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How To: find concerts in harrisonburg

Leif Stawarz, October 9th, 2023

Harrisonburg is a city lush with great musicians & bands and venues that help them flourish. If you’re looking to take in great music in the Shenandoah Valley, you’re likely to find some good options in the Friendly City. This article lays out our most popular venues for concerts and where you can find who’s performing soon.  

The Golden Pony 

The Golden Pony is conveniently located in downtown Harrisonburg, just down the street from James Madison University’s campus. As one of JMU’s most popular music spots, they are a bar and restaurant that showcases local music. You are guaranteed to find concerts by local musicians there every weekend, including bands, solo musicians, and DJs. You can find their upcoming events at https://www.goldenponyva.com/upcoming-live-events.  

Clementine Café  

With a lounge downstairs that’s perfect for grabbing drinks before a show, Clementine Café is another classic music spot close to James Madison University’s campus, less than a mile’s walk from campus. While it is a great intimate venue that allows you to feel connection with the performer, Clementine Café functions as a full-service restaurant before it functions as a venue. This means that seats and tables are not guaranteed, and all shows are completely General Admission, unless stated otherwise or unless you contact them for a reservation beforehand. You can find their upcoming events at https://clementinecafe.com/events/.  

Restless Moons Brewing Co. 

While Restless Moons is less of a convenient walk from campus, it’s a great choice to hear good music. With friendly staff and good beer, they have fun events and live music every weekend, including an open acoustic jam night. You can find a generalized list of their weekly events at https://www.restlessmoons.com/events.html and you can see their specific line-up of artists and musicians on their Facebook page, which is linked at the bottom of the events page.  

Pale Fire Brewing 

While this venue is a little less consistent in providing live music than the other venues on this list, Pale Fire is enthusiastic about local music and boasts on their website that they have live music most Fridays. In addition to live shows, they have food you can enjoy and their own beer on tap, that you can see them making through the three large windows of their Tap Room. If you find your way to their Facebook page, you’ll find a more specific list of their upcoming shows than is available on their website.  

Jimmy Madison’s Southern Kitchen & Whiskey Bar 

This venue is more idiosyncratic than the rest – while they are not an official music venue, and they do not advertise concerts or sell tickets, if you’re lucky when you stop in you might just see a new band while you enjoy a delicious burger and fries.  

While these venues are good, they’re only a portion of the options that our fine city provides! Most of the bars, breweries, and hangout spots around town offer live music occasionally and you might even be able to catch a concert at the local Court Square Theatre. You can find out about performances on each venue/bar’s individual website or at https://www.visitharrisonburgva.com/live-music/. Whether you are a band looking for a venue to play or you are an avid music fan looking for a concert to enjoy, Harrisonburg has plenty of options to keep you satisfied.