Live Music entertainment in North America
-
A
Beat Kitchen
Everything you need to know is in the name – entertaining beats traverse a spectrum of sounds, and the kitchen turns out better-than-average dinners. Dine early in the front of the house, since service is unhurried. Music in the homely back room can be funky or jammy, but a crop of Chicago’s smart, broadly appealing songwriters dominates the calendar.
reviewed
-
B
Carnegie Hall
One of the world's most celebrated music halls, Carnegie's not the biggest, nor the grandest, but definitely one of the most acoustically blessed venues you'll find. Its soaring space still leaves you feeling intimately acquainted with the performers, who can range from jazz greats to opera stars to folk singers like Cesaria Evora.
reviewed
-
C
Empty Bottle
Chicago’s music insiders fawn over the Empty Bottle, the city’s scruffy, go-to club for edgy indie rock, jazz and other beats. Monday’s show is always free, and is usually by a couple of up-and-coming bands. You won’t even have to spend much on booze – cans of Pabst are $1.50. Plus there’s a cool photo booth in back.
reviewed
-
D
Muddy Waters
A yard sale's mix of cosy furniture? Check. Pool table? Check. Internet access? Check. Live music on the weekends and a kick-ass backyard patio? You got it. Seems Muddy Waters has everything required for the quintessential indie coffeehouse. And the coffee's darn good too. Great place to escape the State St hordes.
reviewed
-
E
Zaphod Beeblebrox
‘Zaphod Beeblebrox’ means ‘kick-ass live music venue’ in an otherwise undecipherable alien tongue. Grab a Gargleblaster cocktail, and let the trippy beats (from New Age to thumping African rhythms) take you on a ride to the edge of the universe.
reviewed
-
F
Cafe Van Kleef
Every square inch of wall space is covered with knickknacks and garage-sale leftovers at this Oakland staple, which has live music on weekends, lip-smacking freshly squeezed Greyhounds (gin and grapefruit) and a party-down crowd.
reviewed
-
G
Nye's Polonaise Room
The World's Most Dangerous Polka Band lets loose Thursday through Saturday. It's smashing fun, and enhanced if you find yourself an old-timer to twirl you around the room.
reviewed
-
Ibt's
The daddy of Tucson's gay bars. Every night has a different theme, from karaoke to dance to barbecue.
reviewed
-
H
First Avenue & 7th St Entry
This is the bedrock of Minneapolis' music scene, and it still pulls in top bands and big crowds.
reviewed
-
I
Ogden Theatre
One of Denver's best live-music venues, the Ogden Theatre has a checkered past. Built in 1917, it was derelict for many years and might have been dozed in the early 1990s, but it's now listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Bands such as Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros and Lady Gaga have played here.
Harry Houdini performed here in 1919 and it appeared in the movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Jack Nicholson drove his Winnebago past the Ogden pulling into Denver in About Schmidt. If the house is packed, make for the upstairs level, where the catwalk extends on the wings and you'll have a beautiful bird's eye view and plenty of room to move.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
J
Plaza Fiesta Mall
What La Revo is to gringos, Plaza Fiesta mall is to locals. The dozen or so bars and restaurants here are great places to knock back a few tequilas and hear the local rock and DJ talent thrash (or spin) it out. It's unique because you can take your pick simply by walking door to door.
The bars include Sambuca (a Brazilian-themed place), Monte Picacho (live rock en español - Spanish-language rock - Sunday through Thursday, DJs Friday and Saturday), Callejón del Ambiente (great for '80s music and the diverse crowd), Bar Sótano Suizo, El Bunker, Indestruckt (for the industrial and garage scene) and Pancho Villas ('tequila, tacos & rock-n-roll!').
reviewed
-
K
Town Hall
A nonprofit entertainment organization founded in 1921 and housed in an elegant National Landmark building, Town Hall’s 2000-plus seats get filled with folks seeking eclectic musical performances. Artists are all over the map, with recent nights offering an Iranian vocalist, a Cole Porter tribute, Emmylou Harris, KT Tunstall and Judy Collins.
reviewed
-
L
Madison Square Garden
The city’s major performance venue – part of the massive complex housing Penn Station and the smaller WaMu Theater – is where you’ll find all the big-arena performers, from Kanye West and Kid Rock to Jimmy Buffett and Madonna. (The aesthetics are nil here, but it’s not about design.) It’s also a sports arena, and the place to catch games of the New York Knicks, New York Liberty, New York Rangers and boxing matches – not to mention events from the World’s Strongest Man Super Series and the annual Westminster Kennel Club dog competition.
reviewed
-
M
Johnny D’s
While you may or may not be impressed by easy-listening adult contemporary bands, whoever books at Johnny D’s mixes up the sound with klezmer fiddlers, funk covers and notable bluegrass acts like King Wilkie. Don’t feel like paying the cover? Head to the pink Formica bar where the farsighted can still see the stage. Besides being easy on the ears, Johnny D’s is doing its part for the earth, as one of several Davis Sq businesses participating in a program to reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions. Its menu also features beef and dairy products that are free of hormones and antibiotics. Best of all, the cows roam free.
