A band on stage under chandeliers at the Fillmore in San Francisco
Photo: swimfinfan / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Essentials

Live Music in San Francisco: The Best Venues for Every Kind of Night

The Fillmore, Great American Music Hall and the Warfield lead 14 guides. Small rooms, jazz, plus Oakland and Berkeley venues, sorted by the kind of night.

By Published

How it's made

The short answer. For a big-name show, the Fillmore, the Warfield and Great American Music Hall are the three rooms that come up most, each in 7 of the 14 guides read. For a small, loud night, the Chapel and Bottom of the Hill. For jazz, SFJAZZ. Across the bay, the Fox Theater in Oakland and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley are the two the guides name most. Oakland and Berkeley are their own cities with their own venues, a BART ride from San Francisco, and they get their own sections below.

Roam San Francisco read 14 guides on this question. The leaders are clear. Seven name each of the top three rooms, and five name each of the next four. After that, no venue gets more than three, so the long tail is a matter of taste. Roam San Francisco is a data platform as well as a guide, so the addresses and BART stations below come from each venue’s own page and from BART, and not from those guides. No ticket prices are printed. Shows sell out and prices move, so check the venue’s own page for yours. Every gig Roam has found is on the live music page.

What the guides agree on

The Fillmore for a headliner. Recommended by 7 of 14 guides read. Six of them call it historic or legendary. It’s at 1805 Geary Boulevard, per its own site, and Roam keeps a place page for it.

Great American Music Hall for an ornate room. Recommended by 7 of 14 guides read. Five stress the room itself, with its balconies and its age, and they put it a size below the Warfield. Its calendar lists genres from folk and metal to hip hop and jam band. See the place page.

The neon Great American Music Hall sign over O'Farrell Street
Photo: Mark Lea / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Warfield for a big theater night. Recommended by 7 of 14 guides read. All seven describe a large, historic theater built for national tours. It’s at 982 Market Street, per its site, and BART’s own list gives Powell Street as the station.

The white Warfield Theatre building on Market Street in San Francisco
Photo: BWChicago / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The Chapel for a small night with food. Recommended by 5 of 14 guides read. Guides call it a converted church with a bar and a kitchen. It’s at 777 Valencia Street, and its site links its food and drink to Curio Bar and marks the events it lists as all ages. See the place page.

SFJAZZ for jazz. Recommended by 5 of 14 guides read. It’s the purpose-built jazz hall that the guides send serious jazz fans to. BART names Civic Center/UN Plaza as the station.

The Fox Theater, Oakland. Recommended by 5 of 14 guides read. The Fox says on its own page that it’s a former movie house built in 1928, reopened in February 2009, with a capacity up to 2,800. See the place page.

Fox Theater, Oakland, San Francisco
Fox Theater, Oakland. Photo: Brad Greenlee / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

The Greek Theatre, Berkeley. Recommended by 5 of 14 guides read. It’s the outdoor one, on the UC Berkeley campus, and the guides tie it to summer. BART says to allow a 20-minute walk from Downtown Berkeley, or take the shuttle. See the place page.

Bottom of the Hill for a small rock club. Recommended by 3 of 14 guides read. They describe a club for local and touring bands, with a bar and a kitchen.

The Independent for rising acts. Recommended by 3 of 14 guides read. It’s at 628 Divisadero, per its site. The guides call it a stripped-down room where you’ll often be standing.

Bimbo’s 365 Club for a dressier night. Recommended by 3 of 14 guides read. It’s in North Beach, and one guide calls it a supper-club evening with close views of the stage. See the place page.

Club Deluxe for jazz and cocktails. Recommended by 3 of 14 guides read. It’s a small bar in the Haight with live jazz, and it comes up on every jazz-only list.

The Paramount and the New Parish in Oakland. Each recommended by 3 of 14 guides read. The Paramount is the Art Deco hall for a symphony or a big name, and the New Parish is the smaller room for up-and-coming acts and dance nights.

Eight more venues get two mentions each: Brick and Mortar Music Hall, Yoshi’s Oakland, the UC Theatre in Berkeley, the Boom Boom Room, the Masonic, Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, August Hall and Rickshaw Stop. Four guides also name Slim’s. It isn’t in Roam’s venue table and Roam hasn’t checked its schedule, so it’s left out here.

A big night: the headliner rooms

The Fillmore, the Warfield and, a notch smaller, Great American Music Hall are the usual answers. Pick on the size of the room, not the name. The Fillmore and the Warfield suit acts that sell out theaters. Great American Music Hall suits acts that want a room where the balcony hangs over the floor.

Two bigger San Francisco halls come up less often. The Masonic and Bill Graham Civic Auditorium each appear in 2 of 14 guides and host a few large shows a month. The live music page shows what’s on.

A small, loud night: the clubs

For a night where the band is close, the guides pick the Chapel, Bottom of the Hill and the Independent. They sit in three different parts of the city, which helps when you plan the evening around dinner.

