1996 – 2026

BostonBands

Celebrating 30 Years of Local Music

The Story

30 Years ofLocal Music

BostonBands.com was founded in 1996 by Alex Willis with a simple mission: to connect local music fans with the bands they love. For 30 years, we provided this service for free to Boston-area musicians, venues, and fans of live music.

What started as a simple directory grew into the largest online community for New England local music—13,000+ bands, 6,700+ venues, and thousands of fans came together around the music they loved. From basement shows in Allston to the Paradise and Middle East, if it was local and it rocked, it was on BostonBands.

13,564
Bands
6,783
Venues
4,353
Songs
36,001
Gigs
Through the Years

30 Years ofBoston Music

From the Rat to Roadrunner, from WBCN to the silence of COVID—explore the full story of Boston's local music scene.

Explore the Timeline
A scrolling journey through 30 years of bands, venues, and the moments that shaped the scene.
From the Archive

The Bands,The Venues

Over 4,300 original tracks, 13,000 bands, and 6,700 venues. From punk demos recorded in Allston basements to packed houses at the Middle East—this was the scene.

Middle East
Venue · 4,763 gigs
Middle East
Cambridge, MA
The 617
Band · 194 gigs
The 617
42 venues · Since 2008
Great Scott
Venue · 1,241 gigs
Great Scott
Allston, MA
Guitarists silhouetted on stage
Every stage. Every night.
Peter Parcek
♫ 4 songs in archive
Band · Since 1999
Peter Parcek
BostonBands member #1
Paradise Rock Club
Venue · 846 gigs
Paradise Rock Club
Boston, MA
The Joe Mack Band
♫ Song in archive
Band · 299 gigs
The Joe Mack Band
50 venues · #1 ranked
Concert crowd with stage lights
The crowd was the show.
The Sinclair
Venue · 1,167 gigs
The Sinclair
Cambridge, MA
Radio Honey
Band · 130 gigs
Radio Honey
48 venues · Since 2017
Club Passim
Venue · 408 gigs
Club Passim
Cambridge, MA
Guitar closeup on stage
Raw. Real. Local.

Explore theArchive

The Timeline
30 years of Boston music, from The Rat to The Roadrunner.
The Universe
Visualize Boston's local music family of bands and venues.
The Venues
Every stage in Greater Boston, mapped and measured.
The Music
A sampling of local music from the BostonBands Radio archives.
Thank You

Keep ItLocal

To every musician who put themselves out there, every venue that booked an unknown, and every fan who showed up and stayed—

This was yours, and it always will be.