reviewed
-
Apple Jack's Inn
Inland of Pescadero, large stretches of the hills are protected in a patchwork of parks that, just like the coast, remain remarkably untouched despite the huge urban populations only a short drive to the north and east. Heading east toward Palo Alto, Hwy 84 winds through thick stands of redwood trees. Along the way is the tiny township of La Honda, 9 miles east of San Gregorio State Beach, and several local parks with hiking and mountain-biking opportunities. La Honda's Apple Jack's Inn, housed in an old blacksmith's shop, is a rustic, down-home bar offering live music on weekends and lots of local color.
reviewed
-
N
Balcony Music Club
Balcony is all about the acts; if there’s a dud band playing you can pass it up, but on good nights it forms a very convenient crux in the French Quarter–Faubourg Marigny Decatur St stumble o’ fun. The 1920s flapper nights, held on a semi-regular basis, are the best; if you’ve ever seen the 1996 movie Swingers, it’s kind of exactly like the scene in the Brown Derby. If that cultural reference soared past, imagine walking into a speakeasy circa the Al Capone days and you’ve got an idea of what’s going on.
reviewed
-
O
9:30 Club
The 9:30, which can pack 1200 people into a surprisingly intimate venue, is the granddaddy of the live-music scene in DC. Pretty much every big name that comes through town ends up on this stage, and a concert here is the first-gig memory of many a DC-area teenager. The calendar is packed with a random assortment of big names – Justin Timberlake, The Violent Femmes, George Clinton, Wolfmother and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to name a few. Concerts usually include around three acts, with the headlining band taking the stage between 10:30pm and 11:30pm.
reviewed
-
P
Bell House
In the up-and-coming (but still mostly barren) neighborhood of Gowanus, the Bell House offers an action-packed events calendar, featuring live performances by the likes of Beth Orton, Charlotte Gainsbourg and the Primitives, plus book signings, DJ nights, and less common fare (like bikini burlesque parties – in midwinter). The handsomely converted warehouse features a spacious concert area, plus a classy bar in the front room with flickering candles, leather sofas and armchairs and a dozen beers on tap.
reviewed
-
Q
Belly Up
Long the top nightspot in Aspen, Belly Up has built and maintained its street cred by bringing in the best live acts to the Aspen people. That means everything from local bluegrass bands to hip-hop globalist K'NAAN, to Chrissy Hynde's brilliant new band, to LCD Soundsystem DJ sets and intimate, up-close throwdowns with all-timers such as Jane's Addiction (although, those ain't cheap).
No matter who you see, the room will be intimate and alive with great sound. Easily the best venue this side of Denver.
reviewed
-
R
Levende Lounge
The virtuoso barkeeps at Levende are reason enough to work this slightly out-of-the-way spot into your evening plans. Genuinely creative mixed bevs are strictly top shelf; some involve freshly squeezed juices and exotic spices. Club-hoppers can claim couches and nibble on appetizers or get up and shimmy to down-tempo lounge grooves, world beats or old-school house. Some nights, live electronic ensembles meld unheard-of sounds.
Call ahead, though: it's often closed for corporate/private events.
reviewed
Advertisement
-
S
Knitting Factory
Newly relocated to Williamsburg, the Knitting Factory has a long and influential history in the realm of NYC jazz, but today you’re more likely to find an eclectic selection of folk, indie and experimental music, from cosmic space jazz to Tokyo shock rock. The new space (one stage) is smaller than its former Tribeca digs, with some intriguing new features – like the window from the separate bar room, allowing imbibers to watch (but not necessarily hear) the action onstage.
reviewed
-
T
Grizzly Rose
This is one kick-ass honky-tonk – 40,000 sq ft of hot live music – attracting real cowboys from as far as Cheyenne. The Country Music Association called it the best country bar in America. If you've never experienced line dancing, then put on the boots, grab the Stetson and let loose.
Just north of the city limits off I-25 (you'll have to drive or cab it), the Grizzly is famous for bringing in huge industry stars – Willie Nelson, Lee Ann Rimes – and only charging $10 per ticket.
reviewed
-
U
Mid-City Rock & Bowl
A night at the Rock & Bowl is a quintessential New Orleans experience, but as it was in the process of moving to 3000 S Carrollton at the time of writing, we were not able to check out its new gigs at its current location. Friends who have gone say the scene and the shows are the same as ever: a strange, wonderful combination of bowling alley, deli, and a huge live music and dance venue, where patrons get down to New Orleans roots music while trying to avoid that 7-10 split.
reviewed
-
V
El Parián
You can pay your respects to the mariachi tradition in its home city. The Plaza de los Mariachis, just east of the historic center, is an okay place to sit, drink beer and soak in the serenades of passionate Mexican bands. But you'll be happier at El Parián a garden complex in Tlaquepaque made up of dozens of small cantinas that all share one plaza occupied by droves of Mariachi. On the weekends the bands battle and jockey for your ears, applause and cash.
reviewed
-
W
Wise Club
This comfortably grungy former church hall is a friendly neighborhood gem that’s close to the heart of in-the-know locals, who flock here to catch live ska, salsa, improv shows and the occasional hip-hop DJ night – check the eclectic schedule for events or just hang out in the lounge (ask the bartender to sign you in as a guest). It’s a great place to mix with cool East Vancouverites; the bouncy floor here brings out the moshpit desires in the most reluctant of dancers.
reviewed
