Boston Guide to Mid-Sized Venues

Guide
Written By HDN Staff

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

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

 

The Mid-Sized Vehicles

What you lose in intimacy at medium-sized clubs, you gain in better sound systems and more national touring acts.

Arts at the Armory

191 Highland Ave #1c, Somerville, MA 02143

Web

Arts at the Armory: Live Review
What’s the Fuzzstival?
What’s the Fuzzstival?

Greg Freeman closes out a doozy at the Amory.

Yes, It Always Smells Like Chocolate Chip Cookies In Here
Yes, It Always Smells Like Chocolate Chip Cookies In Here

The Somerville Songwriter Sessions hit the Rooted Cafe.

Preview: Fuzzstival
Preview: Fuzzstival

Fuzzstival returns to the Armory in 2024 for two days of fuzzed out fun.

“Ukulele” Is Hard To Spell
“Ukulele” Is Hard To Spell

Deerhoof miss a priceless collab opportunity at Arts at the Armory.

The Unbearable Gloominess of Being
The Unbearable Gloominess of Being

Royal Thunder sounds like a nickname for Zeus at Somergloom at Arts at the Armory.

O, The Heaviness!
O, The Heaviness!

Big Brave brings the noise at Somergloom at Arts at the Armory.

Fuzzstival Saturday
Fuzzstival Saturday

The local-ish music festival takes over Saturday at Arts at the Armory.

 

Brighton Music Hall

158 Brighton Ave, Allston, MA 02134

Web

Brighton Music Hall: Live Reviews
We’re All In This Together
We’re All In This Together
 

City Winery Boston

80 Beverly St, Boston, MA 02114

Web

 

Crystal Ballroom

55 Davis Square, Somerville, MA 02144

Web

 

Middle East

472 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA 02139

Web

 

ONCE

Pop-up venue; regular series at 0 Windsor Place, Somerville, MA 02143

Web

 

Paradise Rock Club

967 Commonwealth Ave, Boston, MA 02215

Web

 

Regent Theatre

7 Medford St., Arlington, MA 02474

Web

 

Shalin Liu

37 Main St, Rockport, MA 01966

Web

 

Sonia

10 Brookline St, Cambridge, MA 02139

Web

 

Soundcheck Studios

150 Corporate Park Dr., Pembroke, MA 02359

Web

 

The Sinclair

52 Church St, Cambridge, MA 02138

Web

Tracks
Nyesui Loe and Loman: “50,000 YEN”
Nyesui Loe and Loman: “50,000 YEN”

A glitzy downtempo soul-inflected hip hop promenade.

Public Faces: “All The Luck”
Public Faces: “All The Luck”

Mellow, Beatles’ psych-tinged popper.

girl ultra: “bruce willisss”
girl ultra: “bruce willisss”

Bruce Willis is in a strange space.

Time and Place: “Liar and a Cheat”
Time and Place: “Liar and a Cheat”

The folk punkers are back at it with a new single.

JPEGMAFIA: “Exmilitary”
JPEGMAFIA: “Exmilitary”

Hip hop drama don drops a medium tempo banger.

Sulaiman: “What Other Options”
Sulaiman: “What Other Options”

A medium tempo hip hop ambler.

Blue Heron: “Qui n’aroit autre deport”
Blue Heron: “Qui n’aroit autre deport”

A medieval banger from everyone’s favorite early music group.

Perfect Saturday: “Christmas In My Hometown”
Perfect Saturday: “Christmas In My Hometown”

An acoustic punk Xmas strummer.

Cinchel: “Dance Butterfly Rosebush”
Cinchel: “Dance Butterfly Rosebush”

Noise, experiments, experimental noise.

James Brandon Lewis: “Send Seraphic Beings”
James Brandon Lewis: “Send Seraphic Beings”

Tenor saxophone in the new Old School fashion.

SUSS: “Flight”
SUSS: “Flight”

Cosmic Americana?

Daniel Knox: “Don’t Forget To Cry”
Daniel Knox: “Don’t Forget To Cry”

Where in the world is Daniel Knox?

Claire Rousay: “iii”
Claire Rousay: “iii”

Film scores are not everyone’s cup of tea.

Pearl Sugar: “FKA Unicorn”
Pearl Sugar: “FKA Unicorn”

Kind of a rangy, dissonant mid-90s Sonic Youth-style intro.

p1nkf1re: “red 155”
p1nkf1re: “red 155”

Don’t lean on Aphex Twin comparisons in your writing.

Jessica Pratt: “Better Hate”
Jessica Pratt: “Better Hate”

What you been up to lately, Mexican Summer?

felicia: “waitsfield river”
felicia: “waitsfield river”

A sweet lofi folk strummer.

Albums
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.

Already Dead: My Collar Is Blue
Already Dead: My Collar Is Blue

Already Dead remembers punk’s roots in political dissidence on their latest LP My Collar Is Blue.

Dear Nora: human futures
Dear Nora: human futures

The band out of Joshua Tree gets real about life, memory, and crustaceans.

