The Old Hairdresser’s

Situated immediately opposite sister venue Stereo, and owned by the folks behind Mono, The Flying Duck and The 78, The Old Hairdresser’s started life in 2011. Since then, it’s steadily been building its own identity, both as a relaxed café-bar and as a leftfield gallery and music venue.

The ground-floor café-bar is so rudimentary in décor and setup – mismatched tables and chairs, bare walls, a tiny bar doing a limited range of beers and ciders – you could be forgiven for thinking it’s a pop-up rather than a permanent business. It all adds to the relaxed, hip feel.

The first-floor venue space (be careful not to get lost in the stairway, it’s a bit of a warren), is much larger than the bar, and in many ways the bar’s most unique selling point. Designed – or rather not designed – with flexibility in mind, it’s a DIY blank canvas, which can be figured any which way organisers fancy, meaning no two events – be they gigs, exhibitions, theatre productions, the odd club night – ever feel quite the same. While touring bands do drop in from time to time, you’re more likely to catch local, less mainstream acts.