What Is It Like to See a Concert at The Button Factory?
A 30-year Temple Bar survivor that has dodged closure more than once, this is a flat, sweaty, one-room club where your night comes down to whether you claim one of the 50 upstairs seats or hold the floor.
What to Know Before You Go
- 1Check which room your ticket is actually for.
The operator runs three spaces: the 550-capacity Main Room, the 80 to 150-capacity Curveball, and the CentrePoint club nights. A "Curveball" ticket is a much smaller room than the headline number, so read the ticket before you plan the night.
- 2It is standing, with only 50 seats upstairs.
The Main Room is a flat general-admission floor. The single balcony holds 50 unreserved seats given out first come, first served, plus a bar. There is no way to reserve one.
- 3Get there early if you want to sit or actually see.
Those 50 balcony seats are the only seats in the building and they are not replaced once taken, so arriving early is the whole strategy for a seat or a clean sightline.
- 4Bring a physical hologram ID and expect the over-18 rule to bite.
Almost every show is strictly over-18s unless stated otherwise, minors with an adult are refused, and the door needs a valid physical ID with a pass hologram. A photo of your ID on your phone is not accepted, and there is no refund if you are turned away.
- 5Take the tram, not the car.
The nearest Luas is the Trinity stop on the Green Line, roughly a 550 metre walk. There is no on-site parking on the pedestrian lane, so the tram or a walk beats driving into Temple Bar.
- 6Travel light because of the cloakroom queue.
The cloakroom only opens from 7pm and takes bags and coats (no large suitcases). The catch is on the way out, not the way in (see [Getting There](#getting-there)).
- 7The sound is a strength, but there is a hard volume ceiling.
Fans rate the room's sound highly for its size, helped by dedicated balcony speakers, but the PA runs a fixed 112 decibel limiter that cannot be bypassed, so heavy and bass-driven acts physically cannot get as loud as they might elsewhere.
- 8Dress for a room that starts cold.
It can feel chilly early before the floor fills and warms up, so a light layer you can hold is smarter than a big coat you have to check.
- 9Crowbar is the pre-show pint.
The venue's own bar, Crowbar, is the spot for a craft beer or whiskey before doors rather than fighting the inside bars early.
- 10Sold out means sold out.
There are no door tickets for a sold-out show, though a waitlist or last-minute releases sometimes appear, so watch the venue's socials rather than turning up hopeful.
At a Glance
- Capacity
- 550 (Main Room); Curveball 80 to 150
- Venue Type
- Club (live music venue)
- Year Opened
- 1996 (as Temple Bar Music Centre)
- Seating
- Standing floor plus 50 first-come balcony seats
- Climate
- Indoor; cold early, warms once the floor fills
- Parking
- No on-site; Park Rite on Fleet Street nearest
- Transit
- Luas Green Line, Trinity stop (550m walk)
What It's Actually Like
It Is Really Three Rooms Under One Name
The first thing that shapes your night is that "Button Factory" is an operator with three spaces, not one room. The Main Room is the 550-capacity black-box venue most people mean. Curveball is a separate 80 to 150-capacity room for smaller gigs, listening parties and after-shows, sold as its own ticket. CentrePoint is the late club-night space. A headliner in the Main Room and a Curveball show are physically different experiences, so "I've been to the Button Factory before" tells you less than the room name on your ticket does.
A Flat Floor and a Low Stage
The Main Room is a compact black box: an 81 square metre standing floor in front of a stage that sits under a metre high. Up close that low stage reads as intimate, and one reviewer called the room's sound "great" with an "awesome vibe." The trade is the same as any flat-floor club. The stage sits only about a metre high and the floor is flat, so from the back of a sold-out crowd shorter fans lose the band behind heads. If you want the low-stage intimacy, you have to be down the front for it.
“Standing, but upstairs (there is a sort of balcony) are also some seats.”
