Tongue and Groove in Lindbergh City Center is the Buckhead nightclub that began as a 1994 sushi lounge and grew into a multi-room party venue with bottle service and weekend DJ headliners.
Tip: Thursday industry nights, Friday and Saturday are bottle-service heavy. Dress code enforced after 22:00; reserve tables on the venue site.
Address: 565 Main Street, Atlanta, GA 30324
Buckhead Saloon on Irby Avenue is the long-running dance bar in Buckhead Village with two floors, a mechanical bull and weekend DJ sets across hip-hop, country and dance hits.
Tip: Friday and Saturday only, 21:00 to 03:00. Free entry early; cover after 23:00 on weekends, dress code at the door.
Future Atlanta is the 14,000 square foot two-story LGBTQ dance club inside Underground Atlanta with a main dance floor, drag cabaret stage and outdoor patio for weekend international DJ bookings.
Tip: Weekends bring touring DJs and Fantasy Girls Drag Cabaret. Tickets via the venue site; the patio is the easier entry point on busy nights.
Buckhead Saloon on Irby Avenue is the long-running dance bar in Buckhead Village with two floors, a mechanical bull and weekend DJ sets across hip-hop, country and dance hits.
Tip: Friday and Saturday only, 21:00 to 03:00. Free entry early; cover after 23:00 on weekends, dress code at the door.
The Tabernacle in a 1911 former Baptist church on Luckie Street is the 2,600 capacity Live Nation room that hosts rock, hip-hop, indie and comedy across three balconied levels in downtown Atlanta.
Tip: Floor general admission, balcony seated. Doors usually 19:00 with openers at 20:00; arrive early for the rail and watch the stained glass.
Variety Playhouse on Euclid Avenue is the Little Five Points 1940 movie palace turned music venue, with theater seats up top, a standing pit at the rail and bookings across rock, indie and Americana.
Tip: Mix of seated and dancing zones. Doors typically 19:00, show 20:00; tickets via AXS with sight lines best from the lower pit.
Smith's Olde Bar at Piedmont and Monroe has run live music since 1994 with a downstairs sports bar, an upstairs Atlanta Room stage, a covered patio and seven nights of local and touring acts.
Tip: Upstairs Atlanta Room is the main music room; downstairs is the cheaper bar with pool and food. Cover applies for ticketed shows only.
Eddie's Attic in Decatur has run the South's most respected listening room since 1991, launching Shawn Mullins, Sugarland and the Indigo Girls and keeping a Monday songwriter open mic on the calendar.
Tip: The listening room enforces quiet during sets; cocktail patio out front handles the talkers. Monday open mic at 18:00 sign-up.