Your Guide to the Best Live Music in San Francisco

San Franciscans, you can be proud to live in the city with the one of the best music scenes in the US! From the grittiest punk rock to the soaring melodies of classical symphonies, there is a wide variety and talent around town that makes it easy to find live music. San Francisco shares its homegrown bands with the rest of the world, but you have to be here to enjoy the cutting-edge tunes as they emerge.

The History of San Francisco Music

• Jazz. In the 1940s and ’50s, San Francisco became the New York of the West Coast, with its thriving jazz and swing scene. Almost every major figure in jazz played in the famous clubs that lined San Francisco’s historic Fillmore Street. Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, and Billie Holliday bebopped in venues such as Bop City and the Havana Club. San Francisco’s Jazz Heritage Center now keeps these memories alive with its exhibits and historical programs.
• Rock. In the ’60s, San Francisco became the center of the hippie music scene, from folk rock acts to experimental bands. Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, and the Grateful Dead were just a few of the many big names to become famous playing shows in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood. Sly and the Family Stone also emerged in San Francisco with a new type of rock-inspired soul music.
• Punk. San Francisco continued to turn out new types of music well after the musical heydays of the ’60s. While the rest of the country was still listening to disco, San Francisco musicians were creating sounds no one had ever heard before. The radical politics of the Dead Kennedys was set to ferocious guitar chords. Later, the hardcore punk acts soon turned into heavy metal ’80s thrashers like Metallica.

Current Music Venues in San Francisco

Do you prefer cozy cafes, huge festivals, seedy rock clubs, or swanky lounges to hear live music? San Francisco has all that and more! Here are the best places to see live music in San Francisco as the city continues to create music history: