Historic and Iconic: The Best Music Venues for Unforgettable Concert Experiences
From Ryman to Red Rocks, don’t miss these unique live music venues!
From large outdoor amphitheaters to historic theaters to small listening rooms where anything above a whisper is frowned upon - there is nothing like that feeling you get seeing your favorite musicians live in concert. Seeing live music is a very intimate experience, no matter the size of the venue. Some venues also have a reputation for being the best, and fans will take planes, trains, and automobiles to experience it for themselves. We put together a list of the venues that we definitely want to check out!
Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Morrison, CO)
Red Rocks is a park and outdoor theater that sits about 10 miles southwest from Denver, Colorado that provides outdoor recreation, as well as one of the most sought after live music experiences. Red Rocks Amphitheatre opens each performance season with its nondenominational Easter Sunrise Service. It’s a popular venue for live recordings because of the visual uniqueness of the two massive rock formations. The construction began in 1936, and was officially dedicated in 1941. Some upcoming 2024 shows include Widespread Panic, Brandi Carlile, Jason Mraz, Heart, and many more. They also have a “Film on the Rocks” series, as well “Yoga on the Rocks.”
Hollywood Bowl (Los Angeles, CA)
The Hollywood Bowl is nestled into the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles, California with a backdrop of the famous Hollywood sign to the northeast. The amphitheater opened in 1922, and is the home of the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and hosts many events throughout the year. In 2018, Rolling Stone named it one of the 10 best live music venues in America. You are able to bring your own food into the Bowl for all events, and your own alcohol for LA Philharmonic-presented events only.
The Sphere (Las Vegas, NV)
Perhaps one of the most innovative venues of late, The Sphere guarantees an immersive experience, no matter what. A feat of science, engineering, and technology, The Sphere is the world’s largest spherical structure covered in a giant high-resolution screen. (While you’re there, feel free to brush up on your math skills.) The first music group to grace The Sphere was U2, and their show U2: UV Achtung Baby Live was a spectacle of music well-suited for Vegas, where everything is on a bigger scale. The critics raved, and declared it a huge event for the future of concert-going. Rolling Stone described it as “a quantum leap forward for concerts,” giving the sense that this traditional music experience combined with cutting edge technology is going to become more and more mainstream. In summer 2024, Dead & Company will have a residence at the Sphere with Dead Forever: an immersive concert experience featuring the Grateful Dead’s songbook combined with spectacular effects.
Jones Beach Theater (Wantagh, NY)
Named one of the coolest outdoor venues in America by Paste Magazine (along with The Hollywood Bowl and Red Rocks), Jones Beach Theater is located within Jones Beach State Park on Long Island, NY. It started out as a rickety marine stadium, built in the 1930s. But it was completely rebuilt in 1952 for the production of large scale stage musicals brought directly from Broadway in Manhattan a mere 40 miles away. The orchestra seats section used to actually be a moat of water separating the stage from the audience, and it was used in stage musicals for pirate ships and water dancing, among other things. By the 1980s, concerts became its main use. The venue underwent a couple of expansions and renovations in the 1990s, making it a regular stop on many bands’ summer tours and a destination for music festivals as food trucks, beverage stations, and more amenities were added. The amphitheater sits on the bay side of the beach, so if you’re sitting up high in the cheap seats, you get a gorgeous view of the water–and the sunset–behind the stage.
Ryman Auditorium (Nashville, TN)
The Ryman Auditorium is one of the most well known and influential concert halls in the world, located in the heart of downtown Nashville. Originally functioning as a church in 1892, it is quite appropriate that its nickname became the “Mother Church.” The Ryman was the original home of the Grand Ole Opry from 1943 to 1974. In 1971, the Ryman was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Undergoing major renovations in the 90s, the Ryman has been one of the staples responsible for the revitalization of the downtown area. In 2001, it was designated as a National Historic Landmark. Later in 2022, it was named as a Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Landmark. The Ryman is known to have some of the best acoustics in the world. Most acts that play the venue end the night singing a tune without any amplification. Browse their calendar, find a show to attend, and go to “church.” You can even take a guided backstage tour that gives you the opportunity to see the Ryman how all of your favorite performers do, including a souvenir photo on stage.
The Fillmore (San Francisco, CA)
A truly historic venue, The Fillmore has undergone many changes over the decades. Originally a dance hall, the building was built in 1912 and named The Majestic Hall, later the Ambassador Dance Hall. From the 1930s to the 1950s, it was a roller rink (!) until 1954, when Charles Sullivan, a successful African-American businessman bought and renamed it The Fillmore Auditorium, and was the first to allow the Black community to attend shows there. Becoming a concert promoter, Sullivan booked Black artists like Billie Holiday, James Brown, Ike and Tina Turner, and Jimi Hendrix. After Sullivan was murdered in 1966, the venue changed hands and with the times became a destination for 60s counterculture including avant garde art and psychedelic music. While in the 1980s it became a punk rock destination under the name The Elite Club, it finally reopened in the mid 1990s following renovations from structural damage from a 1989 earthquake. The Smashing Pumpkins played an unannounced show to open the venue, and since then it’s become again premier location for emerging music.
