The World's Best Venues, Ranked
Concert halls, stadiums, and rooms famous for what happens inside them: the venues the record ranks highest, worldwide.
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Beach Blanket Babylon ran here for 45 years, which is a long shadow to step out of. Club Fugazi has done it by turning the room into something acrobatic and immersive, with tiered table seating that keeps things intimate even when the energy runs high. The bones of a grand old North Beach theater are still very much there; the production just doesn't treat them like a museum exhibit. Good date night, good out-of-towner night, good "I forgot San Francisco is fun" night.
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The dugout smells exactly how you'd imagine, and standing in it during a behind-the-scenes tour of Oracle Park is a small, strange thrill even for people who don't follow baseball. The San Francisco Giants' waterfront stadium runs guided tours year-round, covering the field, press box, and the World Series trophies. The pregame add-on gets you in before the gates open, which is when the place actually feels like yours.
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Moroccan tile, velvet banquettes, and flickering lanterns set the scene in a former speakeasy beneath the Marrakech hotel. Mentalist and magician Jay Alexander runs weekend-only shows in the 35-seat theater, blending mind-reading, human lie detector bits, and sleight-of-hand with enough comedy to keep the skeptics from squirming. The evening opens with close-up magic over drinks before moving into the main show, which is as interactive as it sounds.
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Two 300-foot sandstone fins frame the stage at Red Rocks, an outdoor amphitheater carved by geology rather than any architect. U2 filmed "Under a Blood Red Sky" here, and the recording captures why: the acoustics are a geological accident that nobody has managed to replicate. The venue sits open most of the year for hiking and visiting even when nobody's performing, so you don't need a ticket to feel like you've stumbled onto something.
- Westword 2024 · Best Historic Venue · Best of Denver
- Westword 2023 · Best Bathrooms at a Venue · Best of Denver
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A wood-clad 600-seat auditorium anchors this performing and visual arts center on the edge of Tempe Town Lake, with a black box studio theater, a gallery that spills into the lobby, and an outdoor amphitheater for when Arizona evenings cooperate. The Tempe Symphony Orchestra, Childsplay, and several other resident companies call it home, so there's almost always something on. Public art installations are scattered throughout, in case you arrive early and need somewhere to look thoughtful.
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