Live Reviews
Tracers
Tracers

Trace Mountains outlines summits at Deep Cuts.

A Day at the Symphony
A Day at the Symphony

It’s the 2001 Space Odyssey opener, dummy, at Symphony Hall.

Up On The Bill
Up On The Bill

Otis Shanty celebrate a new album at Crystal Ballroom.

What’s the Fuzzstival?
What’s the Fuzzstival?

Greg Freeman closes out a doozy at the Amory.

A Large Wooden Ship
A Large Wooden Ship

The NEC Jazz Orchestra sings “Happy Birthday” to Charles Ives at Jordan Hall.

A Surprisingly Common Bird
A Surprisingly Common Bird

Blue Heron goes casual at First Church of Cambridge.

Yes, It Always Smells Like Chocolate Chip Cookies In Here
Yes, It Always Smells Like Chocolate Chip Cookies In Here

The Somerville Songwriter Sessions hit the Rooted Cafe.

A Marionette Without Strings Is Just A Puppet
A Marionette Without Strings Is Just A Puppet

Illuminati Hotties miss the clean rhyme at The Sinclair.

Bildungsregent
Bildungsregent

Spider Water celebrates Exit Plan release at Regent Theatre.

Dizzy Spell
Dizzy Spell

Half Dizzy circles the pit at Midway Cafe.

La Isla del Punk
La Isla del Punk

Dávila 666 shines the star at Deep Cuts.

Costume Party Animals
Costume Party Animals

Hot Slander come dressed to impress at Silhouette Lounge.

Schächter? I Hardly Know Her!
Schächter? I Hardly Know Her!

Daniela Schächter mashes the monster at The Mad Monkfish.

Singles, Singles, Singles
Singles, Singles, Singles

The Daylilies and Ruby Grove trot out new singles at The Jungle.

Worcester, Denied!
Worcester, Denied!

Sailor Down headlines a Worcester house show at Midway Cafe.

“Ukulele” Is Hard To Spell
“Ukulele” Is Hard To Spell

Deerhoof miss a priceless collab opportunity at Arts at the Armory.

Pop Goes the UPSAHL
Pop Goes the UPSAHL

UPSAHL stylizes to all caps at Paradise Rock Club.

Maxim and Sushi Rolls
Maxim and Sushi Rolls

Maxim Lubarsky salts the edamame at The Mad Monkfish.

Peace In the Middle East
Peace In the Middle East

Claire Rousay does not explode your cellphone at Middle East.

Chagall PACKED
Chagall PACKED

Awnthay tchotchkes Chagall PAC at Moon Over Salem.


Lotsa Folkin’ Noise
Lotsa Folkin’ Noise

Kara Holbert Howe entertains Gulu-Gulu Cafe at Moon Over Salem.


Bleeps and Bloops
Bleeps and Bloops

Megan From Work drops into Bit Bar at Moon Over Salem.


Astral Witch
Astral Witch

Astral Bitch casts a spell on Cinema Salem at Moon Over Salem.

King Daddy Over the Moon
King Daddy Over the Moon

Prince Daddy & the Hyena close out Ames Hall at Moon Over Salem.

Hack The Planet Day
Hack The Planet Day

Renoly Santiago hosts Hackers at Somerville Theatre.

Just Shreddin
Just Shreddin

Trophy Husband participates at The 4th Wall.

Green Day Riot Day
Green Day Riot Day

Motion Sick stomps the barricades at Silhouette Lounge.

I Put A Fainting Spell On You
I Put A Fainting Spell On You

Marika Hackman drops bodies at The Sinclair.

Punk Sax
Punk Sax

Dumb Waiter blow their horn at the 4th Wall.

Tabula Rasa
Tabula Rasa

Blankslate fly miles high at Midway Cafe.

The Backyard
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.

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Quiz Time! The Hump Nights giveaways get an upgrade.

Interview: Arms and Sleepers
Interview: Arms and Sleepers

A chat with Arms and Sleepers from the Archives.

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News reflects on what the site fucked up (and did right!) in 2023.

One Door Closes, The 4th Wall Opens
One Door Closes, The 4th Wall Opens

Andrew Stern; interview with DIY venue 4th Wall organizers; and more.

AER079: You Can Be A Wesley
AER079: You Can Be A Wesley

An Ampeater Review of You Can Be A Wesley from the Archives.

Just Ask Ansel
Just Ask Ansel

The nation’s leading incel advice columnist on love and life.

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News kicks off Hump Nights.

Sharon Is Carin’
Sharon Is Carin’

The nation’s leading wellness goddess on living better.

Letter from the Editor
Letter from the Editor

Hump Day News supports Bandcamp United on May Day and every day!

Interview: Sammy Yager of Birthdays
Interview: Sammy Yager of Birthdays

A chat with the Sammy Yager of Birthdays from the Archives.

Just Ask Ansel
Just Ask Ansel

The nation’s leading incel advice columnist on love and life.

HDN Staff
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