Louisiana's Top Live Music Venues
To truly understand Louisiana's music, you've got to hear it live.
To truly understand Louisiana's music, you've got to hear it live.
Louisiana is made of live music, and the beauty of its musical tradition is that it's participatory. People of all ages and backgrounds dance, often in the same club to the same bands. The lines between the bands, the music and the audience are often blurred in the juke joints, honky-tonks and dance halls of Louisiana, creating an energy you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but pay a visit to these venues, and you'll be sure to pass a good time.
Buck & Johnny's
Blue Moon Saloon
Jolly Inn
Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall
Guide to Louisiana's Live Music Venues
Blue Moon Saloon
Blue Moon Saloon — part bar, part venue and part tourist hostel — hosts Lafayette's finest music seven days a week. Everyone from the young-blood Cajun groups like Lost Bayou Ramblers to world-renowned groups like Steve Riley & the Mamou Playboys tears into it on the Blue Moon's back porch. It's a guaranteed good time no matter who's on the bill.
Bootlegger’s Bar
Bootlegger's features popular acts and a nice dance floor with plenty of room to show off your moves. They host everything from DJs to country groups, zydeco performers and more in a rustic Prohibition-era atmosphere. Sample dozens of flavors of moonshine (served in mason jars, of course) amid recycled wood and whiskey barrels.
Buck and Johnny's
Start your music adventure at Buck and Johnny's with a zydeco breakfast and end the night with rocking live music. Located on Breaux Bridge's picturesque main drag, this formerly abandoned car shop has been transformed into a multi-use restaurant and event space. Head to the Filling Station for a crisp brew and enjoy the open-air patio in between music sets — and don’t forget to wear your dancing shoes!
Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall
The appeal of Dew Drop Jazz & Social Hall isn’t just its music — it's found in the building itself. Constructed in 1895 by members of Mandeville’s African American community, the simple, unadorned wooden building once hosted New Orleans jazz musicians who took steamboats across Lake Pontchartrain to play. These days, the venue hosts traditional jazz concerts throughout the spring and fall.
Enoch's Irish Pub
Enoch's is a homey pub in Monroe that has been playing congenial host to area blues and folk musicians since 1980. Artists like Jerry Jeff Walker and Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown have graced the stage, which also hosts bluegrass and Irish music sessions. Like any proper pub, Enoch's is the kind of place you want to make your home base.
Fred's Lounge
On Saturday mornings, head to Fred's Lounge, where staff hosts the Cajun music radio show that has been running since the 1960s. It's a good time out in the Acadiana prairie. Don't be shocked when the matriarch and widow of the club's founder, Tante Sue, takes a pull from the Schnapps bottle holstered to her waist and pops a piece of boudin into your mouth from a cardboard box as she makes her way around the dance floor.
J.O.S.H. Lounge
J.O.S.H. stands for Jazz, Old School and Heritage, and that's exactly what you get at this venue. Jam to talented performers playing jazz, funk, reggae and more, take a dance class, or simply enjoy sitting on the front patio while sipping a signature cocktail. The atmosphere here is among the best in North Louisiana.
Manship Theatre
As part of Baton Rouge’s Shaw Center for the Arts, the Manship Theatre features top-notch dance, theatrical and musical performances. This is one of the crown jewels of Baton Rouge’s cultural scene, notable for its diverse lineup — everything from Cuban and Motown bands to Grammy Award-winning musicians.
Panorama Music House
Panorama Music House is a hot spot in downtown Lake Charles for music. Stop in any day of the week for amazing music, food and drinks in a cool atmosphere. This isn’t your typical spot for jazz brunch: Panorama Music House hosts themed events like Yacht Rock Brunch and Pajama Jams (yes, where you can jam out in your pajamas — it’s a judgment-free zone!). Hop on stage for karaoke night or observe the talent from the balcony with a pizza or burger with Panorama fries.
Preservation Hall
Tipitina's
Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
Preservation Hall
There's no more traditional a jazz haunt than Preservation Hall, a sparse square room in the French Quarter. Pull up a spot on the floor and prepare to discover what true New Orleans jazz is as the world’s finest practitioners play their hearts out every night of the week. Be prepared to tip at the end when those saints come marching in.
Ruby's Roadhouse
Located in Mandeville, on the north side of Lake Pontchartrain and a quick drive from New Orleans, Ruby's Roadhouse features big and local musicians. The sounds of New Orleans-style jazz and brass funk, as well as the Cajun tunes born from the bayou, pour out of this simple little venue. The building is more than 100 years old and has been known as a popular venue for African American performers since the 1930s.
Shreveport Municipal Auditorium
In the mid-1900s, Shreveport emerged as a recording and entertainment hub, largely in part to its popular Louisiana Hayride live radio show broadcast from the Shreveport Municipal Auditorium. Louisiana Hayride debuted on April 3, 1948, and by 1953, the program was syndicated on the CBS radio network and reaching 198 affiliates across the country. In 1954, Elvis Presley played his first show there — and the rest is history. In fact, it was Presley’s last performance here that prompted the show’s emcee to coin the phrase “Elvis has left the building” in an attempt to appease frenzied fans who were shocked he would play there no more. Today, visitors can still attend shows and even take a tour backstage.
Teddy's Juke Joint
Zachary
Teddy Johnson was born in the house that is now one of the last juke joints on Highway 61. At Teddy's Juke Joint, Johnson — donning his signature cape — holds court from the shrine-like DJ booth in the back, shouting to the crowd over blues and R&B records or summoning the band to the stage. A dizzying, Christmas-light-draped piece of living history, Teddy's is not to be missed.
Tipitina's
A trip to New Orleans isn't complete without experiencing live music at Tipitina's. This jamming venue, located in an old warehouse off Napoleon Avenue and Tchoupitoulas Street, was founded in 1977. The name Tipitina's was inspired by Professor Longhair song of the same name; Professor Longhair played at the venue until his passing in 1980. The venue has hosted many other New Orleans music legends, including Dr. John, the Neville Brothers and Trombone Shorty.
The Texas Club
The Texas Club has been Baton Rouge’s go-to spot for big-name country and rock since the early ’80s, and it still feels like a honky-tonk at heart. George Strait, Garth Brooks, Chris Stapleton and the Allman Brothers Band have all performed on this stage, and the room is big enough for a major show yet intimate enough to keep fans coming back.
Learn more about music on Frenchmen Street in New Orleans, or get inspired by Louisiana's diverse music and festivals.
