Live-music venues worth the trip in Indianapolis, Indiana

Live Nation, which operates Old National Centre, runs the Egyptian Room as its general-admission room, where its FAQ warns that a general-admission ticket means “standing room only - no chairs” and puts the accessible section on the floor to the right of the stage.

This open-air amphitheater on the White River is billed on its own site as “Indy’s Premier Downtown Venue for Over 20 Years,” and it has hosted national touring headliners.

Live Nation, which operates the building, calls Old National Centre “home to the oldest standing stage house in Indianapolis.” The Murat Theatre is its seated hall, an orchestra level under a mezzanine, and it takes the touring concerts and Broadway runs that play the complex.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse is the downtown Indianapolis arena that is home to the NBA’s Pacers and WNBA’s Fever, and its own event calendar slots touring concerts in between the basketball dates.

Its own site calls it “one of the most popular and storied (21+ only) music venues in the Midwest” and “the best place to see and hear live music in Indianapolis,” and says the Broad Ripple venue has welcomed acts “from rock and indie to hip-hop, country, and electronic music.”

Its own site calls HI-FI “a 400 capacity concert and special events venue located in Murphy Art Center, in the heart of Fountain Square.” The same site groups it with the Annex and LO-FI Lounge as “Renowned venues showcasing rising stars, local talent, and some of the biggest names in music early in their careers.”

Its own site calls the Slippery Noodle “Indiana’s oldest, continually operated bar in the original building,” founded in 1850 as the Tremont House, and says it has grown into “the Midwest’s premiere blues club.” Bands work a front stage and a back stage, with an open blues jam every Wednesday.

Its own site states a mission to be “the premier home for intimate cabaret” and sells the room on huge stars and a small, intimate stage. The booking runs to Broadway stars, jazz artists and international cabaret acts rather than staged musicals.

Its own site describes an “iconic Indianapolis institution” operating since 1994 as a listening-room jazz club booking “a wide variety of acts from across the jazz world and beyond,” plus a weekly Latin dance party that adds live Latin music on the patio in the warmer months.

Its own site describes “an ALL AGES music venue with a capacity of 400,” calling it “Indianapolis’ premier all ages entertainment venue since 1928,” with all-original local acts booked Friday and Saturday nights and occasional regional or national touring acts through the week.

Its own site says this biergarten inside the historic Athenaeum runs live entertainment “Wednesday through Saturday, and some Sundays,” ranging from “acoustic rock to blues to Polka” and mixing “local favorites, along with national touring bands.”

Its own site describes it as “a new listening room & concert venue in the heart of Broad Ripple.”

Its own site describes a Fountain Square room booking “national and local musical headliners, cabaret and burlesque, stand-up and improv comedy,” leaning into an eclectic, self-described “weirdly elegant” mix of live acts.