New York City · Venue

Dingbatz

A 200-capacity, general-admission rock club in Clifton, New Jersey, where touring heavy acts and local bills share a compact stage-and-bar room.

Upcoming shows
34
Capacity
200
Address
620 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton, NJ 07013
Next show
Fri, 9 Oct 2026
Dingbatz in New York City

About Dingbatz

Dingbatz is a 200-capacity, general-admission club in Clifton, New Jersey, built for a close-range rock show: a full-service bar faces a 20-foot-wide, 10-foot-deep stage. Heavy music supplies the center of gravity, yet the calendar also makes room for punk, tribute acts, alternative nights and hip-hop bills. The payoff for concertgoers is scale: touring artists and local openers perform in the same compact room, with little distance between the crowd and the stage.

A bar room with a complicated record

Dingbatz opened on May 22, 2004 as a bar-and-music club connected to Dingo’s Den, its sister business across Van Houten Avenue. By 2009, Fred Barnes owned both Clifton establishments; in a 2018 Kerrang! feature, Barnes described Dingbatz as a stop for bands on their way up, citing a bill with Kyng, Pop Evil and Egypt Central whose members later headlined the much larger Starland Ballroom. The club’s history also includes a serious October 2018 rupture. Vengeance Fest III proceeded with three bands linked in reports to white-supremacist scenes after a venue post had said they had been removed, prompting boycott calls and public criticism of Barnes and the promoter. That episode remains material context for anyone weighing where to spend a show night.

The room now

Today’s official listings show an open, promoter-friendly calendar: Gutter Christ death-metal bills, touring hard-rock and metal names, punk shows, classic-rock tributes, alternative dance nights, youth-school showcases and occasional rap events all appear. Booking inquiries run through the venue directly, while individual bills range from all-ages events with drinking restricted to patrons 21 and older to late-night club presentations. Expect a standing general-admission setup, a bar area, and the compact 20-by-10-foot stage that keeps sightlines and performer proximity central to the experience.

Sources

  1. Dingbatz – Concert Venue — Dingbatz
  2. Dingbatz Concert Tickets & Events Schedule 2026-2027 — JamBase
  3. Featured Venue: Dingbatz, Clifton NJ — New Jersey Concert Connection
  4. Where to Go Out in Northern New Jersey Based on Your Preferences — The Montclair Girl
  5. Dingbatz | Live Events in Clifton, NJ — TicketSmarter
  6. States Of Metal: New Jersey Is A Blue-Collar Breeding Ground For Heavy Metal Innovation — Kerrang!
  7. Dingbatz defends decision to let racist bands perform as some call for boycott — NJArts.net
  8. Contact — Dingbatz

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