The Belly Up Tavern: 143 South Cedros Avenue (Solana Beach) 858-481-8140. This North County bar often gets pretty big bands to play (e.g. George Clinton, Luscious Jackson). The crowd is mixed, and usually depends on the band that is playing. Patrons range from UCSD students to older thirty-somethings looking to recapture their youth. The dance floor is quite large, and is easy to worm your way up to the front. If dancing is not your thing, there are lots of tables to sit at.

Blind Melons: 710 Garnet Ave (Pacific Beach) 858-483-7844. Specializing in blues music, Blind Melons offers a mix of local bands and DJ spun acid jazz.

Brick by Brick: 1130 Buenos Avenue (Old Town) 619-275-LIVE. Brick by Brick is shaped like a long, narrow rectangle with pool tables and booths in the back and the stage is up front. Because the club is so narrow, the crowd is forced to extend back rather than sideways along the stage, thus places near the stage are few and far between. If you just want to listen to the music and don’t really care if you see the band or not, you’ll like it here.

Canes Bar and Grill: 3105 Ocean Front Walk (Mission Beach) 858-488-1780. You will find that local bands and well known bands are both featured here.

The Casbah: 2501 Kettner Blvd. (Downtown) 619-232-HELL. Definitely one of the coolest places to see a band. The Casbah consists of three rooms. One room contains the stage and dance floor and a bar, one room contains a bar, pool tables, video games, and booths, and the last room is really just an outside walkway that connects the two rooms. However, this walkway is an excellent place to cool off and smoke (it is outside after all) after dancing to some awesome music. The crowd is a hip downtown crowd, and the music is a mix of local bands and small alternative visiting bands.

Croce’s Jazz Bar: 802 5th Ave (Downtown) 619-232-4338. All performances are jazz. This is a good place to go and catch some music while eating a good meal. It can get pretty pricey though (it is downtown after all).

Dick’s Last Resort: 345 Fourth Avenue (Downtown) 619-231-9100. A good place to see live bands and go dancing on a Saturday night.

4th & B: 345 B Street (Downtown) 619-231-4343. This club has a somewhat unique set up, with theater seats and tables surrounding the dance floor.

Moondoggies: 832 Garnet Ave (Pacific Beach) 858-483-6550. Live blues, zydego, and soul on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.

Margarita Rocks: 959 Hornblend (Pacific Beach) 858-272-2780, margaritarocks.com. You will find a young crowd and lots of military. Margarita Rocks has food specials throughout the week (25 cent tacos, $2 chicken dinner, $9.99 lobster dinner). Many events here are sponsored by a local radio station.

House of Blues: 1055 5th Avenue (Downtown) 619-29-2583.

Winston’s: 1921 Bacon Street (Ocean Beach) 619-222-6822. Lots of live music featuring local bands. The emphasis here is on rock, acid jazz and reggae.

Theaters

For discount tickets contact Ticket Master box office at UCSD at 858-534-4559 (you don't need to be a student at UCSD to get the discount).

Some alternatives to the mainstream movies in the many San Diego multiplex theaters include:

Hillcrest Cinemas: 3965 5th Avenue (Hillcrest) 619- 299-2103. They play mostly recent artsy films or things that would be considered too risqué for normal theaters.

Ken Cinema: 4061 Adams Avenue (Kensington) 619-819-0236. Definitely one of the best theaters in San Diego. The Ken plays a wide variety of films ranging from classics like "The Big Sleep" to more modern films like "Fargo". They often have theme weeks like "Hong Kong Action Films" or "Hitchcock Classics" in which they will play a series of related movies. The Ken features two different movies every day and admission to one allows you to stay for the next one. A schedule can be picked up at most corner stores.

La Jolla Playhouse: UCSD Campus 858-550-1010. If you want to shell out more money and watch some professionals, the La Jolla Playhouse troupe also put on plays here, but you pay the price to see the good actors.

Mandeville Center- Auditorium: UCSD Campus 858-534-4559. The UCSD music students have their recitals here and tickets are usually pretty cheap. The UCSD foreign film festival is also shown here. This is an annual event where 1 to 3 movies are shown every week from January to May. Students get a discounted price, and individual tickets to movies or passes to all of them can be bought.

The Museum of Photographic Arts (MOPA): 1649 El Prado (Balboa Park) 619-238-7559. They often have artsy-film festivals here, so check the reader listings!

The Old Globe Theater: El Prado (Balboa Park) 619-231-1941. The theater features lots of live plays with a heavy leaning towards Shakespeare.

The Reuben H. Fleet Space Theater: 1875 El Prado (Balboa Park) 619-238-1233. This theater doubles as a planetarium and cinema. The films are IMAX, projected on the domed ceiling and usually deal with science- or nature-related topics.

La Jolla Village Cinema: 8879 Villa La Jolla Drive, 619-819-0236. (La Jolla Village shopping center). They show only independent films here.

Starlight Theater: Pan American Plaza (Balboa Park) 619-544-7827. Since the theater is located right under the flight path, the actors will freeze when a plane flies over and then resume acting when the noise has died down.