Live music bars in Lyon: where to catch a band, a DJ or an open mic
In Lyon, live music rarely happens in big halls. It happens in bars that hold 80 people, on barges tied to the Rhône, and in a jazz club that has been running since 1948. Here are nine verified places, the night each one usually programs, the opening hours and what the evening costs.
Three formats, three ways to go out
Three formats share the bill in Lyon’s bars. A live gig starts early, often around 8:30pm, and ends before 11:30pm. There is a cover charge, from 6 to 16.50 EUR depending on the room. A DJ set or club night starts later, around 10 or 11pm, and runs to 3 or 5am; entry is often free, sometimes 5 or 8 EUR. Open mics and jam sessions take the early slot: amateur musicians play, and you either walk in free or pay for a drink.
Most gigs fall between Tuesday and Saturday. Monday is the night for open mics.
Small concert rooms
Kraspek Myzik runs an 80-person standing room at 20 montée Saint-Sébastien, in the 1st arrondissement on the slopes of Croix-Rousse. Gigs start at 8:30pm and finish by 11:30pm at the latest; doors open at 8pm and the bar from 5pm on gig nights. The programme mixes folk, rock, pop, post-punk, hip-hop and French chanson, with local bands and touring acts. Count 6 to 16.50 EUR for a ticket, plus a 2 EUR membership fee for the association that runs the place. Metro A to Hôtel de Ville, or Metro C to Croix-Paquet.
Le Périscope, at 13 rue Delandine in the 2nd, has been a home for jazz and improvised music since 2007. It stages around a hundred gigs a year in a 100 to 200 seat room. Tickets run from 8 EUR for subscribers to 19 EUR. The annual subscription costs 30 EUR and brings most gigs down to 8 EUR. Several nights are free, such as the Wednesday ‘I’m free’ series. Every April the venue runs the Récif festival with Le Marché Gare and Le Sucre. Reach it by Metro A or tram T1, Perrache stop.
Jazz, from a 1948 club to the Wednesday jam
Le Hot Club de Lyon, at 26 rue Lanterne in the 1st, has programmed jazz since 1948. Gigs run Wednesday to Saturday, starting at 8:30pm, with doors an hour earlier; the bar serves through the shows. On Wednesday the room hosts a jam session open to any musician from 8:30pm. Entry to the jam costs 9 EUR without membership, 5 EUR with the Avantage card, and is free with the Pass Jam at 30 EUR a year. Metro A or C, Hôtel de Ville stop.
Three barges, two rivers
Le Sonic is a gig bar and club on a barge moored at 4 quai des Étroits, in the 5th, a few minutes from Perrache station. The programme leans toward indie rock, cold wave, post-punk, noise and electro. On weeknights the room opens from 8pm to midnight, at weekends from 9pm to 3:45am. Club nights cost 5 EUR; gigs run 8 to 20 EUR depending on the headliner.
La Marquise, another barge, is moored at 20 quai Victor Augagneur in the 3rd, opposite the Hôtel-Dieu. It alternates early-evening gigs with a later club. The place is open daily from 2pm to 1am, and until 5am from Thursday to Saturday. A gig costs around 20 to 22 EUR; DJ nights are cheaper.
Bébé replaced the barge Le Sirius in 2025, at the same address, 4 quai Victor Augagneur. Same team, same slot: DJ sets, small gigs and jam nights, with resident DJ Mistafly. The boat is open daily from 2pm to 3am. A pint of blonde is 5.50 EUR, among the lowest prices on the Rhône banks.
Open mics: where to get on stage
Les Valseuses, a rum bar at 1 rue Chappet in the 1st, holds an open mic every Monday from 8:30pm to 11:30pm. No sign-up: you get up when you want, with a guitar, bass, keyboard and drum kit already on site. The bar is open Monday to Saturday in the evening and closed on Sunday. Metro C, Croix-Paquet stop, 140 metres away. A metre of spiced rum costs 20 EUR.
Bar des Capucins, at 5 place des Capucins in the 1st, runs an acoustic open mic on Thursday, a rock DJ on Friday, and rock gigs on Saturday in the lower room, shown on a screen upstairs. The bar opens at 5pm Monday to Saturday and at 3pm on Sunday.
New Note, at 99 avenue des Frères Lumière in the 8th, is not a night bar but a self-service piano room that opens its stage one Thursday a month. Individual slots start at 7:30pm, followed by a jam at 9:30pm; entry costs 5 EUR. An acoustic piano, keyboard, electronic drum kit, acoustic guitar and mic are on site. Metro D, Monplaisir-Lumière stop.
The week at a glance
How a typical week lines up, once the formats are put back in order.
- Monday: open mic at Les Valseuses, 8:30pm to 11:30pm, free entry.
- Wednesday: jam session at Le Hot Club de Lyon, 8:30pm, 9 EUR without membership.
- Thursday: unplugged at Bar des Capucins; open mic at New Note one Thursday a month, 7:30pm, 5 EUR.
- Friday: rock DJ at Bar des Capucins; gig then club at La Marquise.
- Saturday: rock gigs at Bar des Capucins; club at La Marquise until 5am.
- Other nights: gigs at Kraspek Myzik and Le Périscope according to the listing, and at Le Sonic on several nights a week.
What this page leaves out
It skips dance clubs with no live music, such as Le Sucre in Confluence or Le Petit Salon near Jean Macé, and the large venues like Le Transbordeur or La Halle Tony Garnier. It also passes over the open mics in Villeurbanne, starting with No Man’s Land, which sits in a neighbouring town. Programmes move: check the night’s date on the venue’s own site before you travel.