Toad Bar / Live Music Venue

Cambridge / Somerville, Boston –

Marked only by a small neon sign, Toad is a tiny bar and music venue with a far bigger reputation than its diminutive size might suggest.

Attracting a diverse clientele of music lovers, artists, hippies, and hipsters, this popular nightspot – which boasts such alumni as Tracy Chapman, G Love & Special Sauce, and even Eddie Vedder – consists of a single narrow room where talented blues, rock, folk, and Americana performers fill the stage every night.

Decked out in bright red paneling and not much else, the space offers a long, classic polished wood bar adorned with brass toads on one side, and a few scattered tables on the other where laid-back patrons meet up for drinks earlier in the evening.

Both the atmosphere and the music tend to start out mellow when a slightly artsy after-dinner crowd of casually-dressed Cambridge locals trickles in to catch the early show, but as the night wears on and the bands get louder – and conversation becomes impossible – a livelier crew starts flocking in to bounce to the beats and down their share of the dozen microbrews on tap.

A varied roster of musical acts – usually two bands a night – means the scene can change at a moment’s notice, from older hippies enjoying some low-key cocktails and hot jazz to boisterous groups of in-the-know hipsters and Harvard students getting down to some hard-stomping rockabilly.

Definitely not for those interested in quiet conversation, Toad promises a loud and lively night of some of the best music in town – and all without a cover charge.