The Best Places to Hear Live Music in the South Bay
If you’re searching for live music in the South Bay, but keep hitting on the same few beach bars that come up in every Google search, you’re in luck. The South Bay has so much more to offer. From an intimate 99-seat jazz room in San Pedro to a beachfront lounge in Hermosa Beach that has hosted live bands since the 1940s, the South Bay has a genuinely deep live music scene once you know where to look. This guide breaks it down city by city, covering Palos Verdes, San Pedro, Hermosa Beach, Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, Torrance, El Segundo, and Hawthorne, so locals and visitors always have somewhere to catch live music.
This list focuses on venues, bars, and restaurants that regularly book live music, not one off concerts or festivals. Since schedules change with the seasons and venues sometimes swap out house bands, always check the venue’s own website for the current lineup before heading out.
About this guide: Local Anchor is a South Bay community media platform covering local events, restaurants, and things to do since 2017. We update this list regularly based on firsthand experience and community input.
Live Music in Hermosa Beach
Hermosa Beach has one of the most established live music scenes in the South Bay, anchored by a legendary jazz club and a full-blown rock venue just blocks from the sand.
Saint Rocke
Saint Rocke is widely considered the top dedicated live music venue in the South Bay. Since 2008, it has booked national touring acts alongside local rock, punk, and alternative bands, and it regularly hosts tribute nights and up-and-coming artists.
Address: 142 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
The Lighthouse Cafe
The Lighthouse Cafe has been a haven for musicians on the Hermosa Beach strand since the 1940s, making it one of the oldest continuously operating jazz clubs in Southern California. The lineup rotates through jazz, reggae, blues, rock, and acoustic sets throughout the week, including a long-running Wednesday night South Bay Jam session that draws local musicians for open collaborative sets.
Address: 30 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Hermosa Saloon
Hermosa Saloon has been Hermosa Beach’s original dive bar since 1975. It books live bands every Friday and Saturday night, ranging from rock to classic covers to indie, always with free admission.
Address: 211 Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Tower 12
Tower 12, at the base of the Hermosa Beach Pier, offers a kitchen and two full-service bars alongside a laid back surf and music vibe, making it a solid stop for live music paired with California comfort food.
Address: 53 Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
Live Music in Redondo Beach
Redondo Beach has the biggest concentration of live music in the South Bay, with a cluster of waterfront restaurants and bars along the pier and King Harbor that book entertainment nearly every night of the week.
The Bull Pen
The Bull Pen, a longtime steakhouse, features live music Thursday through Saturday nights, mixing classic rock, retro, and cover bands with its steakhouse menu.
Address: 314 Avenue I, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Old Tony’s on the Pier
Old Tony’s has been family-owned and operated on the Redondo Beach Pier since 1952, and it is one of the few South Bay spots with live music nearly every night of the week.
Address: 210 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Sea Level at Shade Hotel
Sea Level, the restaurant and lounge inside Shade Hotel Redondo Beach, runs a Live Jammin’ music series with local musicians performing against marina views. Since the schedule shifts seasonally, check the current lineup on the venue’s own site before visiting.
Address: 655 North Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
The Slip Bar and Eatery
The Slip Bar and Eatery on the International Boardwalk features live music and entertainment most nights of the week alongside its 26 taps of craft beer.
Address: 120 North International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Naja’s Place
Naja’s Place is a casual, divey bar right on the Redondo Harbor. It’s known for one of the best draft beer selections on the West Coast, along with live music on weekends and dockside views.
Address: 154 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Deep End Live
Deep End Live is a new live music venue on the Redondo Beach Pier at Fisherman’s Wharf, built for an intimate, ticketed concert experience with state of the art sound, lighting, and lasers. Nightly programming covers national touring acts, local musicians, and DJ sets, spanning jam, blues, rock, and house music.
Address: 100 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
H.T. Grill
H.T. Grill is a longtime Redondo Beach restaurant and bar that offers live music on select week nights.
Address: 1701 South Catalina Avenue, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
New Starboard Attitude
New Starboard Attitude on Fisherman’s Wharf is a pier bar known for live blues and rock bands, karaoke nights, and sunset views.
Address: 202 Fisherman’s Wharf, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Project Barley
Project Barley, a waterfront taproom and grill on the International Boardwalk, regularly hosts live music alongside its own house-brewed beer.
