Concrete Playground

One look at our events section and you'll notice that we tend to give a lot of love to Woodland. If you're lost for something to do on a Friday or Saturday night, we'd hedge our bets that the Valley venue will deliver some great live bands, a cold beverage, room for you to dance and a booth for you to take a break in, if that's your swag – it certainly is ours.

Much like the name suggests, Woodland is an arsonist's dream. A few matches and the wooden floors, walls, bar, stage, and booth seating would be all ablaze. Fire hazards aside, Woodland has an eclectic, old school charm about it. The deer heads and vintage photos of actual woodland scenery slotted on the walls, point towards a kinda of tragic yet ironically cool style. Things are also quite big at Woodland – the bar is big, the dance floor is big, the benches are big (though the bathrooms are rather small). I'm going to go ahead and compare it to those Lonestar restaurants but instead of steak and cowboy hats there's beer on tap and Indie music.

When Woodland opened last year it was a much welcomed addition to Brisbane's live music scene. Sometimes the venue plays host to local bands, while other nights national tours and international acts will be on stage. Its a pretty mixed bag and cover-charge changes accordingly, although it's usually free before 10pm and $5 after midnight. Once the bands are finished there is a DJ to keep things going and a pool table to make things interesting. Getting to Woodland is a little tricky (head down the alley way beside Alhambrah Lounge and up the stairs) staying there until the wee hours is less so.