The Dublin Castle, Camden Town, NW1

One of Camden's most famous live music venues, generally catering for people attending a gig; the main music room and a second bar are through doors to the rear. Lighting is rather red inside with bare boards and lots of music memorabilia, naturally with a focus on local boys Madness. There's a brewers' Tudor interior with curved leatherette booths; the interior seems a bit dated, a bit 1970s'. There's also something of an Irish flavour, probably due to the name and fact that it is (or was) run by the Conlons. There's a jukebox, though I'm not sure if it's for decoration as is now so often the case. At least one TV was on showing sport with the sound down; the gramophone was playing The Stranglers, AC/DC and The Who at an agreeable level. Ales: a friendly American barmaid was serving Hobgoblin, St. Austell's Tribute and Robinson's Trooper which was a bit lifeless though was dirt cheap at just £2.00 a half. I can't really see myself coming here again as this isn't my type of pub and I'm not a fan of live music venues either, but it's an iconic venue and Camden would be all the worse if it were to join the ranks of other live music venues that have closed around here of late.

Basic music pub, with the main bar at the front and the venue (and another bar) to the rear. Plenty of posters and memorabilia on the walls, of course, and a sports TV screen losing the battle against the music system. Also has a few seats outside on the pavement. Youngs Ordinary and Portobello Carnival Pale (£3.70) available from the three handpumps.

One of Camden's 'Castle' pubs, this was the designated pub for Irish railway workers who were constructing the nearby lines back in the late 19th century (with other 'Castle' pubs assigned for Scottish, Welsh and English workers - see Edinboro Castle, Pembroke Castle and the defunct Windsor Castle). More recently, the pub has gained a degree of fame for its live music policy, putting on early gigs from Madness in the 80's, Blur in the 90's and The Killers and Arctic Monkey's in the 00's. The pub maintains something of a traditional feel to it, resisting the Camden-wide urge to strip everything of interest out, thereby giving it a bit of character that makes it worth a look for a drink as well as the music. You enter through a nice little front porch into a long, fairly narrow main bar with the servery along the front half of the left hand wall. The room has bare floorboards, lots of dark wood beams and a red and black colour scheme that works quite nicely. Some lovely U shaped banquettes form booths of sorts along the right hand wall, each serving a small, narrow table with low stools opposite. Behind these booths, large mirrors line the wall, papered with various flyers, stickers and bunting and there are some lovely decorative lamps on the ledges between each booth. Moving further into the room, a single button backed banquette stands to the left with another along the rear wall. A juke box and two large screens, seemingly used for sports coverage, vie for attention and access to the live music venue (not explored on this visit) can be found to the rear. The most interesting items can be viewed on the bar canopy, where a selection of music memorabilia, unique to the pub, can be found. This includes signed posters from the likes of Travis and Amy Winehouse, plus a collection of signed Madness items, many dedicated to the pub. An old article outlining the pub's appeal to the 'trendy crowd' appears here as well, alongside a photo of a gentleman stood outside the pub, presumably former landlord Alo Conlon who founded the pub's live music reputation and sadly passed away in 2009. A couple of real ales were available - Youngs Special and St Austell Tribute - with the latter clocking in at £3.60 for an acceptable pint. One real cider was also on, with a final pump unused. Keg options were fairly standard and included Symonds Cider. The barman was friendly enough and despite there being no music on that evening, a few regulars propped up the bar whilst some of the booths were full with casual drinkers. This is an interesting pub which has played an important role in both the development of Camden as a region and as the heart of British live music. Fans of the UK indie scene will enjoy a pilgrimage here more than the soulless Good Mixer or over-hyped Hawley Arms and I hope to return in the future with the hope of catching the 'next big thing'.

Dublin Castle official site - thedublincastle.com

Dublin Castle official site - thedublincastle.com

Pub & live music venue. Beers from fullers,smiths,st austell & young's.

This is very much a live band venue and I'm not sure that it is really worth bothering any other time. There are a couple of plasma screens, but it is difficult to get comfortable as you feel that you've arrived too early or late. The barmaid is very friendly and I'm sure that it is a great night when the bands kick off, but my sweat box dancing days are over.