Address: 136 International Boardwalk, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
R10 Social House
R10 Social House, a gastropub in King Harbor Marina, hosts live music in its upstairs ocean view bar, typically on Sunday afternoons.
Address: 179 North Harbor Drive, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Rock and Brews Redondo Beach
Rock and Brews, the rock and roll themed restaurant chain co-founded by members of KISS, features live music on Thursday nights at its Redondo Beach location.
Address: 6300 South Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Montauk
Montauk, an upscale coastal restaurant, is home to The Den, an intimate jazz lounge with live music and moody, elegant lighting. The Den partners with KJazz 88.1 FM every second Thursday for a dedicated jazz series featuring rotating artists.
Address: 1611 South Catalina Avenue #150, Redondo Beach, CA 90277
Live Music in Manhattan Beach
Manhattan Beach’s live music scene leans upscale and coastal, with hotel lounges and beachfront restaurants leading the way, alongside one long-running local favorite in El Porto.
Jute Coastal Bar and Kitchen
Jute, located inside westdrift Manhattan Beach, features live music on Thursday evenings in its lobby lounge, pairing coastal cocktails with low-key sets.
Address: 1400 Parkview Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
StrandBar at The Strand House
StrandBar, tucked below The Strand House, turns into one of downtown Manhattan Beach’s liveliest late-night spots on weekends, with live music and DJ sets just steps from the pier.
Address: 117 Manhattan Beach Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Tin Roof Bistro
Tin Roof Bistro in Manhattan Village is known for hosting live acoustic sets alongside its California comfort food menu and patio seating.
Address: 3500 North Sepulveda Boulevard, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Pancho’s
Pancho’s, a longtime cantina in the El Porto neighborhood of Manhattan Beach, is a local favorite for live entertainment, with the band Better Daze playing live every Saturday night, karaoke on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday nights, and a comedy show on Mondays.
Address: 3615 Highland Avenue, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
Live Music in Torrance
Torrance may not be a beach town, but it has developed a strong, low-key live music scene centered around a handful of neighborhood bars.
View Music Bar
View Music Bar, a dedicated music venue, offers live music with a full stage, sound system, and lighting rig, along with a tapas style menu, on Friday and Saturday nights.
Address: 1431 West Knox Street, Torrance, CA 90501
Torrance Tavern
Torrance Tavern is a neighborhood sports bar that regularly hosts live music and special shows alongside its weekly events lineup.
Address: 22735 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90505
The Hula Hula Room
The Hula Hula Room is a tropical tiki bar that occasionally hosts live music, making it a fun detour from Torrance’s usual bar scene.
Address: 20930 Hawthorne Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503
Mom Said Yes
Mom Said Yes, a pizza, bar, and arcade joint, features live music on Fridays alongside karaoke, trivia, and line dancing nights throughout the week.
Address: 4525 Calle Mayor, Torrance, CA 90505
Project Barley Torrance
Project Barley also operates a brewery and pub location in Torrance with regular live music, in addition to its Redondo Beach waterfront taproom.
Address: 1109 Van Ness Avenue, Torrance, CA 90501
Live Music in San Pedro
San Pedro has quietly become one of the best cities in the South Bay for serious live music fans, thanks to a cluster of music venues springing up in and around its arts district.
Grand Annex
The Grand Annex is a 150 seat cabaret style venue run by the nonprofit Grand Vision Foundation. It is widely regarded as one of the best places to see live music in the Harbor Area, with a lineup that spans roots rock, jazz, and world music most weekends.
Address: 434 West 6th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
Alvas Showroom
Alvas Showroom is an intimate venue set up like a small amphitheater that seats up to 99 people, with a lineup covering jazz, blues, folk, and rock.
Address: 1417 West 8th Street, San Pedro, CA 90732
San Pedro Brewing Company
San Pedro Brewing Company is a sports bar and brewery that also hosts live entertainment on a weekly basis, making it an easy stop for anyone spending a night out in downtown San Pedro.
Address: 331 West 6th Street, San Pedro, CA 90731
The Sardine
The Sardine is a bar and record shop out front with a live music space, called Recess Ops, in the back. The space is themed around punk, skateboarding, and 80s and 90s pop culture.
Address: 1101 South Pacific Avenue, San Pedro, CA 90731
Live Music in Palos Verdes
The Palos Verdes Peninsula, including Rancho Palos Verdes and Rolling Hills Estates, offers a more resort-style live music experience with sweeping ocean views.
