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No American town places such a premium on pleasure as New Orleans. From swank hotel lounges and refined jazz halls to sweaty dance clubs and raucous Bourbon Street bars, this city is serious about frivolity—and famous for it. Partying is more than an occasional indulgence in this city—it's a lifestyle. The bars and clubs that pulse with music are the city's lifeblood, and are found in every neighborhood. Like stars with their own gravity, they draw people through their doors to belly up to their bars or head feet-first onto their dance floors. Blues, jazz, funk, R&B, rock, roots, Cajun, and zydeco—there are many kinds of music and nightlife experiences to be had in New Orleans. On any day or night of the year, the city is brimming with musical possibilities.
The French Quarter and Faubourg Marigny are the easiest places to find great music and nightspots. The venues are numerous and all within easy walking distance of one another. In the nearby Warehouse District, New Orleans institutions like Howlin' Wolf, Mulate's, and Circle Bar have been joined by scores of new bars, clubs, and restaurants. Moving upriver through the Garden District and Uptown, you'll find some of the most famous music spots in the city, such as Tipitina's and Maple Leaf. Bywater, Mid-City, and Tremé are residential neighborhoods with fewer commercial strips, but they too have their crown jewels, like Vaughan's, Bullet's, and Rock ’n’ Bowl.
Under new ownership since 2023, dba remains a leading music venue on Frenchmen Street. The selection of drinks—including international and craft beers on tap, bourbons and scotches, and obscure tequilas, all listed on chalkboards above the bar—is reason enough to visit. Live music most nights and the Marigny's best people-watching in a narrow cypress-lined room make it a neighborhood favorite.
Local acts from a wide range of genres—including the Soul Rebels with their standing Thursday-night gig—shake the walls of this ramshackle Magazine Street nightspot. The music normally gets started after 10 pm. Pool tables and a limited bar-food menu keep the crowd, including young professionals and students from nearby Tulane and Loyola universities, occupied until the show starts.
The phrase "New Orleans institution" gets thrown around a lot, but this place, now over 50 years old, deserves the title. It's wonderfully atmospheric, with pressed-tin walls and a lush tropical-theme patio, and it's also one of the city's best venues for blues, New Orleans–style R&B, funk, zydeco, and jazz. On Sunday afternoon, the bar hosts the south's longest-running poetry reading, and on Sunday night, Joe Krown plays a show with his band. Rebirth Brass Band's standing Tuesday night gig is a show everyone should see if they're in town. It's a long haul from the French Quarter, but worth the trip, especially if combined with a visit to one of the restaurants clustered near this commercial stretch of Oak Street.
At this cultural landmark founded in 1961, a cadre of distinguished New Orleans musicians, most of whom were schooled by an ever-dwindling group of elder statesmen, nurture the jazz tradition that flowered in the 1920s. There is limited seating on benches—many patrons end up squatting on the floor or standing in back—and no beverages are served, nor are there restrooms. Nonetheless, legions of satisfied music lovers regard an evening at this all-ages venue as an essential New Orleans experience. You must buy a ticket online in advance (nothing is sold at the door any longer), and you are asked to arrive 20 minutes before the performance.
Jazz, old-time, and swing bands perform nightly at this rustic club right in the thick of the Frenchmen Street action. Sets start at 2 pm and the music continues until at least midnight. Drinks cost a little more (it's cash only), but there's never a cover charge and the entertainment is great—from the popular bands to the cadres of young, rock-step swing dancers.
Rub the bust of legendary New Orleans pianist Professor Longhair (aka "Fess") inside this Uptown landmark named for one of the late musician's popular songs. The old concert posters on the walls read like an honor roll of musical legends, both local and national. The midsize venue boasts an eclectic and well-curated calendar year-round, but particularly during the weeks of Jazz Fest. The long-running Sunday afternoon Cajun dance party takes place monthly and still packs the floor. Although the neighborhood isn't dangerous, it's far enough out of the way to require some sort of rideshare, cab, or public transit option.
This lounge-theater combo has become one of the centerpieces of the local indie, avant-garde, drag, and burlesque scenes. Channeling 1930s Berlin, the lounge has a black-and-red color scheme and frayed-at-the-edges Art Deco aesthetic. Musicians, burlesque dancers, clowns, artists, and jacks-of-all-trades take to the stage here most nights of the week for adults-only entertainment. Meanwhile, in the back of the house, the 100-seat AllWays Theatre hosts weekend plays and other performances.
This comfortable Mid-City nightspot has become one of the neighborhood's most reliable venues for local music and comedy, with live performances—sometimes multiple a night—several days of the week. Most shows here don't charge a cover, and there are free red beans and rice on Monday night during the bar's weekly Sip & Sing.
This gritty corner bar is a beloved neighborhood joint. There is live music almost every night, sometimes spotlighting beloved blues legend Little Freddie King, who blows the top off the place.
Soul Rebels, Kermit Ruffins and the BBQ Swingers, and Where Y'At Brass Band are among the talented local acts that regularly grace the stage at this long-standing, bare-bones music club. You're likely to catch a free act during the week; on weekends, tickets range $15–$20 and can be purchased at the door or online in advance for most shows. Price is higher than some of the other clubs, but performance quality is consistent. It's a true Frenchmen Street institution.
This neighborhood bar (featured on the HBO show Treme) crowds with locals and visitors on weekends for the lively brass band performances, plates of hot comfort food, DJ sets, and fan-friendly Saints games. On nights when there is no live music, Bullet's is a relaxed sports bar with friendly service and cheap drinks.
This cozy neighborhood bar keeps unfolding the farther back you go—from the front bar to the stage to the backyard. The regular schedule of live music emphasizes local roots, rock, and acoustic acts. On nights without music, there is usually trivia or a comedy show. It's two blocks off the Carrollton streetcar line and close to the Oak Street commercial district.
