7 VENUES WORTH VISITING
Here are seven of the top venues around town. Check out our digital guide for 58 more: houstonchronicle.com/musicvenues.
Anderson Fair, 2007 Grant
This Montrose listening room was a favored stage for such venerable elders as Townes Van Zandt and Eric Taylor, while also allowing promising newcomers a place to play their songs. Among the newcomers of the day: Lyle Lovett, Nanci Griffith, Lucinda Williams. Now, as then, the Fair is volunteer run with a capacity of about 85. Current performers who make regular stops at Anderson Fair: Shake Russell and Curtis McMurtry. Houston-based Matt Harlan hosts a songwriters circle the first Thursday of each month.
With its charmingly spare dining room and patio back at waitlist capacity, Clementine chefs and owners John and Elise Russ are still mining the rich vein of Southern cooking with specialties like bayou-style shrimp and coconut rice, a free-ranging beet salad and hot cardamom doughnuts, along with offering some of the city's best wine guidance.
Eldorado Ballroom, 2310 Elgin
The Eldorado was a true diamond in Houston's music history, a regal ballroom in Third Ward that hosted the likes of Duke Ellington and Ray Charles. It closed in the early 1970s and then bounced back two decades ago as an events space. But a new $9.7 million renovation has the Eldorado ready to swing again with live music. Exactly what sort of bookings will settle into the ballroom is not yet known, but one of the city's most beloved historic spaces is poised for a major comeback.
Last Concert Café, 1403 Nance
Surely the only active venue in town with tenure epic enough to have hosted big band legend Xavier Cugat, Last Concert has welcomed, well, some bigger bands and some emerging talent. The legendary venue is notable for its red door and its knock-for-entry ritual instituted by Elena "Mama" Aldrete Lopez, who opened Last Concert in 1949. A mid-1980s expansion created an outdoor space for music that can accommodate around 600 people. It was recently updated and has drawn local favorites like Devin the Dude and performers from afar, like Malian guitarist Vieux Farka Touré.
Miller Outdoor Theatre, 6000 Hermann Park Drive
No one can find fault with the cover charge at Miller Outdoor Theatre, since the space — a 1,700 seated pavilion with an expansive hillside lawn that can hold another 4,500 — offers its programming for free. The Houston Symphony began performing shows at Miller in 1940. Programming at Miller matches Houston's diverse demographic makeup, with an emphasis on international performers including the Soweto Gospel Choir and fiddler Natalie McMaster. Houston native who became jazz stars, from Hubert Laws to Jason Moran, have played at Miller as well as actor-singer Kiefer Sutherland and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Darlene Love.
Monumental Plaza Garibaldi, 13700 Karalis
This dirt-floor venue draws big crowds for its combination of live music with jaripeo, or bull riding; and charreria, the Mexican sport involving horses and cattle. Monumental Plaza Garibaldi regularly hosts renowned regional Mexican performers and multi-act festivals. It's also perfect for a family outing. Admission is free for kids ages ten and younger.
White Oak Music Hall, 2915 N. Main
When White Oak Music Hall opened in 2016, it brought with it many of the mid-level indie rock and pop type shows that had for several years been hosted at long-gone Fitzgerald's. White Oak was new construction and didn't have the history Fitz had (dating back to its dance hall days more than a century ago). But it mirrored that beloved venue's big/small dynamic with a cozy upstairs, a 200 capacity space, as well as the main downstairs room, which can hold up to 1,000. Things expand further outside where White Oak's Lawn can accommodate up to 3,000, bringing in acts like Tame Impala, Phoebe Bridgers, the National, the Violent Femmes and Houston's own Khruangbin.
713 Music Hall, 401 Franklin
The Day for Night festival suggested something grand could be done with the Barbara Jordan Post Office. POST Houston and the 713 Music Hall are the result of a wonderful re-imagining of the space. 713 has the nice sound and sightlines of a club but its tiered interior holds about 5,000 people. For acts too big for theaters and too small for Toyota Center, 713 has filled a void in the downtown area, bringing in New Order, Jason Isbell, the Mars Volta and a very, very sold out Olivia Rodrigo show.