The Guidebook

Everything we know about Central, written down and kept current. The rooms and what they sound like, the neighborhoods and how they turn over after dark, the acts worth the drive. It gets longer every week.

Start here

Route 66 in Albuquerque

Central Avenue is the name of the road. That's what Route 66 is in Albuquerque, a city street…

Venues

The rooms that book the corridor. What they hold, how they sound, where to put the car.

  • Albuquerque Convention CenterThe Albuquerque Convention Center sits at 401 2nd St NW in the heart of downtown, a few blocks…
  • Albuquerque Social ClubThe Social Club is one of the longest-running LGBTQ+ rooms in Albuquerque, a members' club on the Nob…
  • Bosque Brewing Nob HillBosque's Nob Hill taproom keeps live music and trivia on the calendar without making a production of it.…
  • EffexEffex is downtown's LGBTQ+ nightclub, two floors and a rooftop, built for dancing until the lights come up.…
  • El Rey TheaterThe El Rey is the mid-size room downtown, a restored theater on Central with room to breathe and…
  • Historic Lobo TheaterThe Lobo's been on Central since 1938, which means it predates most of what's around it and has…
  • KiMo TheatreThe KiMo is the most Albuquerque building on Central, a 1927 Pueblo Deco theater the city saved and…
  • LaunchpadThe Launchpad is the room where touring bands play Albuquerque before they are big enough to skip it.…
  • Marble Brewery DowntownMarble's downtown flagship is a brewery first and a music venue by happy habit. The taproom and the…
  • NHCC National Hispanic Cultural CenterThe National Hispanic Cultural Center sits at 1701 4th St SW, a few blocks south of where Central…
  • Popejoy HallPopejoy Hall sits on the University of New Mexico campus at Cornell and Central, and it reads exactly…
  • Revel Entertainment CenterOff the route Revel sits on Alexander Boulevard in a stretch of northeast Albuquerque that's more industrial park than entertainment district,…
  • Sister BarSister is the 21+ side of the Launchpad building, a downtown bar with a booking habit and a…
  • Sunshine TheatreThe Sunshine is the big downtown room, a 1924 theater on Central that has been putting bodies in…

Neighborhoods

Central is not one street. It changes character block to block, and so does the night.

  • DowntownDowntown Albuquerque on a Friday night has a particular kind of electricity that other stretches of Central don't…
  • Nob HillNob Hill is the stretch of Central where Route 66 feels most like a neighborhood and least like…
  • UNM AreaThe UNM end of Central is where the corridor meets the university, and the crowd shifts with it.…

Spotlights

The acts worth leaving the house for, written up before they hit town.