  • The Mission. The Chapel is at 777 Valencia, and BART names 16th St Mission as its station. Brick and Mortar Music Hall is a few blocks away, and El Rio is on the same side of the neighborhood.
  • Potrero Hill. Bottom of the Hill, a rock club for local and touring bands.
  • Western Addition. The Independent on Divisadero, and the Fillmore is a short ride away, so a Fillmore night can start with dinner nearby.
  • North Beach. Bimbo’s 365 Club for a dressier evening, with Cobb’s Comedy Club on the same stretch if you want a second act.
Cobb's Comedy Club, North Beach, San Francisco
Cobb's Comedy Club, North Beach. Photo: Boris Kasimov / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

A jazz night

SFJAZZ is the headline, named by 5 of 14 guides. After that, three jazz-only guides agree on a second tier: Club Deluxe in the Haight, and Sheba Piano Lounge and BIX, which two jazz lists each name. The Boom Boom Room, in the Western Addition, comes up for blues, funk and jazz. In Oakland, Yoshi’s is the jazz club with dinner. Jazz rooms change their programs often, so check the calendar before you go.

A dinner-and-a-show night

Three rooms keep coming up when the evening includes food: the Chapel, Bimbo’s 365 Club and, across the bay, Yoshi’s. Book dinner as you would for any restaurant and check whether the show is seated or standing.

Oakland

Oakland is a separate city across the bay, and BART runs there directly. Three venues come up most.

  • Fox Theater. The big one, at 1807 Telegraph Avenue. BART’s own list names 19th St/Oakland as the station.
  • Paramount Theatre. The Art Deco hall a couple of blocks away, also at 19th St/Oakland, for symphony, blues and big names.
  • The New Parish. The smaller room, at 12th St/Oakland City Center on BART’s list, for dance nights and rising acts.
The lit vertical sign and facade of the Fox Theater in Oakland at night
Photo: Librarygroover / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

A fourth, Yoshi’s, is named by two guides, and Oakland’s own tourism site (Visit Oakland) adds Eli’s Mile High Club for punk and rock and the Sound Room for jazz and world music. Both are in Roam’s venue table.

Berkeley

Berkeley is the third place on the map, and it’s a different night from San Francisco’s. The Greek Theatre is the summer outdoor one, with a hillside bowl on the UC Berkeley campus. The UC Theatre and Cornerstone Berkeley, both listed by BART at Downtown Berkeley, are the club-sized options. Freight and Salvage is in Roam’s venue table, but none of the guides read name it, so it’s here as a lead to check, not a consensus pick.

A crowd filling the Greek Theatre in Berkeley during an evening concert
Photo: Matt Biddulph / Flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Verdicts by kind of night

A headliner you’ve waited years for. The Fillmore or the Warfield. Check which one is hosting your act before you book a hotel.

Powell and Market Cable Car Turntable, Union Square, San Francisco
Powell and Market Cable Car Turntable, Union Square. Photo: Thank You (25 Millions ) views / Flickr (CC BY 2.0)

A mid-sized touring band. Great American Music Hall.

Unknown local bands. Bottom of the Hill, the Chapel or the Independent.

Jazz. SFJAZZ, or Club Deluxe for a smaller room.

Dinner first. The Chapel, Bimbo’s or Yoshi’s in Oakland.

A summer evening outdoors. The Greek Theatre in Berkeley.

A big arena or theater show. The Fox or the Paramount in Oakland, or the Warfield in San Francisco.

You’re staying near Union Square. The Warfield is on Market Street, and BART’s own list names Powell Street as its station, the same station as Union Square. The Union Square guide lists what’s nearby.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best music venue in San Francisco?

The Fillmore, Great American Music Hall and the Warfield tie at 7 of the 14 guides read. The best one depends on the act and the size of the room you want.

Where can you see small bands in San Francisco?

The Chapel and Bottom of the Hill lead for small rooms, and the Independent is the third. Brick and Mortar Music Hall comes up in two guides.

Are there good live music venues in Oakland and Berkeley?

Yes. The Fox and the Paramount in Oakland and the Greek Theatre in Berkeley come up most. They’re separate cities from San Francisco, and BART connects them.

Can you get to the Fox Theater and the Greek Theatre by BART?

BART’s own list names 19th St/Oakland for the Fox and Downtown Berkeley for the Greek, with a 20-minute walk or a shuttle for the last stretch.

Where do I find tonight’s gigs?

Roam lists every gig it has found on the live music page, and the events page has the rest of the city. You can also open the map.

Sources: 14 guides in English, and 7 official pages

Guides in English

Official pages

Places in this guide

Photos show the actual places, licensed under Creative Commons and credited to their photographers.

Lake Merritt, Oakland Lake Merritt Oakland Photo: sfbaywalk UC Berkeley Campus and Campanile, Berkeley UC Berkeley Campus and Campanile Berkeley Photo: Martin Holst Friborg Pedersen City Lights Booksellers, North Beach City Lights Booksellers North Beach Photo: Dale Cruse - 12M views

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