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A sign reading "Bloc" beside a red cross symbol is mounted above a stairwell leading down to a basement venue, posters covering the walls.
Glasgow

Bloc+

An independent bar down a few steps from Bath Street with live music seven nights a week, never a charge at the door, and the kitchen open until ten.

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Welcome

Down a few steps from Bath Street, under big white letters on the wall, Bloc+ is an independent bar that puts on live music seven nights a week, and never charges at the door.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

The room is long and low and lit red, with a bar along one side, booths and a neon sign that says it is not for everyone.

The programme has no pigeonholes. Unsigned local bands share the week with touring acts, from quiet acoustic sets to electro and heavy metal, around five hundred bands a year, and the bookers have brought over musicians from China, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East. Tuesday is the Glasgow Slow Club, and Sunday is open-mic night. Free entry is the point: the manager, a musician from a working-class background himself, wanted to take away one more cost that keeps people at home. Food is served until ten, and the bar stays open until three in the morning.

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Before you go

Bloc+ opens every day from 11am until 3am, and entry to every gig is free.

Food is served until 10pm. It is at 117 Bath Street, down the steps below street level.

Hours
Daily, 11:00 to 03:00.
Gigs
Free, seven nights a week.
Food
Until 22:00.
Where
117 Bath Street, G2 2SZ.

Opening hours

Their website
Monday
11am–3am
Tuesday
11am–3am
Wednesday
11am–3am
Thursday
11am–3am
Friday
11am–3am
Saturday
11am–3am
Sunday
11am–3am

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Did you know

Red neon light bathes a bar counter and shelves of spirit bottles, beer taps lining the front of the counter.
Did you know

Every gig is free.

Bloc+ puts on musicians and DJs seven nights a week and has never charged at the door.

Red neon lettering reading "not for everyone" glows above a booth and stools in a dimly lit bar interior, a figure seated in the doorway.
Did you know

Free entry has a reason.

The manager puts the free-entry policy down to his own years as a working-class musician: it is one less cost that stops people going out, and nobody has to buy a drink to watch a show.

Red neon lettering reading "not for everyone" glows above a booth in a dimly lit bar, framed posters and newspaper cuttings covering the wall outside.
Did you know

Around five hundred bands a year.

Bloc+ hosts live gigs most nights, adding up to around five hundred bands a year, from acoustic sets to electro and heavy metal.

A sign reading "Bloc" beside a red cross symbol is mounted above a doorway, an event poster fixed to the wall beside it.
Did you know

Bands from across the world.

Its bookers have brought bands from China, Latin America, North Africa and the Middle East to play in the basement on Bath Street.

A sandwich board reading "Bloc+, 117 Bath Street" lists daily food deals, propped against railings on a street.
Did you know

Big names have played here.

Clutch and Frightened Rabbit's Scott Hutchison are among the well-known acts who have played the bar.

Red neon light bathes a bar counter and shelves of spirit bottles, beer taps lining the front of the counter.
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Where it is

117 Bath Street in the city centre, below street level.

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Directions
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