative crowd. A great gig and just listen that fabulous accent of the chairman!!! ****

Farm Road Club, Kendry, Barnsley. An ex WMC, this was another jewel in the club land crown.   Latest news is the new management have allowed the previously banned trouble-makers back so one star less for that. It seemed alright the last time I was there so back to three stars. They now have a strict noise policy which has spoiled the place! Not their fault though.  ***

The Polish Club, Pogmoor, Barnsley. Excellent small club with a sub committee for the promotion of rock and blues nights. Not a rich club so pay is not great but it's as much as they can afford. Very good stage and cosy concert room big enough for it's purpose. Has lights but bands seem to use their own. Decent and appreciative clientele, reasonable bar tariff. Quick service and friendly organisers Bob and Andy. Attracts good bands. Car parking, not far from M1. Nice place to watch a band and the stage is a good size, raised, deep and wide and the "carry" isn't too bad to the van.****This is a brilliant venue and home to Barnstock!

The Boardwalk Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Promotes higher profile artist like the Roscoe in Leeds due to Chris Wilson the enthusiastic promoter. Long bar, pretty good viewing. Always a truly magnificent and superbly engineered PA system.  ***

The Leadmill Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Comfortably sized venue with a lot of atmosphere and large closed-circuit TV screens showing the acts. Long bar, fairly good staff. Excellent viewing and good quality bands. Multi story car park nearby. ****

The Mallard Doncaster, South Yorkshire. New and very nice pub venue in the suburbs. Easy to find. Excellent bar staff, nice beer, well behaved clientele, roomy stage area, good viewing. Jam nights on Wednesdays. Sadly the neighbours haven't heard the phrase "Rock and Roll ain't noise pollution!" It's a really good venue to be honest and mainly due to the landlady and clientele. ****

Hall Cross Rock Bar Doncaster South Yorkshire.   Not recommended at all.

Westminster Club, Intake, Doncaster, A huge club with a good atmosphere, excellent stage, excellent view and a nice concert secretary. Great lighting for the stage. ***

Bellhouse Road Club Shire Green Sheffield. A medium sized club promoting Friday Rock Nights organised by "Fast Eddie" Cooper. Own lights required and a meaty PA. Good crowd love rocking. We like it here. Parking for the band is no problem but difficult for fans. Nice club! ***** Top Club!

Woodseats Hotel, Sheffield, South Yorkshire Recently added to the RotN shit list for pay discrepancies.

The Queens Rawmarsh, Rotherham S.Yorks. This was a good gig then the landlord stopped live music, then he did a U-turn and he's doing bands again...oh no he isn't, he's stopped 'em again.

The New Masons Mexborough South Yorkshire. Recently resurrected as a music venue on Friday's "Live at The Masons" and sometimes Sunday afternoons. It's a nicely decorated pub with an enthusiastic landlord who has secured some outside sponsorship from local businessman Richard Bailey, specifically for keeping a music venue alive in Mexborough. An In-House PA is thought to be on the cards in the near future. This pub is attracting some good bands.****

The High House Rotherham. A nice town centre pub, although some of the bar staff are crap. If you are approaching 45 you become invisible to the smart arsed barman. Nice sized playing area. Good pay. Punters thin on the ground so low on atmosphere, although it's getting better. ***

The Cross Keys Rotherham. Across the street from the High House, and the review is similar except for the clientele are undesirable sometimes. Low on atmosphere when reviewed. To be fair, it's shit and the "Boom Boom" fans can have it to themselves as far as we're concerned.*

Snafu Rotherham, South Yorkshire.  A fun bar dubbed "The Drinking-Hole of Rock and Roll". It is a good city centre bar with the "right" clientele. Stage area could be better though. Enthusiastic management will get it right. Promotes good bands . The venue has the benefit of door supervisors (bouncers), essential in a city centre location. Now has it's own PA system and we think lights too. Second set is late (at midnight) though. This means a very long evening and late return home. Good venue nonetheless. ****

Eastwood View Club, Rotherham. Massive room which requires a huge PA system. Great big stage to go with the hall and very appreciative clientele. Excellent club, miserable bar staff.***

Albion Road Club, Rotherham. The Tardis! Good sized room and very friendly concert sec/chairman. Loading is difficult though and there's too much stage furniture  ( club's organ and drums left permanently on-stage). Still a nice club though. **

No10 Dickens Bar, Wellgate, Rotherham. The headquarters of Tribute Bands R Us! If you like tribute bands, then this really is the place for you. An enthusiastic and hardworking team behind the scenes ensure of quality bands. ****

The Victorian Tavern, Withernsea, East Yorkshire. A Tardis. Enthusiastic owner wants to inject fresh talent into the East Riding. Own PA and lights within. This venue will soon be refurbished and we reckon it will be great.***

The Clinton Arms, Retford, North Nottinghamshire. Ran by an enthusiastic landlord and with an equally enthusiastic clientele, this pub has a car park and in house lights and P.A. and roomy stage area. Thanks to Johnny Lynott of Heavy Load for this review.****

Clowne Blues Club nr Chesterfield, Derbyshire. A village social club venue with an enthusiastic organiser/committee providing the members with great bands for little entrance money. Friendly clientele who know how to have a very good time. ****

Barrow Hill Club near Chesterfield. Big club, mature clientele, club fees, great stage and lighting, and decent drinks. Two dressing rooms. It's a little hard to find but worth the trip.****

The Flower Pot,  Derby. A real ale pub next to a multi story car park. A concert room at the back with adequate viewing. Long bar with good staff. Excellent quality beers. Good quality bands. Enthusiastic promoter. Interesting clientele!****

Silkstone Lodge Silkstone nr Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Brave owner due to remote location of the pub/restaurant. Big concert room, very pleasant surroundings and nice meals. Just lacks a bit of atmosphere due to being under subscribed with punters. Not sure if this venue has finished promoting bands.

The Leaking Boot Cleethorpes Lincs. A huge run down pub/hotel. Reasonable payers depending on the band's status. Big back room concert area with some stage lighting. Big stage and dance floor. Appreciative clientele but small in numbers resulting in a low atmosphere. Not recommended at all, in fact it's crap really.  **

The Robin 2 Bilston nr Wolverhampton, Staffordshire. A little past our Southern boundary but well worth the trip. A dedicated concert hall with a long bar, good parking close to venue, and a reputation for promoting the best of the best .Good atmosphere, plenty of room and a promoter with vision, Mike Hamblett. ****

The Life Cafe Manchester. An upmarket venue with bouncers on the door. Good bar staff (if a little like the Tom Cruise parody chucking bottles up in the air!) Viewing is quite good, beverages  quite expensive although for a big city centre location it's probably not too bad. Parking in Manchester is poor and expensive (not as bad as London though). Beer is average  quality for a city centre bar.***

Wilbarston Village Hall nr Corby, Northants. Run by an enthusiastic partnership, Loud Promotions, this venue has some surprisingly big bands on. Normally well subscribed to, it has lots of atmosphere. Small bar let's it down badly, burger van outside lifts it up again! Fairly good viewing. Something special about this place but I can't quite work out what ! ***

The Running Horse, Nottingham Premier Live Blues Venue, Live Music seven nights a week, featuring top acts from all over the world, small but big on atmosphere, doors open 7.00pm, bar until 1.00am.****