Entry No. 41 — the Memphis file — filed under: bar
B-Side
B-Side is a 200-capacity bar tucked into the Minglewood Plaza strip at 1553 Madison, and its entire pitch is three words on its own homepage: local live music every night. Every set gets pushed to the venue's YouTube channel, so a Tuesday in a half-full room is also a broadcast — which is either charming or slightly unnerving depending on where you sit. The bar is full-service with local beer on tap and a happy hour, and the booking skews toward Memphis bands you won't find on a national routing sheet: Fruited Planes and The Sheaves with Chris Burns And His Going Concerns is what's on for Sept 26. Songkick has 74 shows logged here, which for a bar this size means the calendar is doing real work.
→ Three more underground music & performance in Memphis — never the same twice
The story
B-Side occupies Unit 101 of the plaza at 1553 Madison — the venue's own listings call it MW Plaza — and it is a strip-plaza door with lot parking out front rather than a marquee. Songkick puts the capacity at 200. The homepage pitch is four words, "Local Live Music Every Night," under which sit two more promises, "Full Bar & Local Beer" and a happy hour. That is very close to the entirety of what the site tells you: no hours, no cover amounts, and an events page still headlined "2025 Live Music."
The interesting part is the camera. Sets go up on the venue's own YouTube channel, @BSideMemphis, whose description reads in full: "Showcases live local music from Memphis." The archive there runs to roughly 1,200 videos against about 2,090 subscribers, and these are not clips — a Steve Selvidge set from January 2025 runs 31 minutes, a Knifes set from August 2023 runs 49, a Devil Train set from 2021 runs 58. View counts sit in the low hundreds. The room is therefore documenting Memphis local music considerably faster than anyone is watching it, which is a strange and slightly noble thing for a bar to be doing with its Tuesdays.
Seventy-four past concerts are logged at the venue and the booking stays resolutely local: Fruited Planes and The Sheaves with Chris Burns And His Going Concerns is what's on for Sept 26, and the names behind that — Matthew Carlson, Magnum Dopus, CORPSE DUST — are ones that never appear on a national routing sheet. The building it sits in is the old Minglewood complex, but don't go looking for minglewoodhall.com; that domain now points somewhere unrelated. Facebook and Instagram are the working calendar.
What it's like
You come in off a strip-plaza frontage on Madison, park in the lot, and find Unit 101. Inside it is a bar first — full service, local drafts, stools — in a room rated for 200 that on a weeknight will hold a fraction of that, which is the correct number of people for watching a band you've never heard of. Load-in happens around you while you drink. There is a camera running at the back, so a half-full Tuesday is simultaneously a broadcast; if you'd rather not be in frame, work out where it's pointed before you settle. Cover, when there is one, is small and taken at the door, so bring cash. Full bar means assume 21+ unless a listing says otherwise, and assume nothing at all about start times until you've read that night's post.
The move: Turn up on a weeknight around happy hour, take stools at the bar with the local draft list, and stay for whichever local band loads in — then watch the same set back on youtube.com/BSIDEMEMPHIS the next morning to see whether you're in frame.
📍 Before you go The venue's website is thin — it lists no hours, no cover amounts, and its own copy still says '2025 Live Music,' so check the B-Side Facebook or Instagram for tonight's lineup and start time rather than trusting the site. Don't go looking for minglewoodhall.com; that domain now redirects to an unrelated squatted site. It's a strip-plaza entrance off Madison, Unit 101, with lot parking. Full bar, so assume 21+ unless a listing says otherwise.
- 📍 Memphis
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1553 Madison Ave, Unit 101 (Minglewood Plaza), Memphis, TN 38104
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Murphy's — 1589 Madison — the next block over, and a bar whose booking is also a coin flip, so between the two of them Madison Avenue will produce a band on almost any given night.
- Shangri-La Records — Three blocks east at 1916 Madison and closed at 6 p.m., which makes it the natural first stop on a single walk down one street before doors.
- Growlers — A mile north at 1911 Poplar with 22 shows already on the calendar and ten-dollar local bills — the fallback when B-Side's socials have gone quiet.
More weird in Memphis
Good to know
How do I find out who's playing tonight?
Not from the website — it lists no hours, no cover, and its own events copy still says "2025 Live Music." Check the B-Side Facebook page (facebook.com/BsideMemphis1) or Instagram for the lineup and start time. Songkick carries the bigger bills but not the weeknight ones.
What does it cost to get in?
Cover isn't published anywhere and varies by bill; on a lot of local nights there isn't one. The reliable spend is the bar — full service with local beer on tap and a happy hour. Bring cash for the door.
Am I going to end up on video?
Possibly. Sets are recorded and posted full-length to youtube.com/@BSideMemphis, which has around 1,200 videos up. Nobody asks you to sign anything; if you care, stand where the camera isn't.
Where is it and where do I park?
1553 Madison Ave, Unit 101, inside Minglewood Plaza in Midtown — lot parking on site. Note that minglewoodhall.com no longer belongs to the complex, so navigate to bsidememphis.com or the street address instead.
Is it 21+?
It runs as a full bar, so plan for 21+ unless a specific listing says all ages. Bring ID regardless.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · songkick.com
last checked: 2026-08-26