America's 40 Best Music Venues

Sometimes it’s the view—you’re at Denver’s Red Rocks, your eyes darting back and forth from the band to the landscape, and the music seems changed by the surrounding beauty. Sometimes it’s the history—a young band, onstage at The Fillmore, stands on the shoulders of the giants whose music helped reshape the world. Sometimes it’s the sense of discovery—you’re at L.A.’s Hotel Café, and you suspect the night’s opening act is headed for stardom. And sometimes, like with The Bowery Ballroom in New York, it’s simply the fact that on any given night, you know they’ve booked another great show.

To help find America’s best music venues, we went to the experts—you. In addition to our many contributors scattered across the country and many of the artists driving from club to club, Paste readers nominated more than 500 different venues at PasteMagazine.com—from hole-in-the-wall rock clubs to elegant theaters, legendary halls to brand new bars, quiet listening rooms to rock extravaganzas.

We weighed history, setting, sound, character, comfort, atmosphere, vibrancy, uniqueness, and their roles in helping launch careers. Among hundreds of worthy choices, these 40 venues rose above their peers. Our picks for the best music venues in America follow in this special section...

WEST:

Café du Nord - San Francisco, Calif.
Best place to jam out (shhh! quietly) to funky new folkateers: Along with its upstairs sister club, the Swedish American Hall, this former speakeasy is a beatnik-cool showcase for today’s hippest pop, folk and alternative-scene songwriters. And—thanks to its sequestered basement location—you feel like you’re seeing artists play in your uncle’s rec room.
Introduced America to: The Sounds, Noisettes, John Butler Trio
2170 Market St., CafeDuNord.com

Crocodile Café - Seattle, Wash.
Best place to reminisce about the film Singles: Former lawyer Stephanie Dorgan first bought “The Croc” back in 1991 and has faithfully served Greater Seattle’s hipster community ever since. Don’t be surprised to find the back row of the club (which also features an adjacent café) filled with famous local musicians on any given night.
Introduced the world to: Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, The Long Winters, The Postal Service
2200 2nd Ave., TheCrocodile.com

Department of Safety - Anacortes, Wash.
Best place to not give a crap what’s going on in Seattle: Occupying a former police-and-fire station in a town of 15,000 people halfway between Seattle and Vancouver, The D.O.S. is a five-year-old artist-run community that puts on creative underground happenings when not hosting bigger acts like TV on the Radio, Destroyer or Laura Veirs.
1011 12th Street, DepartmentOfSafety.com

Doug Fir Lounge - Portland, Ore.
Best place to spend the night after a show: This one-time greasy spoon located in Portland’s Eastside scuzz-junkie district has retooled to become the Rose City’s hottest nightspot. Its lodge-like upstairs dining room and “spare no sonic expense” 300-person downstairs music venue have made it the favorite of both picky local bands and up-and-coming touring acts.
Introduced the world to: The Decemberists, Viva Voce, The Thermals
830 E Burnside St., DougfirLounge.com

The Fillmore - San Francisco, Calif.
Best place to be seized by a split-second paranoia that you’re having a vicious acid flashback before realizing… dude, chill… it’s THE MUSIC you’re high on: Easily the most memorable—and historic—nightclub in the Bay Area, the Fillmore enchants with its trademark purple chandeliers, downstairs lobby filled with old concert photographs, and its chic, concert-poster-packed upstairs. Plus, they give you free apples.
Introduced the world to: The Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane
1805 Geary Boulevard, TheFillmore.com

Tractor Tavern - Seattle, Wash.
Best place to gripe about the state of “country” radio: This “nice, diesel place to hear music” was at the epicenter of the ’90s alt.country movement—No Depression magazine co-founders Grant Alden and Peter Blackstock frequented the club when they began publishing back in 1995. Tractor Tavern has seen performances by Ryan Adams, Drive-By Truckers, Alejandro Escovedo and the Queen of Cosmic American Music herself, Ms. Emmylou Harris. Playing this month: John Doe (6/16), Great Lake Swimmers (6/23)
5213 Ballard Ave. NW, TractorTavern.com

Gorge Ampitheater - George, Wash.
Best place to realize you’re serious about that move to the Northwest: Situated on the banks of the Columbia River in the center of Washington State, this converted vineyard boasts the most jaw-dropping scenery of any outdoor venue, anywhere. Purchased by Universal/House of Blues in 1993, the Gorge has become a perennial summer favorite for acts capable of filling its 20,000-seat capacity.
Introducing indie kids to: Nature
754 Silica Road N.W., HOB.com/venues/concerts/gorge

Great American Music Hall - San Francisco, Calif.
Best place to catch a refresher course on the world’s ever-shifting modern-music scene: Built post-quake exactly 100 years ago, this exotic, balconied nightspot (once owned by burlesque’s notorious Sally Rand) has some of the best acoustics in town-which is perhaps why Townes Van Zandt claimed it was haunted by a phantom keyboardist.
Playing this month: Pretty Girls Make Graves?(6/14), Sierra Leone Refugee All-Stars?(6/22)
859 O’Farrell St., MusicHallSF.com

The Troubador - West Hollywood, Calif. Best place to witness rock history in the making: On the edge of West Hollywood, The Troubadour (est. 1957) was the center of John Lennon and Harry Nilsson’s booze-soaked “Lost Weekend” in the ’70s and has long been known as a proving ground for rising acts, from The Byrds to Franz Ferdinand.
Introduced the world to: Tom Waits, Elton John, James Taylor, Lenny Bruce, The Byrds, Buffalo Springfield, Randy Newman, Neil Diamond
9081 Santa Monica Blvd., Troubador.com

Largo - Los Angeles, Calif.
Best place to slap Tom Cruise… a high-five at the next table over because Jackson Browne just hopped on stage to sit in with Tim Finn: L.A.’s Largo warrants inclusion on this list simply for Jon Brion’s long-running Friday-night residence, but its intimate size (max capacity, 124) and listening atmosphere also draws some of the best songwriting talent around.
Introduced the world to: Aimee Mann, Fiona Apple
432 N. Fairfax Ave., Largo-LA.com