The Best Nightclubs in Lansing, Michigan

The Spiral dance bar has been a social hub for Lansing’s LGBTQ community ever since opening in 1998, but all are welcome to come and dance the night away. Open Thursday through Sunday, it regularly hosts theme nights, drag acts and pageants, but any night has a great atmosphere thanks to its superior soundsystem, DJs and great drinks.

Offering a more rough around the edges night out, Mac’s has been around since the 1940s, but has established itself as a great music venue for emerging acts over the past 20 years. It’s a small and intimate space, best described as dark and loud, but it also hosts Neon Tuesday, the longest-running electronic music weekly night in Lansing.

As Lansing’s premier lounge and cocktail bar, The Exchange has plenty to offer those looking for a great night out. It has live music seven nights a week, and its dancefloor stays busy until late every night. Its real speciality though is martinis, of which it serves 25 varieties including such creations as the s’mores martini, snickers martini and Michigan cherry martini.

Despite being a restaurant and brew pub, Harper’s actually has a large dancefloor and is open late every night of the week. Being in East Lansing, it attracts a large college crowd, with a line to get in on Friday and Saturday nights and a cover as standard. It has a fun and energetic atmosphere though, with good music and cheap drinks.

The Green Door hosts live music most of the week but if you’re looking for a fun night out, you can’t go wrong with its Turntable Tuesdays, featuring Lansing’s vinyl-only DJ group the Scratch Pilots, who spin jungle, D&B, hip-hop, house, funk, rock and R&B until 2 a.m. In 2016, Lansing City Pulse named it the city’s best dance bar.

For something a little different, the Six Lounge is best known as a chill hookah lounge during the week, but on the weekends when it has a cover charge and a DJ it has a much livelier atmosphere and its dancefloor gets busy. Located near to the MSU campus in East Lansing, it understandably has a college town vibe.