Discover Melbourne’s best live music spots, from iconic stages to hidden gems.
Melbourne’s live music scene is world-famous, and with good reason – the city boasts more music venues per capita than almost anywhere in the world. Whether you’re a visitor looking for a gig or a local chasing your next favourite band, these ten spots guarantee a good night out any day of the week.
The Corner Hotel (Richmond)
Starting where it matters, The Corner Hotel in Richmond is a staple for any music lover. You haven’t really gigged in Melbourne until you’ve stood shoulder to shoulder at the Corner, pint in one hand, the other raised to the ceiling as the room heaves around you.
With a capacity of 800, this Richmond institution has hosted names like Arctic Monkeys, Tash Sultana, Amy Shark, Paul Kelly – and just about every act that’s ever mattered in between.
The rooftop beer garden is an institution in its own right, and the main bandroom somehow always feels both massive and intimate – almost as if the crowd is one collective pulse. Expect a crowd of die-hards, locals, and fresh converts all vibing like it’s religion. Because here, it kind of is.
Check out the gig guide here.
The Toff in Town (CBD)
Tucked behind an unassuming red door inside Curtin House on Swanston Street, The Toff is part jazz bar, part underground hideaway, and all parts atmosphere. While it only fits around 300 people, what it lacks in size it makes up for in velvet-curtained drama and perfectly tuned acoustics.
The crowd? Creative, curious, and a little bit glam – the kind of people who show up early and stay late. With cosy booths, great cocktails, and a train-carriage-meets-speakeasy vibe, The Toff is where you’ll catch local artists everyone will be talking about next year.
Check out the gig guide here
The Tote (Collingwood)
Heading to the heart of Melbourne’s inner north, if you’re a fan of classic grunge rock vibes, The Tote in Collingwood is as raw, loud, and proudly unapologetic as you can get. If those crumbling brick walls could talk, they’d scream tales of sweaty punk sets, raucous garage rock, plenty of heavy metal, and enough guitar distortion to shake the tiles off the roof.
With a capacity just shy of 400, this is where legends like The Drones, Camp Cope, Amyl & the Sniffers and King Gizzard cut their teeth. While you’ll often see a hoard of heavy metal heads and screamo fans – they’re likely to be the friendliest punters you’ll ever meet. You don’t just go to The Tote — you commit to it. It’s for the purists, the moshers, the black-clad faithful.
But this place nearly died – not once, but twice. In 2010, harsh liquor licensing laws forced it to close, triggering a 20,000-strong protest that became a turning point for Melbourne’s live music scene. It reopened months later, triumphant. Then in 2023, rising debts pushed it back onto the market. Fans rallied again, raising over $3 million through a record-breaking crowdfunding campaign to buy the venue and place it in a trust, protecting The Tote as a live music venue (hopefully) forever.
Check out the gig guide here
Shotkickers (Thornbury)
Shotkickers is the new kid with the old-school soul. Housed in a retrofitted Thornbury shopfront, this 150-cap room feels like your coolest mate’s house party – if that mate had a killer sound system, excellent taste in home grown Aussie hip-hop and alt-country, and poured whisky like water. Think Cash Savage, Floodlights, and the kind of rootsy rock nights that start soft and end rowdy.
There’s no pretension at Shotkickers, just a warm, wood-panelled glow, a rotating tap list, and a regular stream of locals and artists who treat it like a second lounge room.
Check out the gig guide here
The Night Cat (Fitzroy)
Straight off the number eleven tram on Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, when you walk into The Night Cat, you’re instantly surrounded by music – literally. The 360 degree circular stage puts performers in the centre of the room and the crowd in constant motion. Funk, soul, salsa, afrobeat, if it makes you move, it belongs here.
This is the kind of place where you dance with strangers and walk out drenched in rhythm.
Pumping dance-floor killers that stretch long past midnight, and hosting artists like The Cat Empire, The Bamboos, and Big Wet, The Night Cat an inclusive and unique venue where the city lets it all go.
Check out the gig guide here
Northcote Social Club (Northcote)
Another absolute Melbourne institution – there’s something undeniably perfect about Northcote Social Club. It’s not flashy, but it’s a great-sounding, well-loved 300-person room attached to a pub with reliably cold beers and surprisingly good food.
Big Scary, Julia Jacklin, Angie McMahon, and Ocean Alley have all played here, often, before they blew up. The vibe is effortlessly cool, and the crowd screams inner north to a T. Think craft beer, vintage denim, and genuine enthusiasm for new music.
Check out the gig guide here
Howler (Brunswick)
Industrial chic with an arty twist, Howler is the kind of place that could double as a gallery by day and a Berlin-style club by night. The bandroom fits around 500, with crisp sound, striking visuals, and a crowd that’s as into underground electronica as they are local psychedelic-rock.
Artists like Genesis Owusu, Stella Donnelly, and Mildlife have all lit up its moody black walls. Out front, the bar is sprawling and stylish, and the courtyard is one of the best pre-show hangouts in the north.
Check out the gig guide here
Northcote Theatre (Northcote)
One of Melbourne’s most stunning mid-sized venues, Northcote Theatre is where grandeur meets grit. Recently revamped, the art deco interior, curved balconies, and stained-glass windows give this 1500-capacity venue a cinematic feel, whether you’re watching Northeast Party House tear the roof off, or soaring along with Kita Alexander or The Dandy Warhols. It’s got that big-room magic without the impersonal vibe; a place where you feel the bass in your chest, but still lock eyes with the band. The crowd? Wide-ranging and passionate, from teens to silver foxes, united in their love of live music.
Check out the gig guide here
The Croxton Bandroom (Thornbury)
Nestled just up the road from Northcote Social on High Street, there’s something really special about The Croxton (The Croc). Maybe it’s the way the sound punches clean through the chest, or the fact that the room just feels made for crisp musical intimacy. With a 900-person capacity, it sits in that sweet spot where it’s big enough to host international names like Lord Huron and Yungblud, as well as home-grown names like The Jungle Giants, The Chats, and Donny Benét, but tight enough to still feel like the band is within arm’s reach.
The space is raw but refined – no frills, just floorboards, killer lighting, and acoustics that swallow you whole. The Croc draws a crowd that’s half Thornbury locals and half band-chasing obsessives, the kind who plan their year around tour dates and own merch from acts you’ve never heard of (yet).
Check out the gig guide here
Forum Melbourne (CBD)
Last but not least is the CBD’s Forum. You don’t just go to a gig at the Forum, you experience it. With its moody blue lights, Greco-Roman statues, and star-speckled ceiling, it feels less like a venue and more like a fever dream of 1920s grandeur.
Holding around 2,000, it’s big enough for names like Florence + The Machine, Nick Cave, and Gang of Youths, and The Paper Kites, but intimate enough that every lyric feels personal. Right in the heart of the city, Forum is a rite of passage and a place where you leave a little changed every time.
Check out the gig guide here
So there you have it – a tour of Melbourne’s loudest, sweatiest, most soul-shaking live music spaces.
These aren’t just venues; they’re cathedrals of sound, time capsules of culture, and the places we go to feel something real. Whether it’s your first gig or your five-hundredth, step inside, grab a drink, and let the music do what it does best.