The Boise music scene has grown so much in the last 20 years. From a city with no venues to a city with dozens of music venues, there are plenty of options for music in Boise. Here are our favorite Boise music venues.
Click the links below to skip to any of the following sections:
Knitting Factory Concert House
Revolution Concert Center
The Olympic
The Egyptian Theatre
Neurolux
Pengilly’s
Idaho Botanical Gardens
Morrison Center for the Performing Arts
ExtraMile Arena
Ford Idaho Center
Idaho Central Arena
Knitting Factory Concert House
Address:
416 S 9th Street
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
All Ages (with some 21+ shows)
Capacity:
999
Website:
https://bo.knittingfactory.com/
The Knitting Factory Concert House was one of the very first true venues in Boise, when it opened back in 2001 (as the Big Easy Concert House). With a capacity of around 1,000, they hold many of the larger bands who are either too small to play a large arena, or those that just want to play a more intimate venue in Boise.
The Knitting Factory has a full bar and is located downtown, close to so many other places, so it makes a great date night. Just find a nearby restaurant before the show and make a night of it. There are also two parking garages within BoDo, the downtown Boise shopping center where the Knitting Factory is located.
Revolution Concert Center
Address:
4983 N Glenwood Street
Garden City, ID 83714
Age Limit:
All Ages (with some 21+ shows)
Capacity:
2,300
Website:
https://cttouringid.com/venue/revolution-concert-house-and-event-center/
The Revolution Concert Center was actually created by one of the founders of the original Big Easy in Boise. It is located out of downtown Boise in Garden City, and brings many of the larger (but still too small for an arena) shows that come to Boise. This Boise concert venue has plenty of parking and holds some of the best shows that come to town.
The Olympic
Address:
1009 W Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
21+
Capacity:
300
Website:
The Olympic is one of the more popular venues in recent years, with many of the smaller or indie shows coming to town ending up there. Many of the shows at The Olympic are booked by either the Knitting Factory or Duck Club, the promoter who runs the Treefort Music Festival.
The Egyptian Theatre
Address:
700 W Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
1,397
Website:
The Egyptian Theatre is one of the coolest and most historic buildings in Boise. Seeing a show there is a special experience, but there are not many of them. They book larger shows or what I can only describe as “special” shows — artists that just don’t fit anywhere else. When they are not hosting concerts, they are also a movie theatre.
The Egyptian Theatre opened in 1927 and has remained in downtown Boise due to its historical buildings status.
Neurolux
Address:
111 N 11th Street
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
21+
Capacity:
300
Website:
The Neurolux is one of the OG venues in Boise, having opened in the early 1990s. They have hosted so many up-and-coming artists (many before they were famous), because the person who books the shows has an amazing ear for talent.
Some of the shows I have seen there are Elliott Smith (well, I stood outside because I was not 21 yet), Modest Mouse, Built to Spill, and others.
Pengilly’s
Address:
513 W Main Street
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
21+
Capacity:
200
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/PengillysSaloon/
While a small bar like Pengilly’s would not normally make this list, I am including it because it has the same owner as the Neurolux and therefore the same ear for booking amazing shows — but in a much smaller format. It is something of a cowboy venue, but in a sort of hipster way.
Whether you want to attend a show, or just go out for a drink, I always recommend Pengilly’s because of the awesome atmosphere and variety of talent that plays there.
Outlaw Field at the Idaho Botanical Gardens
Address:
2355 N Old Penitentiary Road
Boise, ID 83712
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
4,000
Website:
https://www.idahobotanicalgarden.org/
The Idaho Botanical Gardens is on the list alongside the Egyptian Theatre as one of the most special places to see a show in Boise. It is an actual working botanical garden that you can visit any time of year, but has a large lawn area and stage that holds shows. It is also at the base of the foothills, which makes for a beautiful venue with an outdoor atmosphere.
Some of the shows I have seen in recent years include the Counting Crows, Elvis Costello, Jane’s Addiction, Norah Jones, Wilco, and so many more.
Morrison Center for the Performing Arts
Address:
2201 W Cesar Chavez Lane
Boise, ID 83725
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
2,037
Website:
https://www.morrisoncenter.com/
The Morrison Center for the Performing Arts is an art center located on the Boise State University campus. With a large donation by the Morrisons, the center opened in 1984.
The Morrison Center is the place for any traveling Broadway shows that come to town (I most recently saw Hamilton there), as well as many shows by the Boise Philharmonic, Ballet Idaho, and Opera Idaho.
It is a beautiful building and prides itself on being the art venue in Boise.
ExtraMile Arena
Address:
1401 W Cesar Chavez LaneBoise, ID 83706
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
12,644
Website:
https://www.extramilearena.com/
The next three venues are the three real “arenas” in the Boise area. ExtraMile Arena is also on the Boise State campus, and so not only holds concerts but also university events like graduation and Boise State basketball.
The Idaho Center
Address:
16114 N Idaho Center Blvd.
Nampa, ID 83687
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
12,279 (Ford Arena)
10,500 (Ford Amphitheater)
2,500 (Ford Theater)
Website:
https://www.fordidahocenter.com/
The Ford Idaho Center is not based on Boise, but in Nampa, which is a little more than 20 miles from Boise. It’s included here because it holds a significant number of the large shows that come to town.
The Ford Idaho Center also has an outdoor component, which holds a number of festivals and other shows during the summer. When Warped Tour was a thing, it would be held outdoors at the Idaho Center.
Idaho Central Arena
Address:
233 S Capitol Blvd.
Boise, ID 83702
Age Limit:
All Ages
Capacity:
5,000 (plus suites)
Website:
https://idahocentralarena.com/
The Idaho Central Arena does not hold many concerts, but they hold some, so we wanted to include them. The Idaho Central Arena is located in downtown Boise and is connected to the Grove Hotel, and is also home to the Idaho Steelheads, an ECHL hockey team.
The Idaho Central Arena has been called a number of things over the years, including the Bank of America Center, the Qwest Arena, and the CenturyLink Arena. They also used to be home to the Idaho Stampede, a basketball team, before they folded.
The location of the Idaho Central Arena makes it our favorite large arena in the area, but they just don’t hold enough concerts to make it an important concert venue in Boise.
