Events on Central

Ten local acts, one stage, one of the oldest all-ages rock rooms left on Central Avenue turning 29. Launchpad birthday shows historically run long and loud, with the later slots drawing the most committed crowd, so arriving after midnight is a legitimate strategy. A ticket link exists, which suggests this one may sell or at...

Held in the BioPark's Japanese Garden, this annual ceremony draws on Buddhist traditions of honoring the dead through Bon Odori folk dancing, taiko drumming, and lantern rituals, the kind of observance that rewards showing up with some baseline knowledge of what you're witnessing. The Japanese Garden is one of the more quietly beautiful spaces in...

Twenty-nine years on Central is a legitimate milestone for a room that has outlasted a dozen trends and twice as many competing venues, and Launchpad tends to treat its own birthday as an excuse to go harder than usual. Lineup is still TBA at press time, so you're buying the room and the occasion as...

Clark Libbey and The High Desert Playboys bring their New Mexico-rooted country and americana sound to Thirsty Eye, one of the more relaxed rooms on the corridor for live music. The brewery format keeps things casual, which suits this band: it's the kind of set that rewards showing up early with a pint rather than...

A seated flamenco dinner show in the Old Town-adjacent room at Hotel Albuquerque, with live guitar, cante, and dance performed in close quarters. Tablao format means the performers work within arm's reach of the front tables, which is either thrilling or a lot depending on where you sit. Book tickets in advance and ask for...

Three bailaoras, a cantaor, and a guitarrista perform a full tablao-format flamenco show inside Hotel Albuquerque, right on Central. This is not dinner theater dressed up as flamenco; the company is rooted in serious training and the room is built for the form, which means the sound and sight lines are actually calibrated for it....

Son Como Son brings their salsa and Latin ensemble sound to the Albuquerque Museum's long-running outdoor concert series, now in its 35th year. The museum courtyard fills up faster than most people expect, so arriving early gets you a decent patch of grass before the dancing crowds claim the open space near the stage. Check...

A live improv comedy show at The Box, the UNM Area's most reliably weird little black-box room on Central. The space is small enough that the performers will absolutely make...