Starlight Studio

Founded in 1974 on the West Side by a collective of visual artists that includes such future luminaries of the Buffalo arts scene as Diane Bertolo, Charles Clough, and Robert Longo, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center has operated since 2006 in Babeville, the complex created by Ani DiFranco in the redeveloped Asbury United Methodist Church. With a mission of creating and making available to the public new works in a diversity of genres of contemporary art, Hallwalls operates a large exhibition gallery that features a permanent collection as well as temporary exhibitions of works by local artists, as well as a screening room and performance space. As well, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center is a dedicated advocate for local artists on issues such as funding for the arts and freedom of expression.

Ani DiFranco is the locally-based musician and record company honcho who was responsible for saving the historic Asbury United Methodist Church from demolition in 1996 and transforming it into "Babeville", a complex that encompasses the headquarters of her record label, Righteous Babe Records, Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Center's gallery and screening room, and the concert venue Asbury Hall. Located in the sanctuary of the former church, Asbury Hall is a 1,000-capacity venue that hosts live performances of music that trends heavily toward folky indie singer-songwriters, in many cases from Righteous Babe Records' stable of artists. Comedy, variety shows, and other events are also held regularly at Asbury Hall.

"Spare" room... get it? Dad jokes aside, 500 Pearl Street's onsite bowling alley is a thoroughly hipster-ed up affair with a retro-chic vibe: eight lanes furnished with midcentury-inspired seating and settees, an arcade with '80s- and '90s-era video machines, a bar where smart craft cocktails abound, and a dimly-lit, LED-imbued ambience more redolent of a chic nightclub than a bowling alley. You pay by the hour rather than per game, and there's one distinct downside that comes with that: regardless of how much time you pay for, the lights and scoring machines cut out after every hour and have to be turned back on manually, so time your games accordingly (or keep score on pencil and paper).

It's best known as a divey blue-collar watering hole, but the Tudor Lounge is also one of the best places in Buffalo to see local blues combos — including the house band, the Jony James Blues Band — strut their stuff. Bluesy alt-rock acts take the stage from time to time, as well. The Tudor Lounge also has karaoke on Friday nights starting at 11PM.

The Studio Arena Theatre was one of the oldest resident theatres in the United States and Buffalo's only professional regional theatre at the time of its closure in 2008 due to financial difficulties. It was reopened in 2012 by Shea's Performing Arts Center in partnership with a variety of other local, regional, and college theatre institutions. The 710 Theatre presents an assortment of productions. The theatre is also available for private and corporate events.

Now that the boom-boom dance clubs up and down the strip have mostly gone the way of the dodo, Chippewa's newest identity is as a venue for live music. Opened in 2018 in the former The Lodge nightclub, Rec Room is a mainstay of this transformation. The place is owned by Chris Ring, the mastermind behind the sadly missed Waiting Room on Delaware Avenue, and it's pretty much the same deal here as at the old place — mostly mid-tier punk, hardcore, and heavy metal bands with a few clubbier acts thrown in from time to time — in a classed-up ambience lit with Instagrammable neon art fixtures. If you've arrived early or the opening act is boring, there's also a game room upstairs with dartboards, electronic basketball, and arcade marchines.