View Shows
View Shows
Where did you attend your first concert? Mine was at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles. It was Counting Crows touring their second album, and for every detail that can be recalled of the actual performance is a bit of memory on how the space felt. The Wiltern was seated back then, and from the ornate chandelier to the first glimpse at a merch stand, the lasting impression was of how big everything felt, how a venue was a place you could get lost in, where the rules of reality didn't necessarily apply.
Of course, part of that feeling is just youth, but the great venues do have a transportive quality. Details of the box office or the bathrooms or the bar all hold their own weight, building significance both in spite of and because of the experiences held in the rooms. And some of these rooms are better than others. Sure, the most unexceptional concert venues might be near and dear to our hearts because of the shows we saw there or the people we met, but the really great venues go beyond that. There is history between their walls, features that are unlike any other concert space, and state-of-the-art lighting and sound that allow for artists to realize their vision of live presentation.
We took all of this into account when selecting the best 100 venues in the US. Both major and smaller markets are represented, while the sizes range from arenas to bars. There are venues whose history extends back 100 years, and there are others built in this century. But they all hold a certain common ground. A big one is the booking, with most still lining their schedule with the best talent. A few that don't make their money on national touring acts are known for booking top-tier local acts. All of these venues, though, are known for quality shows regardless of who is actually up on stage.
--
87.
George's Majestic Lounge
Fayetteville, AR.
Established 1927
--
The longest-running club in Arkansas sure looks the part, with its rustic brick interior, worn-in atmosphere, and impressive collection of University of Arkansas yearbooks dating all the way back to 1911. (If you're a regular, they might even ask you to sign one.)
George's Majestic Lounge began hosting regular live shows sometime back in the 1970s, and it's a good bet that some of the white-bearded dudes sitting at the bar on any given night were there for at least a few of them.
These days, the music tends to skew toward blues and roots rock (this is the South, remember), and luminaries such as Robert Cray, Leon Russell, and Charlie Robison have been known to stop by from time to time. It's hard to blame them, seeing as how there aren't many bars like this left in the world.