The Balcony Is the Only Way to Sit or See Over the Crowd
Upstairs is a single balcony overlooking the floor, and it is the pressure valve for the low stage below. It holds exactly 50 unreserved seats handed out first come, first served, with a bar of its own, and it has dedicated L-Acoustics delay speakers so the sound holds up rather than washing out at the back. For anyone shorter, anyone who wants to sit, or anyone who wants a clean line to the stage, this is the move, and the only cost is arriving early enough to claim one of the 50.
Loud, But Never Punishing
Fans consistently rate the Main Room's sound as a real strength for a club this size, and the room is small and shallow enough that sound does not get lost in a cavern. The catch that heavier acts notice is the PA's fixed 112 decibel limiter, which the venue says cannot be bypassed. For metal, noise-rock and bass-heavy electronic sets, that means the room physically cannot reach the SPL you would feel at a less-restricted Dublin space, so it is loud but never punishing.
It Runs Cold, Then Warms Up
This is an old building and it shows in the temperature. Fans mention the room runs cold early in the night before the floor fills, and that the stage lighting can feel harsh. Once a sold-out floor is packed in, it warms up like any small club and the cold stops being the story. The read is simple: a layer you can hold beats a heavy coat you feel obliged to check.
Friendly, Dated, and Loved For It
The door culture is relaxed on everything except age and ID, and most reviews call the staff friendly, with only a minority grumbling that the bar could be cheerier. The facilities read as dated: acts reportedly love the room for its intimacy, while punters note it "could do with some investment." None of that has dented its standing, and it was named IMRO's Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year in 2025.
Section-by-Section Guide
The Button Factory does not have tiers or a bowl. It has one flat floor, one small balcony, and a couple of separately ticketed rooms. So the useful breakdown is floor versus balcony in the Main Room, plus what to expect if your ticket is for Curveball or a club night. Check the room name on your ticket first, then use this.
Main Room, Standing Floor
The default Button Factory gig is this: an 81 square metre general-admission standing floor in front of a low stage, holding the bulk of the 550 capacity. Because the room is compact and shallow, even mid-floor you are genuinely close, and there are no pillars breaking up the space the way there are in some older Dublin basements. The catch is the flat floor and low stage combination. Down the front, center, is the best spot for the low-stage intimacy and the energy, and it is where you want to be if seeing the band matters more than comfort. Toward the back of a sold-out show, a taller crowd will block a shorter person, and there is no rake to save you. If you are not tall and you are committed to the floor, push in early and claim your ground before it fills. There is no separate pit or barrier ticket, so the front is simply whoever got there first and stayed, and once a sold-out floor compresses toward the stage there is little room to move up. For a heavy or loud act, note that the room's fixed volume ceiling means the floor never gets physically overwhelming the way a bigger room can, which some fans of that intensity miss and others are grateful for.
Main Room, Balcony (50 first-come seats)
The upstairs balcony is the single most useful thing to know about this venue, because it is the only seating in the building and the only raised sightline. It holds 50 unreserved seats on a first-come, first-served basis, plus its own bar, and no amount of paying more will reserve you one. The view down to the stage is clean and high, and crucially the balcony has its own dedicated delay speakers, so unlike a lot of small-club balconies fed only by the main PA, the sound up here does not turn to mush. This is the comfort-and-clarity play: get in early, go straight upstairs, and you swap the crush and the head-height problem for a seat and a clear line. Miss the 50 and you are on the floor for the night.
Curveball (separate 80 to 150-capacity room)
If your ticket says Curveball, reset your expectations entirely. This is a separate, much smaller room the operator uses for intimate gigs, listening parties, album launches, live podcasts and after-parties, with a capacity between 80 and 150. It is not a scaled-down Main Room with the same sightlines; it is a different, tighter space sold under its own name. The upside is proximity you cannot get in the Main Room. The thing to avoid is turning up expecting the 550-capacity headline experience.
