Boulton Center

This is a FANTASTIC performing venue, and I wish we had one like it in Manhattan. Ticket prices are usually $30-$50 and there's not a bad seat in the house (which holds a total of maybe 300 people), and events often include a meet-and-greet. And if you're from NYC and going there, the Boulton Center is only about a 10-15 minute walk from the Bayshore station of the Long Island Railroad, which is about a one-hour ride from Penn Station. Attending a late show might leave you tight on time on a Saturday night, and an hour or two wait for a train, but the venue is great for music. I've seen Poco, John Hammond, and Chris Hillman there, and almost any performer can thrive on that stage and in this setting.

A word of warning about attending movies there, though, which they show over the summer on weeknights. Five or six years back, for laughs, I went out there to see FORBIDDEN PLANET -- I seldom turn down a chance to see that movie in a theater -- and was royally disappointed. They used a white sheet suspended over the stage for a screen, and showed a panned-and-scanned DVD of the movie with a washed out image; and there were some un-supervised teens there making noise during the showing. Things may have gotten better in this department in the years since, but based on my experience the movies don't pay to see unless you're joining neighbors there. :