Highline Ballroom   (Photo: Guy Salvadore)

Bowery Ballroom
6 Delancey St., nr. Bowery; 212-533-2111.
Pre-tipping-point rock bands and the superlative post-show dig (a basement-level horseshoe bar) make this more than a rock club: It’s a cultural institution.

HighLine Ballroom
431 W. 16th St., nr. Ninth Ave.; 212-414-5994.
The eclectic programming at this new edition to the scene has naturally elevated standards.

Mercury Lounge
217 E. Houston St., nr. Ludlow St.; 212-260-4700.
The epicenter of the dapper New York rock revival (the Strokes, Interpol) is still swarmed nightly with applicants for Next Big Thing status.

Music Hall of Williamsburg
66 N. Sixth St., nr. Wythe Ave.; 718-486-5400.
Top-notch indie acts and veteran critical faves pack the house, while a gamut of great, on-the-verge bands solidify the rep on the street.

Town Hall
123 W. 43rd St., nr. Sixth Ave.; 212-840-2824.
Suffragists founded it, Marian Anderson sang here, and Garrison Keillor likes to stop by to unwind yarns about Minnesota.

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