Major new exhibition shines light on Cardiff’s lost music venues

David Owens

A major new exhibition will open in Cardiff Bay next month revisiting the Welsh capital’s lost music venues.

Staged in the Pierhead Futures Gallery from September 12 – November 5, 2026 ‘Resonant Places – Revisiting Cardiff’s Lost Music Venues’ will take a deep dive into Cardiff’s lost venues.

Created by Cardiff Music History CIC, the exhibition is an immersive celebration anchored in legendary vanished spaces, from 1970s punk venues to 1980s soundsystems, framed by a collection of local music artefacts, rare vinyl, and ephemera that spans almost a century.

It will be shaped by real-life testimonies, built directly from the raw, unfiltered memories of the punks, rockers, and sound system regulars who lived for the city’s music.

There will also be much unseen local history on display, with over 150 artefacts and posters from the Cardiff Music History community archive, displayed alongside a wealth of unseen live photography taken by the people who were there.

Resonant Places revisits the capital city’s music history through the lens of its lost music venues. For many, a night out in Cardiff could mean finding a seat in the grandeur of the Capitol, where decades of dust sat on surfaces and audiences waited for the collective rush to the front of the stage.

For some, the real energy belonged to found spaces – old industrial buildings, churches converted into dance floors, and tight, sweaty rooms tucked above city streets.

Stepping inside meant leaving the high street behind, to enter an intense other world. From a cold pavement to a packed room heavy with cigarette smoke, dark shadows, and a bassline that you could feel in your gut, making old buildings creak and strain with the vibrations.

Some were raw, gritty and independent. Some became community hubs where different worlds crossed paths, where anyone could walk up a rickety staircase alone on a Saturday night and immediately find their people.

Resonant Places brings these vanished spaces back to life through first-hand stories and photos, alongside original posters, artwork, and items from the venues.

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Testimonies from lost venues

“I remember getting my hand stamped. The smell of patchouli. The odour of stale beer and sticky floors. What I will never forget is the feeling of live music, raw energy, ringing ears at the end of the night. The essence of being 17 and the feeling of being right where you wanted to be”.

“The Capitol was full of character, when I say character I mean dust! Decades of dust on all the surfaces and ledges, ground into the well worn carpets and cinema style seating. You were always waiting for the rush to the front, go too early and you got sent back to your seat, go too late and the pit was full”.

Cardiff Music History presents
Resonant Places – Revisiting Cardiff’s Lost Music Venues
September 12 to November 5, 2026
Pierhead Futures Gallery, Pierhead Building, Cardiff Bay
Free admission.

About Cardiff Music History
Cardiff Music History has been celebrating and archiving Cardiff’s music heritage since 2017.
Resonant Places follows two previous exhibitions at Wales Millennium Centre: City of Sound (2022)
and Wasteland of My Fathers (2023).

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