The Anvil

Capacity: 100

The Anvil is Bournemouth's home for rock, metal and punk — a grassroots live music venue tucked into the Lansdowne area on Holdenhurst Road, close to the station and the university halls. Decked out in rock-and-roll décor with an extensive rock jukebox and dedicated rock DJ nights, it's built its reputation as a proving ground for the UK's heavier underground scene and a reliable home for touring acts, original bands, and covers nights alike.

Over the years The Anvil has hosted a genuine mix of rising talent and established names. Raging Speedhorn, veteran stalwarts of British hardcore and metal, have played the venue, as has Nick Oliveri, best known for his time in Queens of the Stone Age and Kyuss, who's returned for multiple solo shows.

Marco Mendoza, the touring and session bassist behind Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Blue Murder and Ted Nugent, is one of the venue's most frequent higher-profile visitors. US crunkcore act brokeNCYDE, who had genuine mainstream buzz in the late 2000s, stopped by as part of a UK/EU tour, and cult Japanese rockers Electric Eel Shock have made multiple appearances.

Beyond that, The Anvil has built deep ties with the UK's touring underground and metal circuit, regularly hosting acts like Employed to Serve, Holding Absence, Milk Teeth, Conjurer, Dopethrone, Aversions Crown, Karma to Burn, Astroid Boys, HECK, Palm Reader and Sumo Cyco — many of them returning for repeat shows, a sign of the venue's standing within the scene.

The venue has also become known for championing rising local and regional talent, with regular sets from acts like Molly Karloff, Poole vigilantes, The Rattlebacks, James Kennedy and the Underdogs and Mikey Ball & The Company — bands building their followings gig by gig on The Anvil's stage.

The Anvil a proving ground rather than an arena stop, but one that's built genuine loyalty from bands and fans alike, cementing its place as a fixture of the south coast's live rock scene.