CentrePoint and Club Nights
CentrePoint is the venue's dedicated late club-night space, relaunched in 2021 as nightlife came back. If your night is a DJ or a club event rather than a touring band, this is club-format programming, so think dancefloor rather than sightlines to a stage. As with everything here, the ticket tells you which space you are in.
Accessibility Seating
Access is genuinely decent for a building this old, but it is floor-level only. The main entrance is wheelchair accessible with ramps leading from the foyer to the main room in front of the stage, and there are accessible toilets on site with staff on hand to help. The upstairs balcony, where the 50 seats live, is up a flight and is not step-free, and the general toilets are downstairs. The venue asks accessibility patrons to email ahead with their name and show, and that is worth doing for any specific gig so they can meet you at the ramped entrance.
Going to a Show?
Heading to The Button Factory? Add the show to Concerts Remembered before you go and it's on your phone whether or not you have signal inside. Afterward you'll have the setlist, your seat, and what you thought of it.
The Button Factory · what fans report
The Button Factory has no problems unusual for a club
Measured against 27 clubs we have documented. Every fault below is carried by most clubs, so none of them single this room out.
Normal for a club
- Runs hot, or leaves you exposed52% of clubs
Fans mention the room runs cold early in the night before the floor fills, and that the stage lighting can feel harsh.
- Sightlines go when it fills67% of clubs
The stage sits only about a metre high and the floor is flat, so from the back of a sold-out crowd shorter fans lose the band behind heads.
Documented here, not yet measured across clubs
- Getting out is punishingnot yet measured
The post-gig cloakroom queue can stretch back to the front doors, so a checked coat can cost you twenty minutes on the way out.
Concerts Remembered Venue Index · 27 clubs tagged against a closed seven-category taxonomy · every row cites this guide · reviewed August 2026
Getting There
Driving and Parking
There is no on-site parking. The venue sits on Curved Street, a pedestrian lane in the middle of Temple Bar, so driving to the door is not an option. The nearest car park, per the venue's own staff, is Park Rite on Fleet Street, a short walk away, and Temple Bar car parks run at city-centre rates. One fan mentions parking free near the Vicar Street venue and walking over, but treat that as a one-off rather than a plan. For most people, driving into Temple Bar for a gig is the hard way in.
Transit
The nearest tram is the Trinity stop on the Luas Green Line, roughly a 550 metre walk across Dame Street, which puts the whole Green Line and the city centre within easy reach. The Red Line's Jervis and Abbey Street stops are a similar short walk across the Liffey to the north. City-centre buses stop within a few minutes on Dame Street and the quays. Because it is dead center in Temple Bar, plenty of fans simply walk in from elsewhere in the Dublin city centre and tie the gig to food and drinks nearby.
Rideshare and Taxis
Curved Street itself is a narrow pedestrian lane, so pickups and drop-offs happen on the wider surrounding streets, the quays, Dame Street, or Fleet Street, rather than at the door. Dublin runs on licensed taxis rather than US-style rideshare, with ranks on the surrounding quays and Dame Street and the FreeNow app as the usual way to hail one.
Getting Out
The one departure trap here is the cloakroom, not the roads. The post-gig cloakroom queue can stretch back to the front doors, so a checked coat can cost you twenty minutes on the way out. The fix is simple: travel light enough that you can walk straight out with the crowd. Because you are in the middle of the city's transport core, the Luas, buses and taxi ranks are all a few minutes away once you are outside.
Food, Drink, and Merch
This is a gig room in the middle of Temple Bar, not a food destination, and there is no notable food program or venue-exclusive item worth planning around. Eat before you come; the restaurants are right outside the door.
On the drink side, there are bars on the floor and the balcony, plus Crowbar, the venue's own public bar, which fans rate for its craft beers, whiskeys and gins and which makes the sensible pre-show pint stop. Pricing is central-Dublin level, so budget for Temple Bar rather than a bargain. If you lose something, the lost and found is handled at Crowbar, which is open from 4pm daily.
