Best Live Venue (Big): Smart Financial Centre
Holding a max of 6,400 music fans, Smart Financial Centre is not the biggest venue in Houston, but it’s the one that takes the best parts of Houston’s bigger venues and puts them all in one place. It brings in major acts of all shapes, from the over-the-top production of Kiss to the more minimal staging of Bob Dylan, while also being able to play host to touring musicals, Youtube stars and assorted cultural events.
It’s an indoor venue, which means no fighting the weather and a welcome relief during mosquito season. Line of sight is good all over the building, food options are better than most and there’s plenty of parking, which makes actually going to a show a lot more enjoyable. Houston’s newest big venue is the current measuring stick for all of them, and it’s going to take something special to knock it out of the top spot.
Smart Financial Centre
18111 Lexington, Sugar Land
281-207-6278
smartfinancialcentre.net
Reader’s Choice: Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
2005 Lake Robbins, The Woodlands
281-364-3010
woodlandscenter.org
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2019.
