The 10 Best Places for Live Music in Detroit

Dating all the way back to 1928 and undoubtedly one of Detroit’s finest Art Deco buildings, they don’t make grand venues like the Fox Theatre anymore. It regularly hosts big-name rock, pop and country acts, with the décor making any gig feel quite the occasion. The sound quality is also understandably amazing. Seeing the venue is worth the price of a show ticket alone, really.

Saint Andrew’s Hall has quite the history too, as it’s been operating as a venue in some form since 1907 and hosting gigs since the 1950s. The biggest names in music history have graced the stage, from Bob Dylan and Paul Simon to Nirvana and Eminem. Nowadays, it’s a great place to see mid-level bands in an intimate setting. There’s also a smaller venue underneath called The Shelter.

They share a building, so we’ll count them as one. The Majestic Theatre certainly lives up to its name with over 100 years of history. Magic Stick opened when a second-floor bowling alley was removed in the early ’90s and has gone on to become one of the city’s favorite rooms for alt-rock, garage rock, and electronic music. Between them, they host some of the coolest bands in the world every week.

Cliff Bell provided Detroit with a number of venues during his long and storied life, operating one speakeasy after another during Prohibition before opening his signature club on Park Avenue in 1935. Closed for 20 years, it reopened in 2005, and now it has live jazz almost every night of the week, with artists from all over the globe playing all kinds of traditional and contemporary jazz.

As well as one of Detroit’s finest museums, the DIA is also a great place to catch some live music. On Friday nights and Sundays, it hosts free concerts by local and international artists, creating a different way for museumgoers to engage with their surroundings. Friday Night Live! and Sunday Music Bar take place each week around the museum.