Live Music Venues in Stockholm

Stockholm Music Festival
Photo by Visit Stockholm/mediabank.visitstockholm.com

I often get questions from hotel guests from abroad (non-Swedish speaking, in other words) about shows in Stockholm. They are often surprised when I inform them that shows (musicals, dinner shows, theatre, etc.) in Stockholm are generally always in Swedish. These types of venues cater to locals and they usually play to full houses. There are just not enough non Swedish speaking visitors, interested in theatre, to make it economical to have shows that are not in Swedish. Now and again, there will be a show in English. For example, The Stockholm English Speaking Theatre (SEST) puts on shows every so often.

At the Hotel Rival. 

With that being said... music is an international language and there are many concert halls, live music venues and other places in Stockholm where international guests can enjoy some music without having to worry about following a plot of some kind. Some specialize in a certain genre of music while others may offer a mix. And some have entertainment most evenings while others may just have live music on specific evenings. Below is a list of the larger, more popular venues. I have tried to separate them according to music genre when possible, and included everything from fancy to grungy.

Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra with Eric Ericson's Chamber Choir
At Konserthuset. Photo by Jan-Olav Wedin

Keep in mind that many venues close for several weeks during the summer months (some for the entire summer). Instead, there is the option of music festivals and other outdoor venues.

Classic/Opera/Dance

• Royal Opera House (Kungliga Operan)- a mix of opera, ballet, concerts as well as guided tours.
• Stockholm Concert Hall (Konserthuset)- home of the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra. Variety of concerts. Also the venue where the Nobel Prizes are awarded each year.
• Berwaldhallen- home of the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. Location of the annual Baltic Sea Festival (classic music) every August.
• Musikaliska- mix of classical and jazz offerings. Home of the Brass Symphony Orchestra and the Stockholm County Orchestra. 
• Folkoperan- The "People's Opera"! Smaller opera venue. 
• Royal College of Music (Kungliga Musikhögskolan)- mostly classical, featuring these college students. Concerts are often free, though booking a ticket is required.
• Stockholm Cathedral (Storkyrkan) and St Jakob's Church- offer a variety of chamber, choral and classical music concerts. 
• Dansens Hus (means "house of dance")- ok, not live music per se. But I figure that I would throw it in here as dance, like music, is a universal language.

There are a couple of classic/historic musical festivals in Stockholm every year. The above mentioned Baltic Sea Festival (August), Aurora Music Festival (August) and the Stockholm Early Music Festival (June). 

Major Concert Venues

Stockholm Live is the umbrella website for information, calendar and tickets to the major arenas in the Stockholm area: Ericsson Globe Arena, Friends Arena, Tele2 Arena, Annexet and Hovet.

Jazz and Blues

• Stampen- jazz and blues. In their basement they have Geronimo's which also has live music of different genres.
• Fasching- jazz, blues and rock. 
• Glenn Miller Café- jazz.  
• Bluesbaren- Blues venue.
• Wirströms Pub- Blues, Irish Trad, open mic and acoustic.
• S:ta Clara Bierhaus- jazz and blues.
• Several hotel bars have jazz concerts on certain evenings of the week, including Malmen, Kung Carl, Mornington and Palace. 

If you are in Stockholm in October and love jazz... you are in luck! The Stockholm Jazz Festival is held every year for a few weeks during this month, in locales throughout the city.

Rock, Pop, Contemporary and Mixed

• Gröna Lund- summer outdoor venue at Stockholm's amusement park. Pop and rock music featuring major Swedish and international artists. 
• Nalen- historic concert venue featuring all types of music. 
• Engelen- very mixed with everything from 60's to blues to pop. 
• Debaser Strand- all types of contemporary music from rap to rock. Venue includes bars, clubs and restaurants. 
• Södra Teatern ("the southern theatre")- concert venue with all types of live music.
• The Liffey- Irish pub with live music. 
• The Auld Dub- Irish pub with live music. 
• Big Ben- English pub with live music. 
• M/S Vindhem- boat cruise with live music (rock, jazz). 

As you can imagine, there are a few music festivals in the genres of rock, pop and mixed going on annually in Stockholm: Cultural Festival (August) and Lollapaloza (June) are two that are confirmed. More to come. 

A good calendar of events and shows to check is on Visit Stockholm's website. Just add the dates you wish and which category you are interested in. Allt om Stockholm also has a good calendar with smaller venues (in Swedish). I will add to this list moving forward (I am sure I forgot some). If you are staying at the Hotel Rival, contact me directly for any assistance or more information. And speaking of the Rival, we also have a theatre here. We mostly have theatre and stand-up comedy, but some live music as well. See calendar here.