The Best Concert Venues in Mexico City

This venue is a former movie theatre, hence the name. The gorgeous Teatro Metropólitan is a stunning city centre concert destination that hosts everyone from musicians to comedians behind its 1940s façade. With a 3,000-person capacity, it’s ideal for medium-sized concerts, and its policy on drinks on the theatre make it popular with many music fans. Architecture and design fans will love the decadent interior of this Art Deco edifice, which is all marble staircases, crystal chandeliers and velvet curtains.

The Palacio de Bellas Artes is a true Mexico City workhorse, hosting art exhibitions and famous murals, plus dance, theatre and music productions. A reminder of Mexico City’s eclectic architectural style around the early 20th century, the towering white marble building brings together Art Deco and Art Nouveau, and the concert space is dominated by an impressive Tiffany glass stage curtain depicting the Popocatépetl and Iztaccíhuatl volcanoes. You’re most likely to find orchestral performances being held here.

Notable for its drop-dead gorgeous location in the heart of Chapultepec Park, the swanky white edifice that is the Casa del Lago is known for having a killer restaurant and some equally spectacular views over the lake after which it’s named. While you’re likely to find classical performances within the building itself, the outdoor covered performance space is an ideal spot for catching up-and-coming indie bands or established niche favourites.

While Foro Sol and Palacio de los Deportes are separate concert venues in their own right, they’re both located within the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and are known for hosting big names acts from Mexico and beyond. Most recently, Justin Bieber performed at the 26,000-seater Foro Sol, which is also the annual host of Vive Latino (one of Mexico’s best music festivals) as well as regular baseball games. The Palacio de los Deportes is slightly smaller, with a capacity of around 20,000, and recently hosted Ariana Grande and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

The ideal mid-size concert venue, Plaza Condesa has a capacity of 1,600, meaning it’s great for catching local artists and some lesser-known faces. One major benefit of attending a concert at Plaza Condesa is that you’re still right in the heart of the city, with some of the capital’s best parks (Parque México and Parque España) nearby, plus a ton of shops, bars and restaurants, which mean you can avoid spending money on refreshments at marked-up concert hall prices.

As the name suggests, this Pepsi-sponsored concert hall is situated in Mexico City’s modern World Trade Center, which is perhaps best known for its rotating top-floor restaurant, Bellini. The Pepsi Center WTC is arguably one of Mexico City’s most modern concert venues, with enough space for 7,500 people and a reputation for putting on some of the best shows in the capital – in recent months cult favourites Die Antwoord have performed there, and Colombian supergroup Bomba Estéreo are coming soon.

Just on the edge of Bosque Chapultepec you’ll find the Auditorio Nacional, perhaps one of the city’s most well known concert venues, which has previously hosted spectaculars by international ballet companies, Mexican rock bands and even international musical superstars. With a capacity of 10,000 it’s not the largest concert venue in the capital, but it is one of the best, and is also home to the so-called Monumental Organ, a towering instrument used in special performances.

If we had to select the most beautiful concert venue in the city, it could well be the famed Polyforum Siqueiros, a bizarrely shaped building decorated on all sides with Siqueiros murals. Externally it’s jaw-dropping and easily one of Mexico City’s most unmissable sights. It’s not half bad inside either, as the walls are decorated with another Siqueiros mural, La Marcha de la Humanidad. Stop by for numerous cultural events, from poetry readings to concerts and jazz.

Built specifically for the use of UNAM’s Philharmonic Orchestra, Sala Nezahualcóyotl is a spectacular concert venue situated in the heart of University City. What helps this place stand out from many of the rest is the excellent layout and design of the 2,000-capacity concert hall itself, which features a central stage around which spectators arrange themselves, and some marvellous acoustics.

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