Are you a big music fan? Just two hours down the road awaits a city with a largely undiscovered music and nightlife scene.

Whatever your favourite genre, Buffalo has all the shows and concerts you’re looking for.

Over the years, many big-name acts have taken the stage at the city's major venues, like Shea’s Performing Arts Center, Kleinhans Music Hall, and KeyBank Center. But beyond those big-ticket performances, The City of Good Neighbours has a rich, underrated music history that runs deep! 

Buffalo is a city where Rick James, Ani DiFranco and the Goo Goo Dolls once found their sounds — and where next-gen tunesmiths continue to fill its clubs every night, performing everything from rock and bluegrass to jazz, punk, folk and hip-hop.

Where legends played

Many of Buffalo’s venues have been entertaining visitors for generations. The iconic Town Ballroom dates back to the 1940s when it was known as the Town Casino, hosting legends like Frank Sinatra and Nat "King" Cole. And to this day, the beautifully renovated venue still welcomes artists of all kinds to its two stages.

A short distance away, the historic Colored Musicians Club once brought in the likes of John Coltrane, Dizzy Gillespie, and Miles Davis. Following a renovation and expansion, the club will reopen to visitors in 2025. 

A city musically reimagined

In Buffalo, even some unexpected spaces are filled with song. Stroll through Silo City’s concrete grain silos and look out for live music, or take a walk past the front porches of homes in the Elmwood Village during the neighbourhood's annual Porchfest.

Or, head to Asbury Hall, a former church that singer (and Buffalo native) Ani DiFranco transformed into a performance space.

Small stages, big sound

Sometimes, though, it's the smallest stages that bring the biggest noise. From Nietzsche’s in Allentown, home to the city’s longest-running open mic, to the Mohawk Place, where decades of epic sets by undiscovered bands drip from the walls, you’ll find live music options throughout the city’s neighbourhoods nearly every night.

So, are you ready to rock?! Or jazz? Or folk? Or is it time to indie?

Buffalo’s story of sounds is being written one gig at a time, as musicians — homegrown or passing through — take the stage for performances you won’t forget.

There’s music everywhere; explore it for yourself! Head over to Visit Buffalo Niagara to start planning your trip now.