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.
Thu Feb 28 2013
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Free things to do in New York City
Cheap things to do in NYC: Your guide to bargains in Gotham
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
New York Philharmonic Young People's Concert
- Price band: 1/4
Today's presentation introduces mini maestros to famous compositions from the Baroque period, including "Winter" from Vivaldi's Four Seasons, selections from Purcell's Fairy Queen and Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 5. Little ones will make some music of their own in the preshow music fair (12:45pm), testing out different instruments and taking
- Avery Fisher Hall (at Lincoln Center) 132 W 65th St, at Broadway
- Sat May 25
SaRon Crenshaw Band + Clarence Spady
- Price band: 1/4
Charismatic jazz and blues guitarist SaRon Crenshaw works the crowd in the headlining slot, while Clarence Spady lays down bluesy grooves (exhibited on his most recent release, Just Between Us) and maintains his Terra Blues presence tonight.
- Terra Blues 149 Bleecker St, between La Guardia Pl and Thompson St
- Sat May 25
Active Bird Community + Micks + The N'ere Dowells
- Price band: 1/4
Active Bird Community does tender, bittersweet indie rock with shades of Modest Mouse.
- Santos Party House 96 Lafayette St, at Walker St
- Sat May 25
The Motor Tom + Rabbit & the Hare + The Bonesetters + Cheerleader + Kevin McWha Steele
- Price band: 1/4
It's a typically eclectic bill on the LES: Cali singer Marisa Duchowny teams up with New Yorker Neill MacCallum for indie-folk duo Rabbit & the Hare, while Cheerleader offers shimmery, sweetly melodic guitar pop—perfect for summer in the city. Check the lovely "New Daze" on the band's website cheerleadersounds.com to get a taste.
ErstAEU Showcase
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
For some time now it’s been possible to labor under the impression that electroacoustic improvisation (or EAI) is exclusively available on import, primarily the domain of Japanese, German and English performers. Actually, that’s never been the case; Americans have contributed to this outlier scene and its constantly morphing aesthetic from the
- Issue Project Room 110 Livingston St, at Boerum Pl
- Sat May 25
The Upper Crust + Lord Classic + B.A.L.L. + New York Junk
- Price band: 1/4
The Upper Crust is a band with an unabashed gimmick—dressing up like Colonial-era elite—but don't let that deter you from digging the Boston quartet's solid take on power pop.
- The Bowery Electric 327 Bowery, between 2nd and 3rd Sts
- Sat May 25
Gaucho
- Price band: 1/4
Gaucho—a Bay Area group that gigs weekly at San Francisco's Amnesia (the Barbès of the West)—does an apt mix of klezmer, choro, swing and street beat, anchored by Django-style material.
- Joe's Pub at the Public Theater 425 Lafayette St, between Astor Pl and E 4th St
- Sat May 25
Honor by August + Stone Cold Fox + These Animals + White Laces + Flashlights
- Price band: 1/4
Washington, D.C., outfit Honor by August pumps out energetic if predictable pop-rock. Fun fact: They got their big break opening for Hanson.
- Mercury Lounge 217 E Houston St, between Essex and Ludlow Sts, 10002
- Sat May 25
Keystone Revisited: The Music of Garcia-Saunders
- Price band: 1/4
Renowned electric-bass journeyman Tony Saunders celebrates the legacy of his father—world-class keyboardist Merl Saunders—enlisting a quartet of first-call jammers to cover Live at Keystone, a classic LP dad waxed alongside plucky longtime collaborator Jerry Garcia.
- Brooklyn Bowl 61 Wythe Ave, at North 11th St, 11211
- Sat May 25
Converge + Meek Is Murder + Trench Foot + Dead Serious
- Price band: 1/4
- Critics choice
It’s rare that the most well-known exponent of a style is also the best, and that’s why Converge stands out. This twentysomething Salem, MA, metalcore quartet is in the benchmark business: Its 2012 LP, All We Love We Leave Behind, found the band operating at peak strength, sounding both harrowing and heartfelt. Tonight Converge plays an unusually
- Saint Vitus 1120 Manhattan Ave, between Box and Clay Sts, 11222
- Sat May 25
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