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These 17 music venues—from intimate acoustic spaces to epic outdoor stages—are Foursquare users' NYC favorites. Read the tips for insider details on how to do your next concert right.
Smashley Harris: This is definitely my favorite venue in the entire city. It was actually constructed to replicate Bowery Ballroom and made everything slightly better than BB.
Music Venue · Greenwich Village · 315 tips and reviews
Kathryn Yu: Go to Webster Hall to see a band. If you have a paper ticket, the line is usually further down the block. Don't get stuck in the will-call line.
Rock Club · Lower East Side · 216 tips and reviews
Kathryn Yu: Go to the Bowery Ballroom to see a band, and move towards stage right, where it is less crowded. Too many people get stuck on one side of the room.
Music Venue · Theater District · 106 tips and reviews
Julie O.: If you put an upscale movie theatre and a concert venue together you'd have this place. Overall good venue. Pit in the front, seating in the back.
Dee Phunk: Shows can be hit or miss here depending on if the sound feels like behaving or not. No longer one of the BEST live venues in the city but still historic & legendary. STILL supporting hip-hop.
Record Store · Williamsburg · 120 tips and reviews
Sam Brown: The music venue in the back of this huge, spacious record shop, is so small and intimate that you can get close enough to your favorite artists to hear the pick crashing against their guitar strings.
158 Bleecker St (btwn Sullivan & Thompson St), New York, NY
Rock Club · Greenwich Village · 165 tips and reviews
Original Penguin: This extravagant West Village nightclub is a mix of uptown class and downtown talent offering fine dining, art performances, film screenings, music and rambunctious late night dance parties.
Music Venue · Hell's Kitchen · 310 tips and reviews
The Corcoran Group: This is one of the largest venues for live music in NYC, so it can get quite crowded – think lines galore. The acoustics are ok, but they do get great headliners.
Jeff Woo: Home of NYC Summerstage where thousands of New Yorkers rock out to free pop/rock/international concerts all summer long, rain or shine! If you have not been here, this is a must do!