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Boston's Best Bars With Live Weekday Music

There's no shortage of live music in the city of Boston, and it seems like so many of the Hub's copious bars, restaurants, pubs and lounges feature some manner of live music on their busy and packed weekend business nights. Not all of Boston's night crawlers have weekends off, however, with many thirsty patrons hitting up the city's nightlife during the week for a cold drink and some live entertainment. Luckily, there are also plenty of Boston bars with live music on weekdays, as well, providing the perfect mid-week escape from the work doldrums!
Wally's Cafe
427 Massachusetts Ave.
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 424-1408
www.wallyscafe.com

Music lovers need look no further than Wally's Cafe, a cool and approachable joint at Columbus Avenue on Massachusetts Avenue, a cafe who truly supports local musicians by offering live performances 365 days a year. Jazz and blues dominate much of the seven-night-a-week schedule here at Wally's, but the cafe also provides plenty of room for funk, jazz and rock acts to take the stage on a nightly basis, making this joint a must-stop for both Boston's Berklee crowd as well as the city's passionate music fans.

Related: Boston's Best Singer-Songwriters

Mr. Dooley's
77 Broad St.
Boston, MA 02109
(617) 338-5656
www.mrdooleys.com

Heading over to Boston's Financial District for our next weekday live music bar, Mr. Dooley's on Broad Street is the place to go if you're looking for live, traditional Irish music in all its wonderful forms. From stripped-down fiddle and vocal combos delivering pensive and mournful odes to Ireland, to more upbeat, jaunty jig bands urging patrons to kick up their heels and dance, Mr. Dooley's delivers the live Irish music goods six nights a week, proving its passion for entertainment is as strong as its beer.

Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen
604 Columbus Ave.
Boston, MA 02118
(617) 536-1100
www.darrylscornerbarboston.com

Jazz, jazz jazz! Darryl's Corner Bar & Kitchen has all that jazz when it comes to delivering live music on the weekdays, specifically on Tuesdays when the atmosphere at Darryl's does its best impression of old school New Orleans soul. Speaking of soul, this joint's specialization in comfort food classics fits in perfectly with that Tuesday night jazz beat, providing just as much of a culinary punch as it does that be-bop jazz backbeat. Darryl's is definitely a cool place to check out on a weeknight.

Related: Boston's Best DJs

Bell in Hand Tavern
45 Union St.
Boston, MA 02108
(617) 227-2098
www.bellinhand.com

The Bell in Hand Tavern is one of the city's oldest operating bars which serves up similarly quiet acoustic music during the week; a great place to go for those who have grown tired of the oft-deafening volume of most live music in bars. Instead, conversations here at the Bell in Hand Tavern can be heard over the music and over a pint, while on other nights bands play their musical wares on the opposing side of the bar, making this Union Street stop a solid place to bring a group of friends or out-of-town guests for a drink.

Toad
1912 Massachusetts Ave.
Cambridge, MA 02140
(617) 497-4950
www.toadcambridge.com

Toad is the curiously named bar over on Massachusetts Avenue at Porter Square in Cambridge, a tiny spot with a large reputation for filling up its four walls with some of the city's brightest and most talented musical up-and-comers. It's live music nearly every night of the week here at Toad, with many of the performing combos specializing in good, old fashioned rock and roll, folk and blues, providing a very down-home, intimate "speakeasy" sort of atmosphere which keeps Toad feeling vibrant and unique as one of Boston's hippest spots for live music during the week.

George Pacheco has been writing professionally about arts and entertainment for over a decade. A graduate of the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, George currently resides in a humble New England home with his wife, cat and massive music and film collection. His work can be found at Examiner.com.

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