Best of: Arts & Entertainment: Place to hear live music
1st placeThe Orange Peel 
The Orange Peel stage has hosted more greats than we have space to list, so we’ll just go with the past few months: The Black Keys, Aimee Mann, Jamie Lidell, Broken Social Scene, Tortoise, Of Montreal. Oh yeah, and on the way? Social Distortion, Joanna Newsom and Cyndi Lauper. Cyndi freakin’ Lauper.
The Peel’s roster shines brighter than a just-waxed clementine, and Xpress voters have that gleam in their eyes, voting the venue Best Place to Hear Live Music some seven years in a row. Over the past year, the hall underwent a major (and fortunately brief) renovation, adding a bar, extending its capacity by 100-150 people and adding a patio.
“That’s been a big help, not only getting people into shows, but bringing in some bands that might have otherwise not played here,” says manager Liz Whalen.
The Orange Peel also added a private club downstairs, PULP. It’s a boon for folks interested in liquor drinks (the upstairs bar is beer-and-wine only), and also hosts its own live-music events during the week. Both places have the same goal, Whalen says.
“People come and have a really good experience,” she says. “We do really focus on our customers.”
— Rebecca Sulock
