Boston Guide to Large Venues

Guide
Written By HDN Staff

Welcome to Hump Day News guide to big music venues: Boston and Beyond Edition. Looking for medium or small venues instead? Get out there!

Have updates to suggest? Email us at info[at]humpday[dot]news.

 

The Venti Mofos

Big, bad, baller arena-type venues. Some have history and charm, others are corporate creations. For what you pay, you should be getting state of the art sounds and performances by the heavy hitters.

Big Night Live

110 Causeway St, Boston, MA 02114

Web

 

Boch Center Wang Theatre

270 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Web

 

Fenway Park

4 Jersey St, Boston, MA 02215

Web

 

House of Blues

15 Lansdowne St, Boston, MA 02215

Web

 

Leader Bank Pavilion

290 Northern Ave, Boston, MA 02210

Web

 

MGM Music Hall

2 Lansdowne St; Boston, MA 02215

Web

 

Roadrunner

89 Guest St, Boston, MA 02135

Web

 

Royale

279 Tremont St, Boston, MA 02116

Web

 

Sanders Theater

45 Quincy St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Web

Sanders Theater: Live Reviews
The Fabrication of Light
The Fabrication of Light
 

TD Garden

100 Legends Way, Boston, MA 02114

Web

 

The Palladium

261 Main St, Worcester, MA 01608

Web

 
Tracks
Teardrops: “In My Sleep”
Teardrops: “In My Sleep”

Sounds like a fucking nightmare.

Matchess: “In Sleep”
Matchess: “In Sleep”

Washed out, washed right.

Kemp Harris: “Edenton”
Kemp Harris: “Edenton”

A keyboard-driven number about a false nostalgia for yesteryear.

Freedy Johnston: “Tryin’ To Move On”
Freedy Johnston: “Tryin’ To Move On”

Whoah, the full band version!

Arvo Pärt: “Silentium”
Arvo Pärt: “Silentium”

There’s no wrong way to eat a Reese’s.

Dylan Golden Aycock: “No Spring Chicken”
Dylan Golden Aycock: “No Spring Chicken”

One of those “primitive” guitarists?

The Bad Plus: “Carrier”
The Bad Plus: “Carrier”

The tenor saxophone leads the way.

The Stewart Dolly: “The Frisco Kid”
The Stewart Dolly: “The Frisco Kid”

Uptempo power pop with some fuzz.

Sharp Pins: “Circle All The Dots”
Sharp Pins: “Circle All The Dots”

Stylized mod pop.

India Sky: “Begin Again”
India Sky: “Begin Again”

Spare, yet lush synth.

Chaiah: “Donde Vas”
Chaiah: “Donde Vas”

Wobble with the flow, if you feel it.

Walt McClements: “Cloud Prints”
Walt McClements: “Cloud Prints”

I feel like a li’l bitch. Sorta.

DRVGジラ: “n​ã​o sinto nada”
DRVGジラ: “n​ã​o sinto nada”

Lisbon trap.

Alabaster DePlume: “Oh My Actual Days”
Alabaster DePlume: “Oh My Actual Days”

Has he improved at crying yet?

Rose City Band: “La Mesa”
Rose City Band: “La Mesa”

What’s Shakedown Street look like in 2025?

Seawind of Battery: “New Moon”
Seawind of Battery: “New Moon”

A minimalist folk builder.

Sunday Junkie: “Sister”
Sunday Junkie: “Sister”

Family trouble hurts twice as much.

Albums
FACS: Wish Defense
FACS: Wish Defense

The Chicago artcore band still has work in the morning.

Really Great: Be The Light On
Really Great: Be The Light On

Melancholy is a thorny crown.

FACS: Still Life In Decay
FACS: Still Life In Decay

The Chicago artcore band has work in the morning.

Angel Bat Dawid: Requiem For Jazz
Angel Bat Dawid: Requiem For Jazz

Angel Bat Dawid versus Mozart in a steel-cage match. Who you got?

Pile: All Fiction
Pile: All Fiction

Pile’s ninth album. Better than Beethoven’s Ninth?

Eddie Japan: Pop Fiction
Eddie Japan: Pop Fiction

Eddie Japan's elegant new wave pop opera, Pop Fiction.

Nighttime: Keeper Is The Heart
Nighttime: Keeper Is The Heart

Go back to the future with Nighttime’s time-traveling wyrd folk spectacle Keeper Is The Heart.

Horse Lords: Comradely Objects
Horse Lords: Comradely Objects

“Fusion” is a genre-descriptor that is constantly on the verge of utter uselessness.

Keeley Forsyth: Limbs
Keeley Forsyth: Limbs

Can we befriend the specter of silence?

Maneka: Dark Matter
Maneka: Dark Matter

Maneka writes a new chapter in rock n roll with its latest LP.

Living Hour: Someday Is Today
Living Hour: Someday Is Today

The gazey, dreampop excursion takes us into a languid interior dimension of emotional transcendence.

Kitner: Shake The Spins
Kitner: Shake The Spins

Kitner tells the story of life lived at the tail end of a boozy buzz, with another night of debauchery on the way.

Twen: One Stop Shop
Twen: One Stop Shop

Twen charts a course across the sound waves of trans-Atlantic pop on their LP One Stop Shop.

Iceblink: Carpet Cocoon
Iceblink: Carpet Cocoon

Ambient is no longer the province of purely theoretical sound experiments. Enter Iceblink.

