Live Music Venues

New Orleans is a Mecca of great music.  Blues, jazz and much more can be found in the venues that boast some of the greatest music in the Country.  Below you'll find a great list of live venues that produce live performances for your enjoyment.  Check out the descriptions  and inside tips to these wonderful theaters, bars and live music venues.

 

Igor's Checkpoint Charlie
501 Esplanade Ave.
(504) 949-7012

Located in the French Quarter, at the bottom of Frenchman Street, Checkpoint’s is a great place to see a diverse range of live musical acts. Styles range from blues, blue grass, hard-core, and punk. This is a very small bar, so audiences and performers are sucked into a very at-home and comfortable feeling. On Monday nights there is an open blues jam. There are typically no-cover charges.

Le Bon Temps Roule
4801 Magazine St.
(504) 895-8117

This uptown bar features a stage known as the House of Dues upon which is performed local blues, funk, jazz and R&B for a clientele which includes undergraduates, attorneys, and music freaks who enjoy a good brew. Free Barbecue on Wednesdays as Kermit Ruffians tears it up.

Funky Butt
714 N Rampart St.
(504) 558-0872

A giant painting of an extremely large and naked woman adorns the wall adjacent to the entrance, setting the mood for the Funky Butt - an off-the-beaten-path world-class jazz and blues club. Become witness to contemporary jazz history in the making with Irvin Mayfield, Kermit Ruffins, Jason and Delfalo Marsalis, Clarence Johnson III and many other young jazz lions taking the stage for two sets of incredible music every night. The bar is elegant and comfortable and the drinks are spectacular (try the Funky Butt Juice).

Cover charges for music are typically around $10.

Howlin' Wolf
828 S Peters St.
(504) 523-2551

The Howling Wolf just feels like a place to see live music. Located in the Warehouse District, the Wolf’s low ceiling with exposed beams and water pipes, gives any show the proper ambiance. Despite the name (conjuring images of Chicago blues), this club has a very cutting-edge booking policy, keeping in touch with the new eras in rock-and-roll as they crawl out of the woodwork.

Kerry Irish Pub
331 Decatur St.
(504) 527-5954

The heart and soul of Dublin has been transported to Decatur Street in the French Quarter. This quaint Irish Pub has everything you could expect, including the best Guinness in town and Irish music (as well as folk, jazz and blues) seven nights a week. On one night you hear Dave Sharp, solo and acoustic, bellow out traditional and contemporary Irish tunes, on another its Paddy’s Lament, fast-paced almost punk form of Ireland, complete with mandolins and fiddles.

Maple Leaf Club
8316 Oak St.
(504) 866-9359

Originally a chess and music club (a couple of chess tables are still on the premises) and later famed as the site of respectively, poetry readings and some of pianist James Booker's most incendiary recitals, the Maple Leaf is still the place to go if you're craving funky New Orleans music (brass bands, blues and funk, usually) that sometimes doesn't cease until sunrise. Cover charges range from $5 to $15, depending on the act.

Snug Harbor Jazz Bistro
626 Frenchmen St.
(504) 949-0696

The city's premier jazz club with live music seven nights a week. Popularly priced drinks and a casual atmosphere have made the old cypress bar room a favorite for locals and a great discovery for visitors.

Ellis Marsalis is on stage most Fridays and Charmaine Neville sings most Mondays. Two shows nightly at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m.

Mid-City Lanes Rock and Bowl
4133 S. Carrolton Ave.
(504) 482-3133

It is rare to find a superb bowling alley, great live music, and a great bar all in one, but Rock and Bowl has them all. Mid-City Lanes is home to one of New Orleans' most intense zydeco scenes every Wednesday and Thursday night, swing nights on Tuesdays and a mixed bag of New Orleans stuff on Fridays and Saturdays. The cover charge is normally around five dollars.

 

Dragon’s Den
435 Esplanade St.
(504) 949 1750

A small, exotic room above the Siam Café, entered through the kitchen of the restaurant, this club boasts the ambience of an opium den and a wide variety of musical performers from jazz to rockabilly/bluegrass.

Delicious Thai food from the Siam Café is available at the bar, or simply sit on some pillows on the floor, sip your drink and listen to some of the best young local musicians in the city.

Vaughan's Lounge
800 Lesseps St.
(504) 947-5562

Thursday nights at Vaughan's are currently the most happening thing , jazz-wise, in New Orleans. Located in the 9^th Ward, Vaughn’s is not in a particularly safe neighborhood, but Kermit Ruffins' sets on Thursdays are legendary. There is free soul food and extremely cheap beverages.

Tipitina's
501 Napoleon Ave.
(504) 897-3943

Some of the best lives shows on the planet have happened here. Formerly the 501 Club, Tip's was founded by Hank Drevich as a clubhouse for Professor Longhair in his declining years. Tipitina's has earned the reputation as the heart and soul of the New Orleans music community. Acts as diverse as Harry Connick, Jr., the Neville Brothers, Dr. John, The Funky Meters and the Subdudes began their careers at Tipitina's.

Tipitina's has music most nights. Covers range from $5 to $20.

Mermaid Lounge
1100 Constance St.
(504) 524-4747

Tucked away in back corner of the Warehouse District, the Mermaid Lounge is New Orleans home for music that is weird or bizarre or simply amazing. The adjoining recording studio has made some incredible live recordings for numerous bands. The bar room is magnificent, the drinks are inexpensive, and the music is great. What more could you ask?

Dream Palace
532 Frenchman St
(504) 945 2040

The music here is a bit of everything: New Orleans funk, Latin rhythms, reggae and rock. The Dream Palace is the elder statesmen of the Frenchman Street music scene but don't let that fool you - the Palace, with its hallucinogenic ceiling mural and multi-level stage, is as cool as ever.

House Of Blues
225 Decatur St.
(504) 529-2583

Comfortable, with a reliably great line-up, the House of Blues is a great venue for any kind of music, however, tickets for shows are pricey compared to other clubs. Chances are there is already a House of Blues in or around your hometown, so unless a spectacular act is playing, check the listings for the other venues before committing.