Great Scott in Allston, MA

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Telephone:	+1 617-566-9014
Website:	www.greatscottboston.com
Address:	1222 Commonwealth Ave, Allston, MA, 02134 Allston/Brighton
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:	180 ftHarvard Ave - Westbound 220 ftHarvard Ave - Inbound 230 ftHarvard Avenue
Categories:	Dance Clubs Lounges Music Venues

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Bussiness info

Accepts Credit Cards	No
Parking	Street
Bike Parking	Yes
Wheelchair Accessible	Yes
Ages Allowed	21+
Good for Kids	No
Good for Groups	Yes
Ambience	Divey
Noise Level	Very Loud
Music	DJ, Live

Good For Dancing	Yes
Alcohol	Full Bar
Happy Hour	No
Best Nights	Thu, Fri, Sat
Coat Check	No
Smoking	Outdoor Area/ Patio Only
Outdoor Seating	No
Has TV	Yes
Takes Reservations	No
Has Pool Table	No

Today

Today	12:00 pm – 2:00 am Closed now
Local time (Allston)	02:37 Thursday, 17 July 2025

Business hours

Monday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Tuesday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Wednesday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Thursday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Friday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Saturday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am
Sunday	12:00 pm – 2:00 am

Description

Specialties

live music, hot dance nights with a sprinkling of the best comedians in the area.

History

Established in 1976.

Purchased by owner Frank Strenk the club, then called Brandy’s, in 1976. Always a home for live music, it became solidly established on the local indie-rock circuit when Carl Lavin took over the full-time booking in July 2003. Current residencies include The Pill (Fridays) a legendary long-running dance night for Anglophiles, Basstown with a six pack of amazing resident DJs (Alan Manzi, Baltimoroder, Baldur, Volvox, David Day, and DJ Die Young), and Ice-Cream Social E-Marce’s 50’s and 60’s dance night as well as a weekly comedy show, The Gas, put on by the Anderson Comedy Group.

The Fenway Recordings Sessions at Great Scott have brought a series of internationally and nationally recognized acts to the club and has featured a number of US debuts by bands (MGMT, Ting Tings and Cold War Kids) who have gone on to much greater fame.

Meet the Manager

Carl L.

Manager

(from Performer Magazine 2008– Matt Parish)

Five years after setting up shop here, Lavin now enjoys a reputation as the booking agent at one of the most consistently great clubs in the Northeast and the first thriving rock club for both well-publicized touring bands and local bands that Allston has seen in years. «The location is the key reason I thought the transformation would be possible,» Lavin says. «The neighborhood is so densely populated with musicians, artists and other musically aware people and is relatively easy to get to from everywhere else in the city. Touring bands get to see a different part of town and I think Allston treats them well. It definitely treats us well.»

Great Scott also recommends

Spike’s Junkyard Dogs

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reviews

Hot Dogs

,

Burgers

,

Sandwiches

Carl L. says,

«Curly fries and veggie dogs– no more to say»

Bagel Rising — CLOSED

317

reviews

Bagels

Carl L. says,

«Best fair trade coffee and an amazing array of bagel sandwiches. Try the Tequila Sunrise– yummm»

O’Briens Pub

41

reviews

Pubs

,

Music Venues

Carl L. says,

«Our punk rock little brother at the end of the street.»

Marty’s Liquors — CLOSED

65

reviews

Beer, Wine & Spirits

Carl L. says,

«Yes, they are a liquor store, but have been to the deli there? No? You should.»

Deep Ellum

941

reviews

Pubs

,

American (New)

,

Breakfast & Brunch

Carl L. says,

«you lured me in with your sinful „grubbins“ (no longer on the menu: sigh:) and your stellar beer list– no I’m hooked. Damn you Deep Ellum!»

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23 reviews of Great Scott

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Courtney N.

Place rating: 2
Allston, MA

I used to really like this place. It has its own old school unique charm. But I’ve almost always seemed to have problems with the rude staff.
About a week ago, I got cut off from the bar for the first time. The bar tender was really loud and condescending about it. Maybe if he was polite we wouldn’t have made such a fuss but immediately after he kicked us out. He wouldn’t even let us stay and watch the end of the show or even use the bathroom. That’s incredibly unprofessional because had we drove home and gotten into an accident it would’ve been his fault.

