Best venues in Bloomington offer a variety of performances

Rhino’s: Bloomington’s premier all-age rock club is located at 331 S. Walnut St. and has both national and local shows showcasing everything from death metal to indie rock.

You’ll encounter lots of obnoxious high school kids because the venue is all ages, but the low ticket prices, top-notch sound and extremely visible stage more than justify the suffering.

Rhino’s will be hosting indie rock stalwarts Wavves with openers Christmas Island and Apache Dropout on Sept. 14. Tickets are $10.

The Bluebird: Located at 216 N. Walnut St., The Bluebird books more nationally touring acts than any other club in Bloomington. The venue has crisp sound and a big enough floor to have mid-sized acts from a plethora of genres.

Since it’s really just a bar that has shows, the venue is age-restricted, and you can’t get in if you aren’t 21. The age restriction doesn’t keep out all of the riff raff, but it does create an adult-oriented environment more conducive to enjoying a concert.

The Bluebird will have heavy metal power trio High on Fire with touring support from Kylesa and Torche on Oct. 11. Tickets are $15 on Ticketmaster before convenience fees.

The Bishop: Opening shop last year in the building formerly known as the Cinemat, the Bishop is a relatively new concert venue for Bloomington, located at 123 S. Walnut St.

Finding a happy medium between the all-age rumpus of Rhino’s and the older-than-21 exclusiveness of The Bluebird, the club has an 18-and-up policy, making it theoretically open to all college students while excluding most high school students. It books local and touring bands of all genres and of a wide range of popularity levels, from black metal shows that you’ll find yourself practically alone at to marquee indie pop gigs where the standing area is shoulder-to-shoulder.

The Bishop is bringing Indianapolis indie giants Margot and the Nuclear So and So’s on Oct. 14. Tickets are $13.

Buskirk-Chumley Theater: If the band you’re interested in seeing is too big for any of the above clubs, perhaps they’ll book a gig at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater, located at 114 E. Kirkwood Ave.

With a large seated auditorium complete with balcony, shows at the Buskirk-Chumley can hold hundreds more people than shows at any of Bloomington’s rock clubs and are generally geared to a more subdued audience. That is, one without beer. Some of the most popular shows that roll through town are here, and the sound quality is superb.

The Buskirk-Chumley will have The New Pornographers on Oct. 13. Tickets range from $27.50 to $30 before fees.