Events on Central

Twelve bands, nearly ten hours, one room: this is the kind of marathon that separates the people who say they like punk from the people who actually show up on...

Zydeco on Central Avenue is a rare enough thing that this 10:30 p.m. set at Marble's downtown taproom deserves your attention, a Louisiana-rooted accordion-and-washboard genre that hits harder in a room with good beer in hand. Marble's main floor handles a dancing crowd well, and this is absolutely a dancing crowd. A ticket link exists,...

A quintet format puts real space between the players, and that breathing room is where jazz either earns its keep or exposes itself. The Hall on Central has decent acoustics for a room that also hosts louder acts, so a group this size should land well there. Grab a ticket in advance through 505 Live...

The Isotopes take on the Sugar Land Space Cowboys in a Triple-A Pacific Coast League night game at one of the better minor league parks in the Southwest. Isotopes Park sits right on Central, which means you can walk to a postgame drink without moving your car, a small luxury that adds up. Tickets through...

Jacob Chavez takes the stage at Tractor Brewing's Nob Hill location, one of the more reliably good rooms on this stretch of Central for catching a local act up close. The ticket link through 505 Live Music suggests this one has a cover, so check before you show up assuming it's a free patio night....

Steve Earle solo means no band to hide behind and no setlist discipline, which at 51 years in is a feature and not a flaw. The KiMo's acoustics reward exactly this format, an intimate room where a single guitar and a ragged voice land harder than they would in a shed venue three times the...

In The Box Annex is bringing their quiz show format into The Box Performance Space, a black-box theater on Central that tends to reward audiences willing to play along with something a little weirder than a bar trivia night. The 45-minute runtime is short by design, so this is probably one piece of a longer...

Soul Puddin brings their funk and soul set to Thirsty Eye, one of the more low-key spots on the Central corridor for catching live music with a beer in hand. The room keeps things casual, which suits this kind of groove-forward act better than a stage with a spotlight and a cover charge attitude. Check...

A full tablao-format flamenco show with dancers, a singer, and a guitarist performing in the kind of intimate room where you feel the footwork in your chest. Hotel Albuquerque's venue has genuine sight lines and decent acoustics, which puts it ahead of most dinner-theater setups in the city. Performers are still TBA, so check back...

Three bailaoras, a cantaor, and a guitarist perform a full tablao program in the intimate theater space inside Hotel Albuquerque, one of the few dedicated flamenco venues operating anywhere on the Route 66 corridor. The room is small enough that you'll feel the footwork in your chest, so closer seats are genuinely better here, not...