Merch is act-specific and lives with the tour rather than the venue; in a room this compact expect a single merch point rather than spread-out stands.
Venue History
The building opened in 1996 as the Temple Bar Music Centre, created as a cultural home for Irish music as the Temple Bar district was being redeveloped. In 2007 a major refurbishment by The Design Farm added a new PA and the venue was renamed the Button Factory, a nod to the building's original life as a button-making factory. It has been independently run since day one.
Survival is a real part of this room's story. In February 2011 the operating company went into examinership, its debts driven by rents, rates and a licensing fee that reportedly jumped from 500 euro to 500,000 euro a year. In January 2020 the owners applied to subdivide the main auditorium, warning the venue could close if it could not adapt. It came through both, which is not something every room of its era managed, and the wider pattern of why places like it disappear is worth understanding in our look at why music venues really close.
The stage has carried a deep run of names across three decades, from Dublin's own Fontaines DC and Sprints to Kings of Leon, Aphex Twin, MF DOOM, SOPHIE, Van Morrison, Julia Jacklin, Deafheaven and PinkPantheress. The operator now runs three spaces (the Button Factory Main Room, CentrePoint and Curveball), fills the mid-size gap in the city below rooms like The Academy, and was named IMRO's Dublin Live Music Venue of the Year in 2025.
Frequently Asked Questions
It is mainly a standing venue. The Main Room is a flat general-admission floor, and the only seats in the building are 50 unreserved spots on the upstairs balcony, given out first come, first served. If you want to sit, arrive early and go straight up, because those 50 seats are not replaced once they are taken.
Arrive early if you want one of the 50 balcony seats or a clear view, because both come down to beating the crowd upstairs or to the barrier. For a spot on the flat floor with any hope of seeing over people, the front fills first. There is no single doors time across shows, so check the promoter's socials for stage times.
Age and ID are the strict ones. Almost every show is over-18s only unless stated otherwise, minors accompanied by an adult are refused, and the door requires a valid physical ID with a pass hologram rather than a photo of it. There is no refund if you are turned away, so sort your ID before you buy.
Crowbar, the venue's own public bar, is the spot for a craft beer or whiskey before doors rather than fighting the inside bars early. Pricing is central-Dublin level, so budget for Temple Bar rather than a bargain, and if you lose something on the night the lost and found is handled at Crowbar too.
For energy and the low-stage intimacy, the front and center of the standing floor. For a clean, raised view or a seat, the upstairs balcony, if you get there early enough to grab one of its 50 first-come seats. The balcony also has its own delay speakers, so the sound up there holds up rather than washing out.
Fans rate it highly for a room this size, and the balcony has dedicated speakers so it does not go muddy up top. The one thing to know is the PA runs a fixed 112 decibel limiter that cannot be bypassed, so heavy and bass-driven acts stay loud but never reach the punishing volume they might at a less-restricted room.
Reasonably, at floor level. The main entrance is wheelchair accessible with ramps from the foyer to the floor in front of the stage, and there are accessible toilets with staff to help. The upstairs balcony is not step-free and the general toilets are downstairs, so email the venue ahead with your name and show to arrange the specifics for your gig.
The 550-capacity Main Room is what most people mean by a Button Factory gig. Curveball is a separate, much smaller room (80 to 150) for intimate shows and after-parties, and CentrePoint is the club-night space. All three sell under the same banner, so always confirm the room on your ticket before you plan the night.
The Button Factory Links
Already Seen a Show Here?
Been to The Button Factory? Add it to your concert history in the Concerts Remembered app. Which section were you in, and was it worth it?
This guide is based on fan reports, public records, and community discussion. Claims we can’t source are left out rather than estimated, and the charts render only where the sample is large enough to trust. It is not sponsored by or affiliated with The Button Factory.
Cite this guide
Concerts Remembered, "The Button Factory," concertsremembered.app/venues/button-factory, updated August 2026.