Bowery Ballroom

Long the crown jewel of New York City live music venues, Bowery (as locals tend to call it) awards concertgoers with all the amenities (luxuries!) needed for a perfect show. The 3-level space, located on a desolate block on the Lower East Side, is rarely packed due to a no-nonsense capacity policy employed by the teddy bear bounce staff. (If you don't have a ticket and the Herculean doorman's clicker reaches 550, you 'aint getting in). Procrastinator's loss is a stub holder's gain as a Bowery show is a comfortable show—so you won't have to worry about sweating through your Diesel tee or a sudden Brooklyn Lager shower when catching your favorite indie rock act. An obsessive dedication to sound quality, stellar sightlines and top-tier booking matches the stringent door policy—major artists like Coldplay and Foo Fighters have been known to sneak in shows between headlining gigs at MSG, much due to the sonic superiority and surprising intimacy of this mid-sized venue.

See more: Lower East Side music venues, Lower East Side bars, Lower East Side clubs, Rock music venues