Oxford has a justified reputation as a major centre of musical innovation, which derives from its dominant band scene and a nightlife that is arguably the most vibrant and progressive of any city in Europe. We’re going to take you on a tour of the venues behind the vogue.
Cowley Road, with its pseudo-bohemian eateries and part-time hedonist student beatniks, is to Oxford what Greenwich Village was to 1960s New York. No wonder, then, that from this lukewarm hotbed of youth culture has sprung a mighty cluster of medium-sized music venues, which cater to both pop-lovers and those with a near-alternative music taste.
The O2 Academy, which inhabits the former site of the independent club Zodiac, is the largest-capacity music venue on the Oxford scene. O2 smeared the site with soulless matt-black paint, then whacked in three predictably extortionate bars. But the calibre and variety of featured acts is rising (Matt has seen Mexican mariachi, Finnish psychobilly and minimalist shoegaze under its sticky roof).
A ten-minute walk down Cowley Road takes you to what is perhaps Oxford’s most aesthetically pleasing venue. The Regal is a cavernous 1950s art-deco ex-cinema, which hosts everything from comedy to vaudeville parties, as well as one or two mid-sized bands per term. Alas, the ballroom-style wooden floor is so capacious that it is rarely even half-full.
The Cellar Bar and The Bullingdon Arms stand short and proud as Oxford’s two small-scale, DJ-oriented independent venues. Here is where you’ll find the city’s renowned house, techno, drum ‘n’ bass, drill ‘n’ bass, dubstep, poststep, clownstep and aquacrunk nights, which are well-served by decent sound systems.
The Bullingdon (in no way affiliated with Oxford’s favourite dining society), located halfway between The Regal and the Magdalen roundabout on Cowley Road, is an atmospheric club fronted by a lively pub. Though not exclusively a forum for DJs – gigs are regular – the venue comes into its own when hosting its one-off dance nights, some of which are run by students.
The Cellar (just off Cornmarket Street) – which on busy nights features its own ‘sweat cycle’ of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation – is home to regular club and comedy nights, as well as the occasional band showcase or gig. You’ll feel like a battery chicken among the crowds that flock to dubstep-oriented Free Range every other Wednesday (the night moves to the O2 Academy once or twice a term for a larger rave). On alternate Thursdays is Eclectricity, which deals in electro, techno and minimal. Its sister night Eclectric, haunt of the queefy trendsetters, is held on the other Thursdays at Love Bar (aka Babylove, just off High Street).
The Jericho Tavern’s upper floor, on Walton Street, boasts a stage where small but promising acts showcase their talents. Its proprietors love to brag that the pub was once the haunt of Supergrass and Radiohead, but you only have to peek at the upstairs décor – daubed as it is with Thom Yorke’s gaunt young visage – to work this out for yourself.
Choral chamber music is well-represented in college chapels and the city’s various churches, the best of which is the University Church of St Mary the Virgin (Radcliffe Square). A wider variety of chamber music – both choral and instrumental – is performed in Wadham’s badly lit but acoustically sound Holywell Music Room (Holywell Street), the oldest concert hall in Europe. But the best of Oxford’s Classical music scene is found in the rotund Sheldonian Theatre (Broad Street, opposite Blackwell), where both professional and (excellent) student ensembles perform mostly orchestral pieces. Handel played there, which is as good a recommendation as any.
Jazz is the preserve of hoity-toity restaurants such as Quod and The Old Parsonage, although the Spin Jazz Club (High Street; all gigs £6 for students) is a cheaper alternative. The Sheldonian and other theatres house Jazz concerts on occasion – go see the University’s various bands and orchestras, who are of a very high standard.
Finally, the most eclectic music venues are the colleges themselves. Purpose-built rooms, such as St Hilda’s Jacqueline Du Pré Music Building, typically have astonishingly varied programmes and cheap entrance fees. The king of all collegiate events is Wadstock, Wadham’s day-long music festival, which takes place in the college’s gardens in Trinity term.
The tour ends here. We hope it’s expanded on the dystopian vision of Oxford nightlife that the Entz reps present in Freshers’ Week. Bring this page with you when you next go out – that way, when you get turned away from a full-capacity Park End at 8:45pm next Wednesday, you’ll know where to go instead.
Below is a list of the venues covered in this article, alongside our picks of the term and a link to the venue’s official listings.
The Bullingdon Arms
Erja Lyytinen (Oct 25)
http://www.ents24.com/web/venue/Oxford/Bullingdon-Arms-7915.html
The Cellar
Bossaphonik feat. Dele Sosimi (Oct 8) and Free Range (every other Wednesday, beginning Oct 6)
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=264aba2bd4a7a38933f4ecb2456b1f14&gid=2394594879&ref=search
Jericho Tavern
Darwin Deez (Oct 23) and Fenech Soler (Nov 9)
http://thejerichotavern.tumblr.com/
O2 Academy
Ska Cubano (Nov 6) and Freerange & Metropolis feat. Sub Focus (Nov 19)
http://www.o2academyoxford.co.uk/?t=calendar
The Regal
Marina And The Diamonds (Oct 24) and Frank Turner (Dec 5)
http://www.the-regal.com/whats_on.html
The Spin Jazz Club
Nic Meier Group (Nov 4)
http://www.spinjazz.com/gigs/bigcolorsbigband.html
Oxford Playhouse
Listings cover various Classical venues, including the Sheldonian Theatre and the Holywell Music Room
Joanna McGregor (Nov 12) and Barbirolli String Quartet (Nov 21)
http://www.oxfordplayhouse.com/ticketsoxford/