This corner bar draws young locals who shoot pool and listen to blues and rock, whether live or from the jukebox—24 hours a day, seven days a week. Weekends often feature hard rock, punk, and metal bands. There is also a fully functioning laundromat. Street kids and pan handlers typically hang out front.
Right on the Canal Street streetcar line, this neighborhood music club is unassuming from the outside but hosts some of the city's most popular acts. With happy hour and early evening sets on offer, this destination is a favorite among low-key New Orleanians who aren't into late nights. The covered patio is a popular place to hang between sets.
Like something out of a Tim Burton film, this teetering old Victorian house that straddles the concrete jungles of downtown and the Warehouse District hides one of the coolest indie-rock clubs in the city. Scenesters descend around 10 pm, but earlier in the evening this is a laid-back neighborhood haunt. Pull on your skinny jeans, so that you can squeeze into the room that holds what might be the world's tiniest stage.
These swanky digs in the Ritz-Carlton are home to their namesake, Jeremy Davenport, an old-school crooner in the mold of Sinatra and Crosby. With a hot trumpet, Davenport plays Wednesday through Saturday and draws a mixed crowd of visitors and locals to the swinging dance floor.
A 20-minute drive from downtown, this popular Tchoupitoulas Street hangout for grown-ups is a lively den of blue smoke. The selection of scotches, brandies, ports, and bourbons is outstanding. The nightly live music runs the gamut of New Orleans styles. A full calendar of performances is available online. The low-key patio offers a quiet retreat from the haze.
An old-school gem in the midst of Bourbon Street's many venues with bad cover bands, this Dixieland music club, built in the style of the old jazz halls, has tight rows of seating close to the stage and floating barmaids. Drinks cost a little more, but there's never a cover charge. Shows are held nightly.
Despite its name, blues rarely makes the bill at this Decatur Street link in the national chain. The midsize venue embraces rock, country, soul, funk, and world music, and it's a reliable destination for national touring acts. The restaurant serves dinner before shows, and the Voodoo Garden, in the adjoining courtyard, hosts outdoor live music on weekends. The Parish, a more intimate offshoot upstairs from the main house, books edgier, up-and-coming groups.
This New Orleans favorite has long been a premier venue and anchor of the Warehouse District club and music scene. With a great corner location in a converted warehouse, it hosts larger rock, funk, blues, Latin, and hip-hop shows nearly every night on the main stage, as well as comedy and burlesque shows. A side bar called The Den books more intimate events and offers a full bar with pub fare served until late.
Serious music lovers converge on this intimate lounge with a modern aesthetic. Top-notch local jazz and brass acts like the Glen David Andrews Band and the Brass-A-Holics are a refreshing change from the loud rock and blues cover bands that have become the Bourbon Street norm. There are multiple sets of local talent daily between 5 pm and midnight. There's no cover, but you can pay in advance (typically $20) for guaranteed preferred seating.
Local personality and jazz legend Kermit Ruffins reigns at this brightly painted club that once belonged to R&B singer Ernie K-Doe. The club is a jewel of the Tremé neighborhood, hosting the best of local talent in jazz and blues nightly. The kitchen serves popular New Orleans cuisine. Look forward to the frequent cameos from Kermit himself, who plays a set here with his band, the BBQ Swingers, most Thursday nights. The neighborhood's a bit dodgy, so take a cab.
Across the street from the convention center, this large venue seats 400, and the dance floor quickly fills with couples twirling and two-stepping to authentic Cajun bands from the countryside. Regulars love to drag first-timers to the floor for impromptu lessons. The home-style Cajun cuisine is acceptable, but what matters is the nightly music.
Banjo player Danny Barker immortalized this restaurant in his song "Palm Court Strut." Traditional New Orleans jazz is presented in a timeless setting with tile floors, exposed-brick walls, and a handsome mahogany bar. Regional cuisine is served, and you can sit at the bar and rub elbows with local musicians. A wide selection of records and CDs are available for sale.
This rock club retains the rough-timbered feel of the cotton-and-grain warehouse it used to be. The club books touring hip-hop stars and rock bands as well as local acts, and DJs take over the sound system late at night for popular dance parties.
Down-home Louisiana music, rockabilly, R&B, and New Orleans swing in a bowling alley? Go ahead, try not to have fun. This iconic venue has a terrific lineup of music Wednesday through Saturday. Thursday often features Cajun, Zydeco, and Swamp Pop, as some of the best musicians from rural Louisiana take the stage. The alley's restaurant throws a strike with pizza, burgers, hot sausage, chicken wings, hummus, and—if you're particularly hungry—a platter of 20 boudin balls.
Nestled in between the overhead highway and a series of converted 18th-century warehouses, this discreet neighborhood bar can be difficult to find. With lively crowds, a great selection of scotches, a gorgeous dog-friendly patio, and Sidecar Oyster Bar next door for eats, it's worth the trek to get here.
This intimate club with a sometimes-steep cover charge ($25--$35) is one of the city's best rooms to soak up local and touring jazz. It is the home base of such esteemed talent as vocalist Charmaine Neville, who plays most Mondays. The dining room serves good local food but is best known for its burgers.
Formerly known as One Eyed Jack's, local music entrepreneurs are now at the helm of this revived historic theater (with an excellent bar in front), and it continues to be counted among the most beloved independent venues in the city. The black and red standing room hosts eighties nights, dance parties, tribute shows and jam sessions, and local legends like Quintron, Big Freedia, and Tank and the Bangas. Shows aren't as frequent as they once were, but a night here still promises a good time.