The Stone Pony (Asbury Park, NJ)
Legendary music venue The Stone Pony sits a block away from the boardwalk at Asbury Park, a stretch of beach along the Jersey Shore. It’s both an inside and outside venue, and if you’re lucky to be strolling the boardwalk on a summer evening, you can hear the big name bands that come through from their open-air stage. The name came from a coincidence: co-founder and owner Jack Roig was on a date with a woman whose shirt had tiny horses on it, and so he was inspired. They opened in December of 1974, which doesn’t sound like the best time for a venue by the beach to lure customers. But their regular local house bands kept crowds coming, namely, Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes. Member Steve Van Zandt eventually left to join Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, but still managed the Jukes. When they got a record deal, they did a live performance on Memorial Day in 1976 that was broadcast on several radio stations. They featured Springsteen and the rest is, as they say, history. As the 1980s ushered in new music, everyone who was anyone played The Stone Pony: The Ramones, Cheap Trick, Joan Jett, Kiss, etc. In 1998, the venue actually closed to become a dance club, but in 2000 guitar legend Santana bought The Stone Pony and made sure it would stay a legendary piece of music history. The place is special, perhaps because it’s musicians themselves that have loved it for the past fifty years.
First Avenue (Minneapolis, MN)
Head up to the Twin Cities, and you must take in the historic venue, First Avenue. This concert hall opened in 1970, and is one of the longest running independently owned clubs in America. First Avenue is actually 2 venues. The Mainroom holds about 1500 people, and 7th St Entry is a smaller, more intimate room with a 250 capacity. The Entry opened its doors 10 years later in 1980. Prince was first booked at First Avenue in 1981, and it became the primary local venue that he would place. In 1983, he ended up filming Purple Rain in the Mainroom. Besides Prince, the club has been the starting point for other notable acts such as Soul Asylum, Semisonic, and Lizzo. When you visit First Avenue, you will notice that every artist who has played either room has their name on a silver star on the building’s black exterior walls. Some of the summer shows that you can catch there are OK GO, Bowling For Soup, Old 97’s, and They Might Be Giants.
Stubb’s BBQ (Austin, TX)
Christopher “Stubb” Stubblefield is the one responsible for the history that Stubb’s BBQ carries on today. Stubb learned how to cook in the 1930’s when his family moved to Lubbock, Texas, but he perfected his skills when he served in the Korean War. Returning from the war, he opened his first restaurant in Lubbock in 1968. It was a place known for good barbecue and blues music filling the jukebox. In the 1970s, the likes of Stevie Ray Vaughn, Muddy Waters, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Linda Ronstadt, and many others would “play for their supper.” While the original Lubbock location is no longer open, the barbecue tradition that Stubb created with great music lives on in Austin.
Hotel Cafe (Hollywood, CA)
The Hotel Cafe is a small, intimate 21+ venue tucked away in Hollywood that has gained a reputation for acoustic-based singer/songwriters getting their start. It began as a coffee shop in 2000, and since then it has grown into a premier music venue that hosts touring national acts as well as up & coming artists 7 days a week. The main room holds 215 people, while the 2nd stage is more intimate with only a capacity of 75. Some past performers that you’d probably recognize have been Adele, John Mayer, Billie Eilish, Bruno Mars, and Sara Bareilles. The list goes on.
Bluebird Cafe (Nashville, TN)
The Bluebird Cafe is a 90-seat listening room located in an outside strip mall on the outskirts of Nashville, TN. The venue opened in 1982, and after the cafe hosted a writers night to benefit World Hunger Year, the writers night became a staple. It may be small in size, but it is legendary in status. Everyone from Garth Brooks to Taylor Swift has played there. It also has been featured in the 1992 film The Thing Called Love, as well as the tv show Nashville. They host 2 shows a day from Tuesday through Saturday, while also hosting Open Mic Nights on Mondays and Sunday Writers Night. The Bluebird Café just recently temporarily closed for roof repairs, but as soon as they reopen their doors, a trip to Nashville and the Bluebird should be on your list. Just be prepared to wait in line.
Eddie’s Attic (Decatur, GA)
Eddie’s Attic is an all ages (unless otherwise noted) intimate listening room in Decatur, Georgia - just outside of Atlanta. They opened their doors to this 175-capacity room in 1992, and it’s well known for many musicians to have gotten their start here. Some acts that developed a fanbase at Eddie’s Attic have been Justin Bieber, The Civil Wars, and Sugarland. They’ll usually have two shows a night, as well as host a songwriters open mic night every Monday. They also have been hosting the Bi-Annual Open Mic Shootout for the past 25 years where past winners have been John Mayer, Tyler Childers, Jennifer Nettles and more.
What are your favorite music venues? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!
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