Enjoy a night (or day) in a pub listening to live music? Well, if in Blackpool, you’ve come to the right place, in this BLOG we call out some of the Blackpool pubs playing live music we love to visit playing live music in Blackpool. Most of the pubs we’ve covered are small independents so make sure you visit to do your bit to support our local pubs and bands (though tbf, you’ll do the same visiting any venue in Blackpool 🙂
Scruffy Murphys
32 Corporation St, Blackpool FY1 1EJ
Although a Greene King chain pub, Scruffy Murphys has a very independent feel about it. It’s great for an afternoon pint whilst being entertained by live bands / singers, often acoustic.
This Irish Themed pub gets very popular in the summer season, mainly due to its location, slap bang in the middle of town. It’s a little tired looking truth be told but in one way, that adds to the ‘independent feel’ the venue has about it.
The venue isn’t the biggest so you can get close to the action and seating is at a bit of a premium so be prepared to stand (which gets you the best view anyway) but the venue does also offer a beer garden which in the sun, is great to sit in, listening to the music whilst watching the world go by (and you do get some sights around this area – stag dos, hen parties and just random people carrying cats of their shoulders….. we kid you not!!!).
Being a Greene King, you probably know what types of ales / larger it has on, pretty much your standard tap stuff.
Yellow Submarine Bar.
Address: 9 Rigby Rd, Blackpool FY1 5DE
Web: Yellow Submarine
A pretty recent addition to the live music scene in Blackpool, the Yellow Submarine Bar, as the name suggests, is a Beatles themed bar, stacked with Beatles memorabilia and artifacts both inside and a pretty impressive outside. (Check out the instagram photo opportunity just by the entrance!!) Theres loads to look at inside and it really gets you into a Beatles vibe as you relax looking around.
The venue has live bands on every weekend (not all doing Beatles covers we’re glad to say!!) and though it doesn’t open during the week has long, late opening hours when it is open (Opens Fridays from 6pm until 4am!) which make it ideal if you want to chill out in a venue after hitting town!
The venue is independently owned and they’ve put a lot of money into the place during lockdown, if you want some cheap drinks and some live music, you cant go far wrong with the Yellow Submarine bar, so make sure you pay it a visit (….and the happy scot next door if you get chance).
Bootleg Social
Address: 30 Topping St, Blackpool FY1 3AQ
Web: Bootleg Social
Ok, we are probably stretching the word ‘pub’ for this venue, set in a ex-club on Topping Street, it would be easy to walk past this hidden gem without having any idea of what quality lies inside.
The Bootleg Social on the outside is just a door way but head down the stairs and an impressive open venue greets you. The venue is ideal for live bands and can accommodate up to 330 people all with great views of the stage and performers.
The venue is independently owned and opened its doors in 2014 with the aim of being an alternative music venue.
Despite being located in the town centre, couldn’t have a more different vibe than some of the stag and hen type venues a lot of people associate with the town, very much has the ‘feel’ you’d get visiting a bar in Manchesters Northern Quarter.
Bootleg is a fab venue especially if you like to get up and dance and well worth a visit.
The Galleon Bar.
68- 70 Abingdon Street, Blackpool. FY1 1NH
A warm and friendly pub, (and one of James Nesbitt’s favourites!!) The Galleon Bar, located on Abingdon Street, is a fabulous venue hosting regular live bands. The venue is adorned with music memorabilia which makes it a fab venue to walk around and reminisce about bands of a bygone era and evoke special memories.
The Galleon used to be located just behind the Houndshill shopping centre but after being demolished was reincarnated at it’s current venue and recaptured the spirt of the original venue.
The Galleon, despite having two floors is quite an intimate venue where you can really ‘feel’ the music being played.
The venue is open all week very late – even until 4am on a Saturday night / Sunday morning and always has a good crowd…. not just due to the music but the drinks are very reasonably priced too, especially for town centre.
The Waterloo Music Bar.
Address: 166 Waterloo Road, FY4 2AF Blackpool, UK.
Web: Waterloo Music Bar
Whilst the Waterloo has always been a popular live music venue, it’s in the past couple of years (even with lockdown!!) been becoming more and more renowned and has a die hard loyal following.
Once a typical ‘locals old mans pub’ it was saved a few years ago and reinvented as one of the best live music venues (if not the best) in town. Music events are often ticketed so you may need you to plan a bit in advance for a trip to ensure there’s space, but a lot of the time you can buy tickets on the day so maybe worth ‘chancing it’.
The bar is located pretty close to the football ground and does get very popular match days with Blackpool fans so you may want to look up the fixture list in advance of a visit.
The decor in the Waterloo is definitely a massive plus for the venue, each time we visit we end up spotting something new… or at least, something we’ve not noticed before, it really grabs your attention and always supplies a talking point.
The ‘small venue with a massive attitude’ draws a following from far and wide and has recently been named as one of the fastest growing independent music venues…… so make sure you visit and show some support for our local independent.
What’s your best Blackpool pub playing live music?
Where do you go to get your live music fix? Which would you say is the best in Blackpool?
As ever, thank you for reading and we do hope you get chance to visit some of the venues we’ve covered in this blog. If you’d like to support us, please follow us on social media and share this (and any of our blogs) via your own social accounts to help us spread the good word of Blackpool as far and wide as we can 🙂
If you’ve enjoyed this BLOG, we have loads more, why not have a read of our ‘Top Karaoke bars’ or try our suggested ‘Town Centre pub run‘?
These are the best could not agree more. A good natural choice. Proper independent establishments without all the ego. Loving these blogs about the real Blackpool. More Please. Tips Hat. Stay Safe. Tiff.
We have some more on the way…. despite it being January and load of things closed lol! Thanks so much for the support.
Small steps 🙂