Cheap New York: Affordable live-music concerts

Enjoying live music on the cheap in New York is easy—if you follow our handy, continually updated guide.

Lia Ices live at Mercury Lounge

Lia Ices live at Mercury Lounge Photograph: wagz2it

Looking for a cheap New York City concert? Of course you are! Check out our genre-spanning list of inexpensive gigs going on around town—and don’t forget about these free venues. Who knows—you could catch the next big thing.


RECOMMENDED: Full list of cheap things to do in NYC


Terveet Kädet + Iron Lung + Massgrav + Wake + Lotus Fucker

  • Price band: 1/4

Terveet Kädet, an influential Finnish hardcore band with a 30-year-plus history, rages at Saint Vitus in the wake of an appearance at Baltimore's Maryland Deathfest. Also on tap: Iron Lung's harrowingly intense brand of extreme-rock catharsis, informed equally by hardcore, grindcore and doom metal.

  1. Saint Vitus 1120 Manhattan Ave, between Box and Clay Sts, 11222
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Astrograss + Shapiro's Shanty Shakedown + Dr. Zsa's Powdered Zydeco + Luna Sisters and More

  • Price band: 1/4

Local folkie Jordan Shapiro celebrates his birthday by helming a bluegrass-y benefit for Sunny's—the oldest bar on the Brooklyn waterfront—which took a battering during Hurricane Sandy.

  1. Jalopy Theatre 315 Columbia St, between Hamilton Ave and Woodhull St, 11231
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Total Control + Raspberry Bulbs + Crazy Spirit + Survival

  • Price band: 1/4

Melbourne's Total Control offers jangly, melodic punk with shades of gothy electropop. Joining the band here are Raspberry Bulbs, who serve up midtempo misanthropy that's both enervating and addictive.

  1. 285 Kent Ave 285 Kent Ave, at South 1st St, 11211
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Andy Statman

  • Price band: 1/4

Andy Statman’s fleet-fingered and inventive mandolin playing expands the scope of a folk instrument with seemingly known dimensions. In his equally accomplished clarinet work, Statman melds Eastern European Jewish music with mid-’60s jazz.

  1. Barbès 376 9th St, at Sixth Ave, 11215
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Show and Prove 2013

  • Price band: 1/4

Rising MCs compete for a performance slot on the main stage of the 2013 Brooklyn Hip-Hop Festival.

  1. Littlefield 622 DeGraw St, between Third and Fourth Aves
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Natural Child Family Band + Liquor Store + Daddy Long Legs

  • Price band: 1/4

Fuzzed-out Nashville boogie-punk throwbacks Natural Child—think of ’em as Jerry Lee Lewis gone garage—headline in the ’Burg.

  1. Mercury Lounge 217 E Houston St, between Essex and Ludlow Sts, 10002
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Patrick Cornelius Trio

  • Price band: 1/4

Saxist Patrick Cornelius settles in at this Village jazz haunt, where he'll be joined by bassist organist Jared Gold and drummer Ulysses Owens.

  1. The Bar Next Door (downstairs at La Lanterna di Vittorio) 129 MacDougal St, between 3rd and 4th Sts
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Dead Confederate + Roadkill Ghost Choir

  • Price band: 1/4

Dead Confederate’s Southern-rock references come from times more recent than the Allman Brothers era. The band’s penchant for long, psychedelic slow-burners should please fans of My Morning Jacket’s pastoral dirges or even Widespread Panic’s shadowy solos. This week, Dead Confederate hits both Hoboken and Williamsburg.

  1. Knitting Factory 361 Metropolitan Ave, at Havemeyer St
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps + Xenia Rubinos + Cold Blood Club

  • Price band: 1/4

Caroline Smith, who fronts folky Minneapolis indie-rock outfit the Good Night Sleeps, sings in a stylized, Joanna Newsom–y lilt, while opener Xenia Rubinos splits the difference between Tune-Yards–like vocal experimentation and jazz fusion.

  1. Union Pool 484 Union Ave, at Meeker Ave, 11211
  2. Thu May 23
More info

Friend Roulette + EULA + Matty Fasano

  • Price band: 1/4

Whimsical chamberpop outfit Friend Roulette (which features several ARMS members) hits the LES with a new album in tow, I'm Sorry You Hit Your Head, and like-minded pals including ARMS bassist Matty Fasano.

  1. Mercury Lounge 217 E Houston St, between Essex and Ludlow Sts, 10002
  2. Thu May 23
More info
See all cheap live music in New York City

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