Top 13 San Francisco Bay Area Metal Clubs
- Hectic
- 3 days ago
- 4 min read
San Fran666cco launched in February 2025, and in the first 11 months or so we listed 143 heavy metal concerts in the Bay Area on the website!
Which clubs had the most metal shows in 2025? Well, here’s our top 13:
Venue | Number of Metal Shows in 2025 | City | |
1 | DNA Lounge | 17 | San Francisco |
2 | Eli's Mile High Club | 14 | Oakland |
3 | Neck of the Woods | 10 | San Francisco |
4 | UC Theatre | 10 | Berkeley |
5 | Great American Music Hall | 8 | San Francisco |
6 | Thee Stork Club | 8 | Oakland |
7 | Thee Parkside | 7 | San Francisco |
8 | Pussy Palace | 5 | Oakland |
9 | The Knockout | 5 | San Francisco |
10 | Bottom of the Hill | 4 | San Francisco |
11 | Regency Ballroom | 4 | San Francisco |
12 | Cornerstone | 4 | Berkeley |
13 | Kilowatt | 3 | San Francisco |
2025 Winner: DNA Lounge
The DNA Lounge was the winner with the most metal shows in San Francisco for 2025, at a respectable 17! At this point the DNA is like the familiarity and comfort of my local bar, but with an 700 capacity main stage and serving slices of pizza till late.
We were pretty confident that the DNA Lounge would top our 2025 list of the most metal concerts in SF, given how much of a metalhead manager Cip is, and Bleeding Priest DJing there all the time. It is likely a first choice for most touring death metal bands, not too big but not too small, just right as Goldilocks sez. Some touring acts play at the DNA yearly it seems (Belphlegor, Krisiun, Enforcer and others are regulars).
10 of the 12 great shows I saw at the DNA in 2025:
Plus the Above DNA space being available for smaller shows – two clubs in one really. Very thankful that the DNA Lounge continues to have lots of metal shows, 40 years and still kicking as an independent venue.
Pro-Tip: The DNA Patreon offers a monthly membership where you can get into any show starting at just $25/month. Support the club, support local music, and save yourself some $ if you go to shows regularly. If you’ve been thinking about it, there are 5 (!) metal shows at the DNA this March.
Silver Medal: Eli’s Mile High Club
Scene stalwart Eli’s Mile High Club is still hanging in there with a lot of good metal shows, despite problems with the City of Oakland closing their back patio, which has really hurt their business apparently. They came in second place in the shows we listed in 2025, with 14 metal shows.
Despite the patio woes, Eli’s is still the home of Oakland metal. In a rough-ish neighborhood but only a couple blocks from Macarthur BART station, it is a club that has seen a lot of great music over the years, starting 50+ years ago as a well known Blues club.
Two great shows I saw at Eli's in 2025:
Eli’s is as Oakland as always having Ghost Town beer on tap, as Oakland as not leaving anything in your car, as Oakland as “it's not metal if it's not on Tankcrimes” as I once heard someone actually say out loud. Be sure to go there soon and buy some drinks to support them.
Most Improved: Neck of the Woods
I found myself making the trek to Neck of the Woods out on Clement at 5th Avenue in San Francisco’s Richmond District several times this year, my first time there since it was the Last Day Saloon club in the 90s.
Maybe I missed some shows I should have seen in 2024, but it seemed like there were significantly more metal shows at Neck of the Woods in 2025 – we listed 10 on the site. I caught a couple of great local death metal showcases there, but they also booked some touring bands I missed, like Revocation on Halloween (a big dance party night for the DNA I believe).
Two death metal fests I saw at Neck of the Woods in 2025:
Neck of the Woods also has both downstairs and upstairs spaces, though the reverse of the DNA – upstairs is bigger. And 6th Avenue is far but not that far, take the 38 Geary Muni bus or a car if you have one.
Best Corporate Alternative: UC Theatre
Tied for 3rd place with Neck of the Woods at 10 shows was the UC Theatre in downtown Berkeley, another club I found myself going to a lot more in 2025. Including one amazing weekend seeing Exodus, Death Angel, and Blind Illusion on a Friday night and then Obituary and Nails on a Sunday night – what an epic metal weekend!
The UC Theatre is a big place, so it books some larger tours. More importantly their booking of metal shows offers a much better alternative to the Live Nation / Another Planet Entertainment globorock monopoly ruling over large clubs like The Warfield and The Fox.
It's a large venue, but the different tiers make seeing the stage easy from lots of places, and it is just a block or two away from the downtown Berkeley BART station.
Is this ranking really correct?
Well, I wouldn’t base a PhD research paper on it, but yeah, we’ve been pretty intense about putting shows up on the site.
I’m sure we missed a show here and there, plus the site did go live in early February. And we don’t always list stoner rock or pure black metal bills, just not our thing.
But if there was a bill with a metal or thrash or death metal band on the bill, it was most likely on the site (and therefore in these totals). So yeah it is at least as accurate as USA Today’s College Rankings or Casey Kasem’s Top 40, though with considerably more bragging rights.
Which Bay Area club will have the most metal shows in 2026?
Check the listings on our site, sign up to get our FREE Friday show list email, and get out there to see some metal until your eardrums bleed!
As always, support your local bay area metal clubs, buy plenty of drinks (or at least a soda or N.A. Beer if you are under 21 or sober), and tip your bartenders.
–Hectic
