Where to Hear Live Music in Brooklyn

There's perhaps no better cultural barometer than music, and no better way to get acclimated to your new neighborhood than to catch local live shows. While New York has remained a melting pot of talented up-and-coming bands for decades, it's Brooklyn that has risen to the top of the indie talent heap. The borough offers a slew of nightly shows to choose from, and with them, an enticing array of venues.

Williamsburg, a neighborhood both revered and reviled for its overwhelmingly hipster populace, has emerged as the best place in the whole of Gotham to see live music. Last summer, a makeshift waterfront stage hosted indie darlings like Grizzly Bear(left), The Dirty Projectors, and Fiery Furnaces for a series dubbed "The Pool Parties." Meanwhile, mainstays like the Music Hall of Williamsburg and Union Pool have given way to a new generation of venues that do double duty as bowling alleys and creative cocktail dens – think Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg and Littlefield in Gowanus.