Lobby Bar and Terrace at Terranea Resort
The Lobby Bar and Terrace at Terranea Resort features live music daily, typically in the evening hours, against fire pits and Pacific Ocean views, making it one of the most reliable spots in the entire South Bay to hear live music any night of the week.
Address: 100 Terranea Way, Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275
Red Onion Restaurant
Red Onion Restaurant rotates through smooth jazz, karaoke, and dancing throughout the week, giving Palos Verdes locals a casual, dependable spot for live entertainment close to home.
Address: 736 Bart Earle Way, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274
Live Music in El Segundo
El Segundo pairs a walkable Main Street with a couple of genuinely unique live music experiences.
Old Town Music Hall
Old Town Music Hall is a beloved local landmark where classic and silent films are shown with live accompaniment from a meticulously preserved 1925 Wurlitzer pipe organ.
Address: 140 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245
Rock and Brews El Segundo
Rock and Brews is a rock and roll themed restaurant and bar that books live music on Wednesday nights.
Address: 143 Main Street, El Segundo, CA 90245
Purple Orchid
Purple Orchid, a tiki lounge, brings in live bands for special occasions throughout the year and features live music for weekend dancing.
Address: 221 Richmond Street, El Segundo, CA 90245
The Point
The Point, an outdoor shopping center in El Segundo, runs a free Summer Concert Series most Wednesday evenings in July and August, with a rotating lineup covering reggae, tribute bands, 80s hits, country, and new wave.
Address: 850 South Pacific Coast Highway, El Segundo, CA 90245
Live Music in Hawthorne
Hawthorne is better known for its aerospace industry than its nightlife, and it doesn’t feature the concentration of dedicated live music venues found in the beach cities. A handful of neighborhood bars in Hawthorne occasionally bring in live bands or DJs on weekends, so it is worth checking a venue’s social media before making plans. For a full night out built around live music, most Hawthorne locals head just a few minutes over to El Segundo or Manhattan Beach, both covered above.
South Bay Summer Concert Series
Beyond bars and restaurants, several South Bay cities run free, city-sponsored outdoor concert series every summer, and they are some of the best ways to catch live music with the whole family.
The Redondo Beach Pier hosts its Summer of Music series on Fisherman’s Wharf, with free shows most Thursday and Saturday evenings from July through August. Details and the current lineup are in Local Anchor’s Redondo Beach Pier summer concert guide. Manhattan Beach runs Concerts in the Park at Polliwog Park on Sunday evenings through the summer, covered in Local Anchor’s Polliwog Park concert guide. El Segundo adds its own Wednesday night series at The Point (see above), plus a Sunday series at Library Park through the city’s recreation department.
For a full rundown of every free outdoor concert series across the South Bay in a given summer, see Local Anchor’s free outdoor summer concerts guide.
Frequently Asked Questions About Live Music in the South Bay
What is the best live music venue in the South Bay?
Saint Rocke in Hermosa Beach is generally considered the top dedicated live music venue in the South Bay, known for booking national touring acts. For a more intimate experience, Grand Annex and Alvas Showroom in San Pedro are two of the best small venues in the region.
Where can I find live jazz in the South Bay?
The Lighthouse Cafe in Hermosa Beach and Alvas Showroom in San Pedro are two of the most established spots for live jazz in the South Bay, along with the Lobby Bar and Terrace at Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes.
Are there free live music venues in the South Bay?
Many South Bay bars and restaurants, including The Bull Pen, Old Tony’s, Hermosa Saloon, Naja’s Place, and San Pedro Brewing Company, offer live music with no cover charge, though this can vary by night and artist, so it is always worth checking ahead. The South Bay’s city-run summer concert series, including the Redondo Beach Pier, Polliwog Park in Manhattan Beach, and The Point in El Segundo, are also always free.
Which South Bay city has the most live music options?
Redondo Beach has the highest concentration of bars and restaurants with regular live music, with Hermosa Beach close behind. San Pedro stands out for its dedicated, purpose-built music venues.
Find Your Next Show in the South Bay
The South Bay’s live music scene stretches from beachfront jazz clubs to a 1925 pipe organ, and there is a new show to catch almost every night of the week somewhere between Palos Verdes and El Segundo. Bookmark this guide and check back before a night out, and follow Local Anchor for South Bay event roundups, local business spotlights, and more ways to spend a night out close to home.
Event schedules are subject to change. Please contact the venue directly to confirm live music nights, times, and cover charges before visiting.
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