Hard Club

Hard Club is a concert venue at Praça do Infante D.Henrique in Porto, Portugal. It began in Cais de Gaia in 1997 as a rock venue with room for about 1,000 people; Dubwar played its first concert. The original site closed in 2006 after hosting roughly 1,300 shows. Regular hip-hop nights there featured Mind Da Gap, Dealema, Bezegol and Capicua.

In 2008, Hard Club’s partners secured the concession to run Mercado Ferreira Borges, a market building dating from 1888. The venue reopened there in September 2010, following nine years of cultural activity in Vila Nova de Gaia. Its redevelopment project won first place in Portugal’s National Creative Industries Prize in 2009.

The current venue has two performance rooms: Room 1 holds 1,000 standing and has a 57-square-metre stage, while Room 2 holds 350 and includes a bar, technical equipment and soundproofing. Other facilities include a studio, rehearsal room, auditorium, main floor and terrace. The 572-square-metre main floor accommodates exhibitions, installations, fairs and small markets; the programme also includes theatre and cinema alongside concerts.

Concerts span a range of styles, and the building has hosted techno events. Nerve Attack and Konnect have run events at Hard Club, where drum and bass artists Magnetude and Simula have played.