Baltimore may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of live music, but there are several venues in the city to see a live show. Most of these places are small and intimate, and tickets are not too expensive or hard to come by. While the rest of the city has continued to revive as young people move into the once-abandoned neighborhoods, so has the music scene here. Several new venues have opened in the past two years, providing even more options to see live music.
The 8X10 (Previously The Funk Box)
Address – 10 East Cross St, Federal Hill
Phone – 410-625-2000
Website – www.the8x10.com
Located on the main drag of Federal Hill, one of Baltimore’s liveliest neighborhoods, is the 8X10. The 8X10, previously the Funk Box was recently renovated and renamed. The venue hosts mostly local artists, and is known for booking up and coming artists. The box office is open from 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM every day, and stays open until 11:00 PM during shows. Tickets are also available through TicketMaster, and online booking should be available on the website soon.
Ram’s Head Live
Address – 20 Market Place, Inner Harbor
Phone – 410-244-8854
Ram’s Head Live is a new addition to Baltimore’s Power Plant Live, an “adult playground” of bars and restaurants in Baltimore’s inner harbor. The Ram’s Head is a gorgeous, 2 level venue with great acoustics and a funky interior with 5 bars and video screens everywhere. It is the sister venue of the Ram’s Head in Annapolis, Maryland. The venue is larger than most of the live music venues in the city, and thus attracts smaller national artists such as Better than Ezra, Alanis Morisette, G. Love and comedy acts such as the guys from the Howard Stern Show. Tickets can be ordered online, from the box office, or on TicketMaster.
Fletchers
Address – 701 S. Bond Street, Fell’s Point
Phone – 410-558-1889
Website – www.fletchersbar.com
Fletchers is one of Baltimore’s best venues for live music. Don’t be deceived by it’s location on a quiet street in Fell’s Point – this place rocks. Downstairs is a bar that serves food, but upstairs is a space that holds about 150 music fans. It’s small, dark, smoky, intimate and awesome. Even though it’s small and intimate, it gets pretty big name acts such as 3 Doors Down, the Black Eyed Peas, 10,000 Maniacs, Good Charlotte, and the White Stripes. Tickets can be purchased at the Sound Garden, located on Thames Street, or through TicketMaster for an extra charge. Although it’s not a large venue, and you can see the artist from virtually anywhere, be sure to get there early if you want to be up front – a line forms along Aliceanna street before the show.
Baltimore may not be the mecca of live music, but there are certainly several spots to see a show. While these are not the only three places to see music, they are some of the more popular. If you are from out of town, you can’t go wrong with these three popular venues, all in safe neighborhoods.