Mamalarky: Pocket Fantasy
Mamalarky: Pocket Fantasy

A gooey, 12-stack musical layer cake, shotgun-blasted with rainbow sprinkles by a laughing clown.

NNAMDÏ: Please Have A Seat
NNAMDÏ: Please Have A Seat

NNAMDÏ ghosts his songs before they ghost him. But you’ll love Please Have A Seat anyway.

Live Reviews
New Colossus: Sunday
New Colossus: Sunday

Peer Pleasure shares a Guinness at Baker Falls.

New Colossus: Saturday
New Colossus: Saturday

Hachiku promise to try a “chopped cheese” at Sour Mouse.

New Colossus: Friday
New Colossus: Friday

Constant Smiles collects the collective at Berlin.

New Colossus: Thursday
New Colossus: Thursday

The Croaks rock the escoffions at Nublu Classic.

New Colossus: Wednesday
New Colossus: Wednesday

Test Plan tests the waters at Berlin.

New Colossus: Tuesday
New Colossus: Tuesday

Early birds get the Abby Jeanne and the Shadowband at Pianos.

Boston Bitdown 2025
Boston Bitdown 2025

The chiptune and digital arts fest makes a splash in Somerville and beyond.

$13 ‘Gansetts Are My Copilot
$13 ‘Gansetts Are My Copilot

Copilot takes the wheel at The Rockwell.

Istanbul Is Sorta Constantinople
Istanbul Is Sorta Constantinople

“The Legacy of Istanbul in America” brings a Mehter band to Jordan Hall.

A Solid 69
A Solid 69

The Coe Street Co-op play the hits at The Jungle.

Tap Into America
Tap Into America

Subject Matter welcomes all comers at the Lilypad.

An A/V Explosion
An A/V Explosion

A night of sights and sounds at Capitol Theatre.

Give Pieces A Chance
Give Pieces A Chance

Chaiah is a soft ‘ch’ sound at Lizard Lounge.

Anti-Valentine’s
Anti-Valentine’s

Smell The Love raises a stink at Midway Cafe.

A Sloppy Kiss
A Sloppy Kiss

Tyler and The Names cap a laugher at The Rockwell.

Post-Snow America
Post-Snow America

It’s Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeef for dinner at The Rockwell.

Pre-Snow America
Pre-Snow America

Follow Thru come to the rescue at Midway Cafe.

Pin The Tail On the $5 Beer
Pin The Tail On the $5 Beer

Diane Young cuts deep at Deep Cuts.

Bill Got Fired For Insubordination
Bill Got Fired For Insubordination

Bus Crush is preferable to bus crash at Silhouette Lounge.

A Griot Gathering
A Griot Gathering

The two-day fest We Black Folk returns to Club Passim.

Four Bands, One Bill
Four Bands, One Bill

Impossible Dog achieves the possible at Deep Cuts.

Waiting For My Mass
Waiting For My Mass

Blue Heron has $26 dollars in its hand at First Church of Cambridge.

Now That’s What I Call A Sticky Situation!
Now That’s What I Call A Sticky Situation!

Glue bonds at the Lilypad.

Born Freedy
Born Freedy

Freedy Johnston tells ironic anecdotes at the Lilypad.

The Apocalypse Is Always Nigh
The Apocalypse Is Always Nigh

Tami Fest 4 is what it’s all about at Lizard Lounge.

Saturday Night Special
Saturday Night Special

Sand Machine does what sand machines do at Midway Cafe.

O Ceilidh Come Calling
O Ceilidh Come Calling

The 22nd Boston Celtic Music Festival takes over Camberville.

Wet Underpants
Wet Underpants

Blame Shifters shift the blame at Silhouette Lounge.

Cast The First Stoned
Cast The First Stoned

Keller Williams mucks about at Paradise Rock Club.

Bloodless Brunch
Bloodless Brunch

Ron Savage orders the prix fixe at DX Dunster.

The Backyard
Drug Rug: LIVE
Drug Rug: LIVE

Archives: LIVE at Middle East (8/8/2009).

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Free Rumeysa Ozturk.

Mobius Band: LIVE
Mobius Band: LIVE

Archives: LIVE at Middle East (12/2007).

Weather Pending: And How!
Weather Pending: And How!

Archives: Album // Weather Pending: And How!

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

To everything, a season — except fascism.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah

From the Archives, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah at Middle East (11/2007).

Middle Distance Runner: The Sun & Earth
Middle Distance Runner: The Sun & Earth

From the Archives, Middle Distance Runner : The Sun & Earth

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Becoming Anti-Social: a Six Point “Plan.”

Drug Rug: Paint the Fence Invisible
Drug Rug: Paint the Fence Invisible

From the Archives, Drug Rug paints fences on its second album.

Drug Rug: LIVE
Drug Rug: LIVE

From the Archives, Drug Rug live at Milky Way (11/2007).

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

New Year, New Meh?

MMOSS: i
MMOSS: i

From the Archives, New Hampshire psych also rises.

Interview: Middle Distance Runner
Interview: Middle Distance Runner

A chat with Middle Distance Runner from the Archives.

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Less is more.

Bent Shapes: Feels Weird
Bent Shapes: Feels Weird

From the Archives, Feels Weird doesn’t feel weird at all.

Interview: Lord Jeff
Interview: Lord Jeff

A chat with Lord Jeff from the Archives.

HDN Staff
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