I have a couple of venues that attract good bands, depending on what I'm going to see.

For touring indie bands, hands down, the Modified Arts is the best place to see touring indie bands. It really small, hold 100 people tops, and double as an art gallery. it's a great place to see up and coming indie bands in a very inimate setting. Some of the more memorable shows I've seen there are Arcade Fire, Clap your hands/the nationals, the format, helio sequence (twice)

for large venue, the Marquee pretty much domainants the PHX market for shows up to 5000 people.

For local punk shows and cheap beer (PBR), its Jugheads or hollywood alley

Phoenix gets alot show coming/going from LA/SD.

what are your favorite venues?

Jaime's Espresso Bar in the valley in Brisbane. The best part: BYO.

first unitarian church in philadelphia is a sentimental favorite. it's a space where i saw many shows between 1997 and 2004 when i lived in the area. it's a church basement that seems to have no real enforced capacity limits. there are usually people selling records between sets. there is no smoking or drinking inside. it gets hotter than any other venue i've ever been to. it is a lot of fun to see shows there. some memorable moments include gregg foreman crouching between a stack and the ceiling while yelling "soul city" for so long that he actually delayed the headliner (my favorite band) and made them cut the set short due to curfew, seeing a dance competition during a ted leo show, constantly slipping on the layer of sweat that would develop on the floor during the summer months, jason collett and metric blowing away broken social scene, finding some excellent records for cheap, and sufjan stevens performing one of the best sets i've ever witnessed.

bowery ballroom in new york is probably the best all-around venue i've been to regularly. i've never been to anything less than a very good-sounding show there. i love the size - it's perfect for all of the bands that i've seen there. and the sightlines are good. memorable moments include the lonesome organist being amazing, rocket from the crypt breaking a lot of gear and being completely awesome twice, hearing "bullet train to vegas" covered by the hot snakes, hanging out in the bar downstairs with friends, and seeing my favorite band with who is now my favorite ex-girlfriend and another very good friend after a 6-hour drive to get there.

schubas is perhaps my favorite chicago venue. it looks to have been converted from a church. it's now non-smoking. almost everyone sounds good there. it's easily accessible for me. there is good food next door. it's small, but not so small that a decent-sized crowd makes it too full. memorable moments include meeting phil and ryan shortly after moving to chicago, the national blowing me away, my friend's roommate falling asleep while standing propped up against the stage during the national's set, seeing people i know whenever i go there, phil talking shit on adam fitz, and some of my favorite music-related discussions.

There aren't a whole lot of venues to choose from in Nebraska, but I really like Duffy's Tavern in Lincoln. It has a small capacity, no smoking, decent drink specials on most show nights and great sound. Almost every nationally known indie band that plays there sounds better than they have at any other venue I have seen them play in Nebraska.

The two best venues I have attended for a limited number of shows are The Orpheum in Omaha for Bright Eyes/Spoon and The Scotish Rite Center in Omaha for Jenny Lewis, they were the most luxurious and neither allow smoking.

The Ryman in Nashville is pretty damn cool.

I like Schubas in Chicago, and as for St. Louis, Mississippi Nights is pretty good. Decently sized enough to attract some good acts, and they've got a top notch sound system.

I'll second the Ryman, and after that the Exit/In and The End. The End has the absolute best sound I've ever heard for a place that only holds about a hundred, hundred-fifty.

Atlanta:
The Fabulous Fox Theater
Variety Playhouse
The Tabernacle

Athens:
Georgia Theater (better sound and atmosphere than the 40 Watt IMHO just dont drink the draft beer.)

Maxwell's
The Court Tavern

Schuba's in Chicago will be my alltime favorite.

the Fillmore in San Francisco is pretty cool - a lot of history.

In my mind, all the best shows are at the Fox, tho I've only been there 3 or 4 times.

Tabernacle, I've probably seen more bands at, and it is awesome, but The Fox is The Fox.

The Theatre is fucking awesome. Last time I saw the Truckers there I thought I was gonna have a garble.

In LA, I like the Troubadour because even hanging out at the bar in the back is still a pretty good spot to watch the show. A lot of the shows I've gone to lately have been at the Echo, though, so they get a thumbs up for bringing in the talent.

The Fillmore - SF

In Toronto:

The El Mocambo
and the legendary Horseshoe Tavern


The smaller the venue, the better, in my opinion.

los angeles' best venue: troubadour

for mid-size shows, the wiltern.

for large shows, the hollywood bowl.

in kansas: the bottleneck. everybody you can think of has played there. it's very small and conducive to meeting your favorite bands. its extremely rare that a show costs over 10 bucks.

red rocks

and...the old 9:30 club

The State Palace Theater in New Orleans but I'm not sure if they are planning to rebuild it after Katrina. I loved it. It was kind of run-down but they don't build em like that anymore.

I'm not sure I have a favorite.

HOB and The Vault have the best sound but they are pretty expensive, esp. the Vault ($10 beers) which can be a big negative.

The Troubadour, the El Rey, and Avalon are probably best all-around but I don't find myself wanting to see many acts that are performing at any of them very often these days.

Spaceland, the Echo and the Knitting Factory are where I usually end up. I'm not sure I prefer one to another out of those.

I've seen more shows there than anywhere else in my life.

i like spaceland a lot, but that place SUCKS when it's crowded. lately i've been hitting up the echo way too much.

Most of the old faves in this town have shut down (Town Pump, The Smilin' Buddha, the Starfish Room, the South Hill Candy Shop - man, did I even get that last name right?), but there's still the mighty Commodore (which is great for a larger venue, plus it's got that bouncing, suspended dancefloor) and the Railway Club (which is about as intimate as a venue can get).

that's where my first ever shows were. and now every venue i go to is compared to it. it was a total dump...but it is the exact image of what the perfect venue is in my opinion.

don't forget spaceland. i wonder if it's still free on mondays.