Israel's Legendary Nightclubs
Five clubs that shaped Israeli nightlife, from Beer Sheva to Tel Aviv, from live rock to trance. These are the stories behind the names.
Forum Beer Sheva
The oldest of them all. Forum opened on November 14, 1988, founded by brothers Yossi and Roy Schwartz. Over the years it was rebuilt with an investment of tens of millions and became one of the most lavishly equipped nightlife venues in Israel, a mythological brand that draws clubbers who travel an hour or more to reach it.
Forum grew into the "Forum Group," spanning restaurants, event production, festivals and more. It remains active today.
Roxanne
Roxanne operated in Tel Aviv from 1989 to 1994, in a long, narrow industrial space at 10 HaBarzel Street in Ramat HaHayal. Its official opening night, in August 1989, featured Sivan Shavit, HaHaverim Shel Natasha and Rami Fortis.
Alongside established artists, Roxanne gave a first stage to a whole generation of young Israeli rock bands. Its Tuesday "Death to Techno" nights championed heavy rock and helped push the genre in Israel. The club closed in November 1994.
Allenby 58
In 1994 the old Allenby cinema building was converted into the Allenby 58 nightclub by Uri Stark, Rel Nadel and Nitzan Lev Tzur. Its Thursday trance and house nights made it the leading club on the Tel Aviv scene of the 1990s, drawing top international DJs.
Ministry of Sound magazine crowned it one of the twenty best clubs in the world. From 1996 it ran early-morning after-parties, and it released three "Cinema Allenby 58" compilation albums. The club closed in June 2000, and its founders went on to open the TLV club at the Tel Aviv Port.
HaOman 17
Unlike the others, HaOman 17's roots are in Jerusalem. It opened in the 1990s in the Talpiot industrial zone, on HaOman Street, playing trance and electronic music. The club set international standards of sound, lighting and design, with strict door selection.
It became famous above all for its dawn after-parties, which drew convoys of clubbers from Tel Aviv. A Jerusalem-only club until 1998, between 1998 and 2000 it became a nationwide phenomenon known across the country, and it later opened a Tel Aviv branch.
Barby
Tel Aviv's temple of live rock. Barby was founded in 1994 by the couple Shaul and Ariela Mizrahi, and named after the pub in the film "Life According to Agfa." It is considered one of the largest and best-known rock venues in Israel.
Early on it gave a stage to emerging artists, later becoming home to leading Israeli rock acts, and it launched the "Barby Records" label. Over the years it has hosted many international artists, and in early 2024 it moved to the Jaffa Port. It remains active today.