Newcastle has a proud reputation as one of, if not THE party capital cities of the UK, but while you can most definitely have a wicked night out in the Toon, some of its most famous nightspots have long since closed. For decades, both locals and visitors to the city have hit the dancefloors in an array of bars and clubs and, although popular haunts like Cosy Joes , Popworld, Flares and Tup Tup are still open and often packed to the rafters, many of their fallen comrades have long since played their last tune. From the Bigg Market to the Quayside and The Gate to Grey Street, there are plenty of venues that have bit the dust but whose legacies definitely live on.
READ MORE: The 'must visit' new bars that have opened in Newcastle in 2024 including a shock return Get all the latest TV and showbiz news and gossip from Chronicle Live with our free newsletter .. In a year that many new bars have opened in Newcastle, we've turned the clock back to remember of some of the massively popular places that were getting Geordies and tourists through their doors and discover what happened to them.
A place that deservedly wrote itself into Geordie folklore as the number one place to party for a time. With a shark above its door, Baja was a club where you could dance like no-one was watching, see Spice Girls and Village People in the same night, pop a falling balloon in the hope of winning a prize and finish it all off with a burger and chips from the beach shack upstairs. It closed its doors for a final time in 2008 and, after rumours a few years ago that it could be resurrected, the future of the haunt on the Gateshead side of the Tyne became clearer earlier this year.
Newcastle-based Adderstone has since transformed the building into glazed-fronted offices with some of the best views of the Tyne. Sticking with the Gateshead side of the water and moving onto Baja's neighbour and essential pre-bar Buffalo Joes. The Coyote Ugly of Tyneside was a place hat had everything .
..dancing girls on the bar, a bucking bronco and all the deals on VKs a Geordie could wish for.
Just like Baja, it's long since stood empty after its closure and there was shock at the start of June 2021 when it was revealed that it had been put up for sale, only for it still to remain an empty shell on the banks of the Tyne. The three-storey property, which cost £2m to build and fit-out at the turn of the century, has a 4am licence and could be revived as a bar and nightclub, though it could also be turned into offices or housing. Whether it was the Tuxedo Princess or the Tuxedo Royale, many of us will have fond memories of The Boat, as well as thinking bad to the days of trying to negotiate the revolving dancefloor or paying £10 for an all you can drink offer on a Monday night! After being replaced by the Royale, the Princess made a return to Newcastle in the 90s and then stayed moored over the Gateshead side of the rive before shutting down in 2007 to be taken to Greece for 'development' that never happened.
There was also a sad ending for the Royale, with it being destroyed after a fire broke out in 2017, while it was docked in Teesside While, not a million miles away from its Gateshead peer, Baja Beach Club, Blu Bambu wasn’t quite as cheesy as Baja. Yes, you could strut your stuff to some early Girls Aloud and Holly Valance (Kiss Kiss anyone?) at the Bigg Market club but you'd also hear 50 Cent’s In Da Club, Justin Timberlake - Like I Love You, Ice-T’s You Can Do It and Fatman Scoop’s Be Faithful. Its drinks menu was home to some rather interesting drink concoctions.
In an era when fishbowls weren’t really just reserved for bars on Magaluf strip, Bambu invited friends to dip their straws into some very potent punches and then there was also an extensive cocktail menu. Now Bambu is effectively three different venues - Filthy's, Passing Clouds and Irish bar The Points, which was first revamped as club Illegitimate. It was a very sad day when in February 2016, legendary Newcastle nightclub Idols shut its doors for a final time.
Idols was one of the last remaining businesses in the now defunct Newgate shopping centre and, while something an acquired taste, it played a prominent pub-crawl role in the city centre route for revellers for over 20 years, standing its ground as newer drinking haunts sprung up even with its infamous sticky floor Now the site of Idols and former surrounding businesses is home to the plush Maldron Hotel which opened at the end of 2018. The number 1 nightclub in The Gate at a time when the complex would be heaving every weekend and most week nights too. Downstairs in Mood was home to tunes by the likes of The Nolans, Spice Girls and Take That (and of course Grease and Dirty Dancing megamixes!) while take the stairs up to the upper level and you’d soon be grinding away to Sean Paul, Fatman Scoop and Kevin Lyttle - Turn Me On anyone? The premises was transformed into world buffet Za Za Bazaar a few years ago but that also closed its doors after being one of many casualties of the coronavirus pandemic.
Latterly Liquid/Envy (a regular at Skint night anyone?), back in 1997 the Newbridge building was opened by Frank Bruno as Ikon and was one of the best places for a night out in Newcastle. Home to club nights that are still going strong like LoveDough - anyone remember dancing to the likes of Black Eyed Peas’ Shut Up and Chaka Demus & Pliers’ Murder She Wrote on a Thursday night? - you only have to look at the popularity at the Ikon Live nights at the O2 Academy to know that it’s still held in high regard. Back in the day, the building on Newbridge Street was even used in Get Carter, but in 2016 it was bought to convert into student flats.
The Grey Street club that became particularly popular for its rock nights has had a very recent new lease of life with the opening of the luxurious Everyman Cinema in its place. The cinema opened its doors last summer and proved immediately popular, with people jumping at the chance to enjoy some blockbuster films in luxurious surroundings, with food and drink brought to your seat. The massive two storey nightspot next to The Gate shut its doors suddenly in 2017 after being a staple of Newcastle's nightlife scene for years, hosting the likes of Basshunter, Ultrabeat and plenty of hens and stags! Initially there were reports it could open later that year as Babylon Beach Club but that never happened and it did re-open as bar and restaurant Mayfair, a nod to the iconic music venue which once stood metres way.
As well as being a popular nightspot, the new Mayfair has become a popular haunt for football fans, with it being packed out for England's Euro 2024 and for Newcastle's big matches. One of Newcastle's best known haunts in its 90s and 00s hey-day, Julie's got a new lease of life last year with The Dubliner opening in its original premises. While other clubs have become completely different things, the Stage Door building is still a popular nightspot.
Once a banana warehouse, it was converted into the Bird Cage casino in 1966 and in 1974 became The Stage Door nightclub, entertaining the likes of The Who, David Bowie and Motorhead. After a major refurbishment in 2006, it became the Cosmic Ballroom and once again established itself as a big favourite students and clubbers alike, welcoming big name DJs and themed nights. ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities.
We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all! To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.
No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like.
To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice . Join our Great North Run community Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community Join our Court & Crime community Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community Join our Northumberland community Join our County Durham community Join our Sunderland community Join our NUFC community Join our SAFC community.
