The Zanzibar is a long-running 300-capacity live-music club on Seel Street in Liverpool's bohemian Ropewalks district, well known and respected for giving unsigned and undiscovered talent a platform. A pivotal grassroots room for the North West, it pairs proper production facilities and an in-house engineer with full backline, hosting rock, indie, alternative and punk bands - both originals and touring acts - across a busy gig calendar (live listings on Skiddle and Stereoboard for 2026). One of the city's key developing-artist venues.
City Centre · Every Tuesday · Free
The Zanzibar Open Mic
Liverpool's Tuesday-night free open mic at 43 Seel Street, L1 4AZ — long-running music venue, full backline, in-house engineer, 12-minute slots.
Open mic at a glance The Zanzibar · Liverpool
Tuesday
Open mic night
Apr 2026
Listed since
03 Jun
Last verified
Free
Entry
12 min
Slot length
Closed
Listing status
Run a Liverpool open mic? List it free — verified within 48 hours
Last updated: 3 June 2026
The Zanzibar Open Mic — Quick Facts
Liverpool's Tuesday-night free open mic at 43 Seel Street, L1 4AZ — long-running music venue, full backline, in-house engineer, 12-minute slots.
We’ve marked this as closedSeen it running recently?Checked · 10 seconds, no signup
The Details
Everything you need before you turn up
DayTuesday
Start20:00
Sign-up19:30 walk-in
Slot length12 min
EntryFree · 18+
Capacityc. 200 standing
Performer typesMusic
Sound engineerIn-house, included
View on map
Where
The Zanzibar43 Seel Street
City Centre
Liverpool L1 4AZ
City Centre, Liverpool — check venue website for parking and nearest station.
Highlights
Free entry for all
Full backline on stage
In-house sound engineer
Walk-in sign-up
Music welcome
How do you rate this open mic?One tap, no sign-up required.
Spotted something wrong with this listing?Closed, moved night, different start time? Let us know and we'll re-verify within 48 hours.
What’s on in Liverpool this week — or see what’s on across the UK.
About The Zanzibar
About This Open Mic
Every Tuesday in City Centre, Liverpool
Kicks off at 20:00, sign-up from 19:30
Free entry for performers and audience
12-minute slots
Full backline on stage
Part of the Liverpool open mic directory
The Night
The Zanzibar was a 300-capacity grassroots live music venue on Seel Street, a respected platform for unsigned North West talent from 2002. It closed in November 2025 — its 'Last Dance' final night marked the end — and the building is being converted into an Irish pub, McNasty's. Any open mic that ran here has ended with the venue's closure.
Getting there
43 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4AZ (now closed).
What's on stage — equipment and backline at this venue, verified regularly.
PA + monitors
Drum kit
Guitar amp
Bass amp
Keys / keyboard
3 vocal mics
In-house engineer
The Night at a Glance
How The Zanzibar’s Tuesday night runs.
19:30Sign-up
20:00Kick-off
23:00Last songs
Every Tuesday 12-min slots Free entry
Find The Zanzibar
43 Seel Street, City Centre, Liverpool L1 4AZ
Planning Your Tuesday Night
Arrive by 19:30 to sign up for a slot. Entry is free and the open mic typically runs until 23:00. Full backline is provided — just bring your instrument and pedals.
Part of the Liverpool live music scene.
What should you charge for paid gigs?Most open mic musicians are ready for paid work sooner than they think. Check live UK rates by role, city, and venue size.
Try the Rate CalculatorCommon Questions
Seven things people ask before turning up at Liverpool's The Zanzibar open mic.
Walk-in sign-up only, opens at 19:30. Arrive early — slots fill on the night. See other Liverpool open mic nights for alternatives.
Full backline: drum kit, guitar amp, bass amp, vocal mics, plus an in-house sound engineer. Bring your own instrument and pedals.
12 minutes per act — typically 3 songs solo.
Yes — free entry for performers and audience. Most Liverpool mics are free; browse the list.
Yes — full bands welcome and the backline is set up for it.
43 Seel Street, City Centre, Liverpool L1 4AZ.
Mostly fellow musicians, friends and Liverpool regulars across the Liverpool open mic scene. Liverpool open mic crowds tend to listen attentively.
Keep up with Liverpool
One email a week with live music near you. Free, and it keeps grassroots rooms full.
Help keep grassroots venues open in Liverpool
—A UK venue stops hosting live music every 5 days — and turning up is what keeps a room open. Get a free weekly email of gigs in Liverpool. Unsubscribe any time. Privacy.
See what’s on in Liverpool over the next four weeks →
Booking or playing in Liverpool? The GX Index publishes what UK gigs actually pay, by city, band size and venue type, and the GX Index reports set out the methodology and the sample behind every figure. Both are free to read and free to cite.
Keep exploring: the UK gig directory for what's coming up, the venue directory for rooms that book live music, the open mic finder for recurring stage time, and what's on across the UK this week. The blog covers pricing, contracts and getting booked, and about GigXchange explains who runs it and why. Something not right on this page? Tell us — or start on the home page.
Run an open mic in Liverpool?
Add yours to the directory free. 2-minute submission, verified within 48 hours. Reach 1,000+ Liverpool musicians.
Looking for paid gigs, not open mics?