Now that the world is opening up again, it’s time to get back out and enjoy an evening of live music. Budapest has a plethora of live music venues and options, from small and intimate to massive open air stadium concerts, and music tastes as varied as jazz, indie, gypsy music, classical, open mic nights and rock.
Budapest has music to meet everyone’s tastes. So, if you want to listen to some live music, get out and about in the city this spring.
Open mic nights
Sometimes you just feel the need to perform and belt out a song. Maybe it’s you, or maybe it’s a friend, performing on stage in front of a live audience. Maybe you’ve always wanted to give it a go. You know you sound awesome in the shower each morning, and should probably sign up to X factor immediately, but perhaps before that, it’s time to give it a go under the spotlight first, and sing to people, instead of the usual shampoo and soap audience. Budapest has a great number of open mic venues, with spots open every night of the week, so you can mooch out any night when the performing mood grabs you, to sing, to dance or to just chill and listen to others.
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Mondays you have a choice and can head over to Gödör Klub on Király utca 50 from 9 pm until late or to Ellátó bar on Kazinczy utca 52 from 7:30 – 10:30 pm, or maybe both?
Tuesdays you can aim for Udvarrom on Klauzál utca 21 to perform or listen, or if you are even more musically minded perhaps head to the Hoff House, on Nagymező utca 40, where the open mic night is more of a jam, with artists joining forces to entertain you.
Wednesday’s it’s Pótkulcs from 8:30 – 11:30 pm, near Nyugati train station on Csengery utca 65/b. Thursday it’s back to the Hoff House from 9 pm until late. Friday you can descend into the popular ruin bar basement of Lámpás on Dob utca 15 or check out Úri Muri on Wesselényi utca 19.
Saturdays are for Otthonka from 8 until 11 pm on Szentkirályi utca 23 and Sundays are back to Lámpás. Dust off your Elvis jackets, dig out the maracas and head down to one of the open mic nights, if you can find enough courage. Maybe watch first and perform next time.
‘OpenMicBudapest’ Facebook page if you want lots of updates of upcoming events.
Live music venues
To find out about bands playing in smaller venues, as well as the big ones, this link is useful. But sometimes you just want to enjoy a drink with friends and have some live music playing whilst you chat. There are many options for you to try out.
Szimpla Kert Ruin bar in the 7th District (Kazinczy utca 14) often has live music at the weekends in the afternoons and evenings. Maybe wander through the farmers’ and flea market first on a Sunday, and then have a beer and a chat, and then sit back and enjoy some tunes.
The Down Under Bar (Ó utca 37) has live music gigs, as well as a weekly pub quiz, and other events which you can keep uptodate with by following the Down Under Bar Facebook page.
For a different experience, you can also try the A38 Hajó, a boat tied to the banks of the Danube on the Buda side near Petőfi Bridge, which has a very active music scene, with live music acts most nights of the week.
If you want to avoid the touristy venues which have a touch of gypsy music, and fancy an authentic gypsy music experience, in a tiny below-ground bar, head for the Giero Pub (Paulai Ede utca 58). The music usually starts around 10pm.
If, on the other hand, you would prefer some live piano music to waft through the background evening customer chatter, in a pleasant wine bar setting, then why not try Cintányéros (Bókay János utca 52).
For the jazz lovers among you, there are several places you can head to. One is Jedermann Café (Ráday utca 58) which is a student café in the day, but at night turns into a jazz and blues bar. Another venue for jazz is the Budapest Jazz Club (Hollán Ernő utca 7) where jam nights or gigs happen every night, apart from on Sundays. Opus Jazz Club (Mátyás utca 8) is also another great place to enjoy some jazz with friends.
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Major artist concerts
Budapest is a popular venue for some of the bigger artists on their world or European tours and 2022 is no exception. This year the likes of John Legend, Red Hot Chilli peppers, Simply Red, Celine Dione, Harry Styles and Tom Odell will be performing their latest and most popular hits at various stadiums and big concert venues in the city, as well as a star-studded line-up at this year’s Sziget Festival in August where many top bands and artists can be seen. The main big venues are Budapest Park and Papp László Budapest Sportaréna, although there are many more intimate venues too.
The Sziget Festival takes place on Óbuda island and will be here from 10th-15th of August, showcasing the talents of The Kings of Leon, the Arctic Monkeys, Bastille, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Alan Walker and Lewis Capaldi to name just a few. This music festival is now one of the biggest in Europe and from its humble beginnings in 1993, this event has grown year on year into this year’s show which will be a six-day event with over 60 performing stages. A more detailed line up of performing artists, ticket prices and how to book your ticket, can be found HERE.
Get ready to party and get value for money by seeing a whole load of top acts in one place, at one time.
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Budapest Park will be hosting 5 seconds of summer on April 30th and the Pixies on August 30th. Meanwhile, across town, Papp László Budapest Sportaréna will see performances from 2 Cellos (11th May), Celine Dion (27th June), John Legend (30th June), Harry Styles (13th July), Kiss (14th July), the Cure (26th October) and Simply Red (6th December). Other notable artists and venues are the Eels at Akvárium Klub (4th April), Iron Maiden at Shinedown Group Aréna (7th June), Red Hot Chilli Peppers at Puskas Ferenc Stadion (15th June), Tom Odell at Barba Negra (28th September) and New Model Army on the A38 ship (27th October). Amazing global artists coming to perform in Budapest. Don’t miss out.