Ken S.

Place rating: 4
Gardner, MA

This is a great tiny venue. You can either get right up front and be as close to the stage as possible, or if you prefer you can sit at some high tables towards the back and still see perfectly. Most shows are in the $ 10-$ 12 range.
The set times do tend to be later than advertised, but it happens. It’s live music, not the trains, so if a band starts at 9:30 and not 9:15, it’s not a big deal.
I personally haven’t had any negative interactions with staff here. I’m not a huge drinker at shows, but the few times I’ve gone to the bar, it’s been quick and painless. Plus, a free jug of water is always welcome.

Al D.

Place rating: 3
North Cambridge, Boston, MA

I’ve been coming here for at least five years. I like this place. I’m grateful for it’s existence. And I expect that I will continue coming here.
If I’m judging this place as a bar, I would give it four stars. The beer selection is reasonable and varies enough over the seasons to make it reasonably interesting. The bar staff are reasonably-attentive and efficient. So far so good.
Ironically, it’s «efficency» and «attentiveness» that are lacking in its operation as a live music venue.
Efficiency. Somehow shows always seem to start at least a half hour later than they absolutely should. It sure would be nice to show up here for a 4-set show that alleges the first band will take the stage at 9:30 pm without having to recall whether the MBTA decided to extend its Late Night Service program.
Attentiveness. I’ve never witnessed such laborious sound checks and a satisfactory end result is not guaranteed. If you come to see Shoegaze bands here, then brace yourself for sound checks that rival the length of the band’s actual set. It’s that bad. And it’s wholly unnecessary. «Upstairs at the Middle East» is a smaller venue, but they never have problems with the sound check. «Precinct» is a smaller venue that never seems to have problems with their sound. «O’Brien’s» is a smaller venue and…
I have no issues with Great Scott when it’s serving up beers. But when it’s serving up live music, it’s become a bit of a mess.

Natalie K.

Place rating: 4
Needham, MA

Great venue for intimate shows! The atmosphere here is wonderful. There are plenty of seating options available at high tops and a perfect standing area around the stage. The acoustics are fantastic and the drinks are reasonably priced.
Great Scott is cash only, but they do have an ATM near the door for your use.
This is a great place to make plans to go check out for specific shows or just drop by on random nights to see what you might find! Door prices are cheap, I think around $ 7, and worth the great experience and the fact that you will probably see two or three bands with that $ 7. Great place for friends for a casual, fun night out!

Stephen F.

Place rating: 1
Upper East Side, Manhattan, NY

About a 10 – 1, guy-girl ratio, if that is your thing? Dirty floors. Crummy bands. Expensive drinks. Dirty hippy workers and clientele. Bouncers are racist and homophobic. Expensive covers on the reg. Really not worth going. If you want a dive bar with cheap beer and good food, go right across the street to The Avenue. Great Scott is a really trashy place with very little upside.

Janet H.

Place rating: 5
San Francisco, CA

I love this venue! If you’re looking for an intimate show, I recommend checking out Great Scott! It’s so small that we were able to chat with the artists. I also like how you can just sit and watch the show too. Tickets are also quite affordable here.
Only gripe is the bathroom is located awkwardly next to the stage and can be hard to access.

Richard H.

Place rating: 5
Miami, FL

This rock’n’roll club near Berklee School of Music was really chill. At first I was nervous that I would get hassled, but I went and found there was no hassle there. Listening to shoegaze and watching JAWS made a nice night.

Melissa B.

Place rating: 4
Boston, MA

This is a a fun venue, a little divey but that adds to the ambiance. The place is cash only with an ATM inside, but the trade off is that the drinks are reasonably priced for Boston. We came here on a Friday night around 10pm to check out what was playing. The door guy told us that one of the 3 bands that were supposed to play had to reschedule so the cover was reduced to $ 7. That was nice. There is room to dance, the staff is nice. I would certainly come back again for date night.

Riki N.

