Camden’s Legendary Barfly Venue Reopens 11 Years Later Thanks to Propaganda Independent Venues

The legendary Barfly in London’s Camden district is back, thanks to Propaganda Independent Venues, the company that launched last year with a deep-rooted commitment to support grassroots venues .

One of the first orders of business of the newly-launched business was to re-acquire TEG UK’s former venue portfolio, which included Tramshed and The Globe in Cardiff, Wales, XOYO Birmingham, as well as XOYO London and the Barfly, which was renamed to Camden Assembly in 2016 but now returns to its iconic name.

See: Propaganda Independent Venues Launched, Acquires TEG’s UK Venue Portfolio

Barfly operated at Chalk Farm Road in London’s Camden district from 1996 to 2016 before reopening as Camden Assembly. It’s a 200-capacity live music room above a ground-floor bar.

It will reopen under Propaganda’s leadership on Jun 22, with a landmark show from Frank Turner, who played his first ever sold-out solo show at Barfly back in 2006.

Tickets need to be signed-up for via www.barflycamden.com, with the onsale launching on Monday, June 15, at 9 a.m. local time.

From 1996 to 2016, any artist tipped for big things played the Barfly, a rite of passage that could pave the way to stadium tours and chart hits. Over the years the 200-cap space saw performances from Coldplay, Adele, Muse, The Cure, Ed Sheeran (who famously played four shows in one night in 2011), Elbow, Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol, The Strokes, Jamie T, Franz Ferdinand, Feeder, Idles, The Killers, The 1975, Ash, Avril Lavigne, MGMT, Kate Nash, Sam Fender, Bring Me The Horizon, Royal Blood, Doves, Keane, Interpol, Queens Of The Stone Age, Bloc Party, The Libertines, My Chemical Romance, Kasabian, The Kooks, Maroon 5, Razorlight, Bombay Bicycle Club, Supergrass, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Everything Everything, The Petshop Boys, Catfish & The Bottlemen, The Fratellis, Suede, The Vaccines, Two Door Cinema Club, The National, Embrace, Scissor Sisters, The Fall, Bastille, Declan McKenna – the list goes on.

Few stories capture Barfly’s spirit better than Frank Turner’s. His band Million Dead played their first ever show at Barfly in 2001 (the band’s bass player, Julia, was working at Barfly at the time), recorded the video for ‘Living The Dream’ there, and returned to perform many times. As a solo artist, he played a record six shows on the Barfly stage, and now, in a full-circle moment, Frank Turner will headline the venue’s reopening night on June 22.

“Barfly’s return seeks to preserve an essential part of UK culture at a time when grassroots venues face an increasingly challenging landscape,” according to a press release announcing the opening under its old name.

Propaganda Independent Venues co-founders Dan Ickowitz-Seidler and Richard Buck acquired the venue and are now joined by co-owner Chris McCormack, a Camden resident for more than three decades and one of its most recognizable music figures.

Barfly’s main room PA system has been fully upgraded with additional fill speakers, ensuring consistent, high-quality sound across every corner of the room. The lighting rig has also been upgraded. Downstairs, new speakers and enhanced lighting have been installed in the bar, allowing it to transition seamlessly from a daytime pub and vinyl listening bar to a late-night club space.

The venue’s return is deeply personal for all three owners. Chris McCormack first headlined Barfly in 1997 with his band 3 Colours Red before going on to create and promote the legendary Camden Rocks Festival. Dan Ickowitz-Seidler grew up in Hackney, attended school in Camden, celebrated his 18th birthday at Barfly, performed on its stage with his own band and later promoted the venue’s weekly Saturday club nights. In another full-circle moment, ten years after DJing at Barfly’s closing night in June 2016, he is now reopening the venue under its original name.

Inside the relaunched venue, the Barfly Bar will be open daily and feature a Wall of Fame celebrating Barfly’s extraordinary heritage. Showcasing imagery from its twenty-year history (much of it never publicly displayed before), it will sit alongside a series of blue plaques to be unveiled in the coming months, commemorating the special artists and pivotal moments that helped define one of the most influential grassroots music venues ever.

The Barfly Bar will also feature a vinyl listening bar, drawing influence from Tokyo’s renowned listening bars. With a carefully curated record collection and exceptional sound quality, it has been designed as a space for music discovery, conversation and deep listening, celebrating the artists, genres and records that have shaped Barfly’s story. Alongside this sits a 1959 AMI vintage jukebox.

Ickowitz-Seidler commented, “Barfly means so much to us all, and we’re honoured to be starting a new chapter in its story. We’ll be announcing more very special shows shortly, but Frank Turner is the perfect artist to relaunch the Barfly stage. He embodies everything Barfly stands for.

I hope live music fans will come out and support not just Barfly, but grassroots venues across the country. Before so many of today’s biggest artists were filling arenas and headlining festivals, they played at Barfly. You could be watching the next festival headliner on our stage on any night. Before the arenas, they were here!”

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_Originally reported by [Pollstar](https://news.pollstar.com/2026/06/10/legendary-london-grassroots-venue-barfly-camden-returns/)._