Bear's Bar & Venue is a long-standing rock and alternative haunt on Holdenhurst Road, a little east of Bournemouth town centre, a bar on three floors made for a full night out rather than a quiet pint. At street level it is a busy bar with a pool table; underneath, the Bear Cave basement ranks among the town's better-known small live music venues.
Bear Cave
The venue's reputation rests on the Bear Cave in the basement. Holding around 150 people, it is a close, high-energy room for touring bands and local acts alike, and the programme covers a properly wide spread of genres: indie rock, punk, blues and electronic all feature over the course of the calendar. The main bar upstairs holds a bigger crowd and has a stage and DJ nights of its own, so more often than not something is going on across more than one floor.
Food and games
Dead Tasty Toasties, the in-house kitchen, supplies toasted sandwiches and snacks to accompany the beers, wines, cocktails and coffee from the bar. A pool table covers casual games, and Dungeons & Dragons nights run regularly for the tabletop crowd. The games and media room on the first floor is also available for private hire, which makes it a useful space for parties and functions.
Good to know
Doors open every day from about midday, and on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, when a gig or club night is on downstairs, the bar keeps going into the small hours. Getting in on a regular night is usually free, while the bigger touring acts in the Bear Cave tend to need tickets, so check the venue's Facebook page or gig-listing sites such as Skiddle and Songkick before you head over.
It is a good choice if live music or a late night is the aim rather than a straightforward dinner; find somewhere to eat beforehand in the rest of our food & drink guide, or look through things to do for other ways to spend an evening in Bournemouth.