Place rating: 4
Allston, MA

Honestly? It’s a pretty darn good venue for live music. Here, you’ll pay ~$ 10 to see bands every night, many from the area that you’ve probably never heard of, and then every so often a bigger name comes by.
The stage /sound is really, really good. You can get right up to the edge and be less than a foot away from the band members — it’s a very intimate venue, which I personally prefer to bigger ones where you just get lost in the crowd.
Drinks aren’t too expensive either, generally what you’d expect to pay at any bar. Again, not bad.
Overall, I’d say refresh their page every now and then to see who’s playing, and if they interest you, stop by. You’ll get a great sound in a cozy setting where you can have a drink with the band members right after their set if you’re so inclined. Oh — don’t forget earplugs, though!

Marin T.

Place rating: 3
Somerville, MA

I want to *love* Great Scott as my trusty local rock club, but I can only get as far as like.
The good:
— Best lineup of shows in town, especially of you’re of the indie-rock persuasion. Since Bowery took over booking I’ve come here perhaps twice as often as any other club in Boston. Nice to see so many well-regarded bands in such an intimate place.
— Bar and door staff alike are always friendly (or at least «not unfriendly»). No ‘roid-raging, douchey bouncers here; leave those guys downtown. The clientele is mostly friendly too… don’t be the dumb old crank that whines about hipsters/college kids in a ROCK CLUB in ALLSTON.
— Nice drink selection at reasonable prices by music venue standards.
— Convenient location at the intersection of the B Branch and the 66 bus. Auto parking is tough nearby, but not impossible.
— Seriously, all the best shows come here.
The bad:
— Mostly the layout. It seems like a standard pub that had a small box punched out of one end to house the dance floor and stage. Can’t see the stage at all from many seats at the bar.
— Of course the bathrooms are near the stage too, so good luck fighting your way to the front just to pee during a crowded show.
— The mix is always too loud. Bring earplugs to avoid hearing damage, seriously.
— Last thing: Please turn off the damn TVs above the bar when bands are playing! No one comes here to watch sports (or cable-TV movies) and it’s distracting in a dark club when the music is happening.

Jon T.

Place rating: 3
San Francisco, CA

Great Scott played an integral role in my early-mid 20s living in Boston. That is because it was home to the Pill. Every friday night, Boston being the dull town it is, the Pill was as close as you could get to the kind of variety of night life you see in more lively cities.
Alas, the Pill is no more and so Great Scott has lost much of its charm. Last time I was there, it felt like I had never left but not in a good way. It has all the trappings of a dive bar and probably always will — dirty bathrooms, lame college kids, etc. But the bartenders are to be admired for all the crap they must have to put up with and their beer selection is pretty robust.
The one major, definitive downside (for me) is the cash only policy. Last time I was there, I noticed a sign saying they were cash only because they wanted to support people living with their means (or something those lines.) While that sounds like a noble sentiment, I’m pretty sure they just don’t want to pay the credit card fees. To each their own, but I know I’d spend more (and still be within my means) if I could have my card swiped instead.
Nonetheless, cheers to you Great Scott for being what you are and nothing more.

Kyle V.

Place rating: 3
Cambridge, MA

The upside: Good beer. Lots of live music — sometimes some really good shows.
The downside: SOOOOOOOOO loud! Good lord, every time I come here I think my ears are going to bleed. I go to a lot of shows — it doesn’t need to be so loud that you can’t hear for the next day. I guess you can just wear earplugs, but why should you need to?

Emily R.

Place rating: 1
West Newton, MA

Went here for a live show. The staff is incredibly rude. I would not recommend going to this venue, their bad attitude is very off putting. They we’re so rude that immediately after paying the $ 12 cover i asked for my money back. I went to speak to the manager who proceeded to yell at me, finally I got my cover back. I cannot explain the amount of relief I felt leaving this venue.

Kacie D.

Place rating: 3
Boston, MA

I visited on a Saturday night. The website did a great job of updating with the current band calendar, which was helpful to check out ahead of time. For a Saturday night it was only about half full, which was a plus.
The bar was cash only and had a small but decent beer selection that was very reasonably priced. It was Hipster central, so be prepared to be surrounded by… hipsters. Everywhere.

Liliya M.

