Get an earful

Club Helsinki

405 Columbia Street, Hudson

Club Helsinki moved from Massachusetts to Hudson not long ago, upgrading its performance space significantly in the process, but also sealing Hudson’s incipient reputation as a music town to be reckoned with. Helsinki brings instant credibility. It is a major mid-sized national-circuit club, built for sound from the ground up. It enjoys an already-established reputation, especially in the realm of Americana. Amidst the A-list folkies and singer/songwriters who play here practically nightly – Todd Snider, Tift Merritt and Aimee Mann will all be here in the coming months – Club Helsinki has thrown a few curveballs in the last year: Magnetic Fields, Frank Black (of the Pixies), Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) and more. So don’t write it off if banjos aren’t your thing. And this is another club worth a visit just to see the exceptionally cool space. For more information, call (518) 828-4800 or visit https://helsinkihudson.com.

Hopped Up Café

2303 Lucas Turnpike, High Falls

The Hopped Up Café is a new Valley venue offering farm-to-table food and a connoisseur’s craft-beer and wine list. But live music was part of the original design, and Hopped Up is following through on that admirably, enlivening its intimate space with live acts on the weekends – tending toward the roots/organic, but with plenty of exceptions as well – and an open mic hosted by Kelly McNally of Rosendale’s the Virginia Wolves every second Thursday. The next one takes place on April 14. For more information, call (845) 687-4750 or visit www.hoppedupcafe.com.

Snug Harbor

36 Main Street, New Paltz

New Paltz’s infamous rock dive bar is really no dive at all, but rather a warm, raucous, small music bar where the crowd is right up in the band’s face, but the band won’t turn down and the magic happens. Snug’s is not afraid of the harder end of rock, but, as with most college-town music bars, the roster is eclectic and surprising. For more information, call (845) 256-0825 or check it out at www.facebook.com/snugharbornewpaltz.

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The Chance

6 Crannell Street, Poughkeepsie

From its days as the Last Chance Saloon – a music club with a Dixieland house band! – to its current incarnation as a mid-size club catering to hard rock, metal and modern alternative, the Chance has been one of the region’s premier venues for decades. For all of its sold-out shows by major artists in all genres and unannounced tour kickoff dates by legitimate superstars, the Chance may be known most of all for the date the Police played there during a blizzard early in their first American tour. Approximately 13,000 people claim to be among the seven in attendance that night. For more information, call (845) 471-1966 or visit www.thechancetheater.com.