Cake Shop (CLOSED)

It can be difficult to see the stage in this narrow, stuffy but clean basement space—but it gets big points for its keen indie- and underground-rock bookings, among the most adventurous in Manhattan. It’s located in the heart of the Lower East Side, scrunched between Pianos and the Living Room on Ludlow Street. Cake Shop lives up to its name, selling vegan baked goods and coffee upstairs. The brightly lit back room on street level sells used vinyl and CDs, as well as a smattering of new releases, DVDs and other record-store ephemera.