The Continental Club

Whether you’re living in Austin or just visiting, at some point you’ve gotta hit up the Continental Club, which opened its doors in 1955 on South Congress Avenue. Legends like Led Zeppelin’s Robert Plant, Wanda Jackson and ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons have all played the 200-capacity room recently—up to standard for a place that regularly billed the likes of Double Trouble, Paul Ray and the Cobras and Joe Ely back in the ’70s and ’80s. It’s a tiny stage in a small room, but the performances that occur in front of that iconic red curtain make some of the best cases for why this city still deserves the title of “Live Music Capital of the World.”