‘Hundreds will come out on a weeknight in Canberra’: is the Baso Australia’s best music venue?

‘On a night when we have three or four bands on, they’ll bring all their friends, all their communities,’ says the Baso’s owner, Mik Bergensen, pictured here with his wife, Nicole. Photograph: Teagan Glenane/Guardian Australia

Tucked away in a sleepy suburb of Canberra, opposite an Officeworks and behind a pet shop, is a nondescript, boxy building. But walk through its doors and you’ll find yourself in the Baso, one of Canberra’s most beloved music venues and host of some of the capital’s wildest nights, when rock and metal legends such as US star Phil Anselmo, Ukrainian band Jinjer and Australian group Wolfmother have taken to the stage. Although the Baso has long been a place of pilgrimage for metalheads, it now hosts gigs of all genres and attracts music lovers of all stripes – and across cultures.

“Canberra has a big Nepalese community and they love rock and roll,” says co-owner Mik Bergersen, who bought the venue in 2021 with his wife, Nicole. “Sabin Rai and the Pharaoh - he’s described as the Bryan Adams of Nepal, and every single person in the crowd was singing along.