Place rating: 1
Los Angeles, CA

So now that The Pill is not a thing anymore — let’s be honest and really review this place as a «venue». Though they will occasionally get a good band (1 – 2 times annually maybe?) the only thing that they consistently have is that awful little mess of a bar.
On more than one occasion the bartender has been incomprehensibly rude. The one night my friend from NY was in town I brought her here only to have the bartender insist that the $ 20 bill she just handed him was in fact a $ 5. Really?
Maybe a trick like that works on someone sloshed (which is not easy to get to on their watered down and overpriced drinks) but we seriously just looked at each other and thought: Is this guy serious?
So, congrats Great Scott! You got rid of the only fun thing about you that there ever was (The Pill) and can now continue your descent into scum with your lovely bartender jacking money from customers in plain sight. Good luck with that!

J M.

Place rating: 1
Long Beach, NY

This place sucks. Paid $ 5 to get in. Wanted to spend more money but was told I had to leave by some meathead bartender and pay $ 5 more cover to get a beer. Great scot sucks !!!

Dawn E.

Place rating: 4
Marlborough, MA

This is a pretty fun place for live music. It gets cramped by the stage but spreads out by the bar so you have you’re choice of atmosphere you want.
The cover seems fair and the drink prices are as expected.
The bathrooms are gross though.
CLEAN THE BATHROOMS.

Jason L.

Place rating: 5
Quincy, MA

There are some problems with this room — no place for the bands to go, a sound guy who consistently turns it up too loud, and a strange cramped configuration.
But hell, the booking is solid, and in exchange for the weird setup you get incredibly intimate shows. Every act I’ve seen here has brought the audience into the show or come down on to the floor. It is the kind of place that begs for a really good rapport between the performer and the audience.
Props to the crowd here. They’re always relaxed, friendly, experienced concertgoers who aren’t going to do anything to ruin your night.
The bartender Joe is great. He saw us awkwardly trying to take a picture and offered to take it for us. He’s attentive and kind and does well by his customers.
Despite its problems, my favorite concert venue in town.

Valerie U.

Place rating: 4
Miami, FL

My main experience here has been shooting live music shows for local artists and public access television. So of course, I’ve extensively sampled the bar’s offerings. They’re exactly what I’d expect– overpriced plastic cups of decently mixed liquors. But you’re not going to find a better bargain with a comparable atmosphere anywhere in this neighborhood, so stay put.
In short: It’s a dive-y place (pro) and one of the cool crowd’s favorite Allston haunts (con).

Ryan B.

Place rating: 4
Arlington, MA

Went here with my girlfriend for the first time to check it out after hearing so many good things. With out a doubt we will be returning. We had an absolute blast dancing and drinking. The atmosphere is just a chill divey place with a stage, good sized dance floor and good people having fun. Great vibes.
Make sure you hit the ATM before you as it’s a cash only venue. A little inconvenient, but not the end of the world. Drinks are moderately priced and the staff is plenty accommodating.

Mike K.

Place rating: 3
Allston-Brighton, MA

Too bad there aren’t a lot of good music venues around here or this place would be getting two stars. But basically it’s a bad dive with a live music stage and a sizable dance floor.
The bar *only takes cash*, which is an automatic one star deduction in my book. Have you checked the calendar lately? We are in 2013 and even most food trucks on Boston streets take credit cards.
They serve no food as far as I know so if you came here hungry an hour before the show you’d be out of luck — there goes another star.
Finally, the place just feels dated in almost every respect. The décor hasn’t been changed probably since the 90s, the sound system is just ok and they crank it way louder than is necessary for the relatively small space. The crowd is also a mixed bag — there’s a decent share of regular people who like live music but they also attract a good amount of hipsters and the alternative/counter-culture crowd.
In fairness, they often have pretty decent acts performing on stage and the dance floor does get going after a couple of sets, although beware of moshing upfront, which is not entirely unexpected given the audience.
Like I said, this place only squeaks by with three stars because they have decent music and little competition in the area.

Matthew H.

Place rating: 5
Brookline, MA

I don’t come here to dance. I don’t come here for drinks. I don’t come here to meet new people. I don’t come here to watch the game.
What I do come here for is ROCK. Loud rock and metal, specifically. The sound system makes for one of the better sound experiences in a small (ish) club in this city, and they have sound engineers who know how to tweak it oh so right.
They book a solid lineup of local and touring bands, and they don’t kill you at the door with an outrageous cover charge. The beers are cheap enough, and there’s plenty of space if you don’t want to be right up in front. The staff is quick to smile and quick with the drinks, and it’s just a really fun place to catch a show.

Sara M.