The free weekly Hartford Advocate (www.hartfordadvocate.com) provides useful information on cultural, sports, and musical events.
The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, 166 Capitol Ave. (tel. 860/987-5900; www.bushnell.org), is expanding, the project to include a new 918-seat theater added to the 2,800-seat main stage. They serve as venues for the Hartford Symphony, Connecticut Opera, Hartford Pops, and smaller traveling groups, when not hosting visiting symphony orchestras or road companies of Broadway plays. The Hartford Stage, 50 Church St. (tel. 860/527-5151; www.hartfordstage.org), mounts a variety of mainstream plays.
At the Arch Street Tavern, 85 Arch St. (tel. 860/246-7610), nationally known bands of the second magnitude appear from time to time, but local groups dominate. Subject to frequent change, live bands -- jazz, rock, whatever -- perform Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays. The Brickyard Cafe, 113 Allyn St. (tel. 860/249-2112), contains a bar, dance floor with DJ mixes, sports bar, pool tables, patio, and a lot of people looking to hook up. Jello shots fuel the action.
Black-Eyed Sally's, 350 Asylum St. (tel. 860/278-7427), known for its ribs and other Southern-style gustatorial treats, presents live blues bands Thursday through Saturday nights.
City Steam Brewery, 942 Main St. (tel. 860/525-1600), serves food that goes well with the dozens of home-brews. On the premises are pool tables, frequent live music, and the Brew HA HA Comedy Club (Thurs-Sat). For beer by the pitcher along with Monday Night Football or the Final Four, where better than Coach's, 187 Allyn St. (tel. 860/522-6224), a place founded by the UConn basketball coach himself? Open daily, it has 38 TVs, bar snacks, video games, and live music Thursday through Saturday (usually).
