Concerts in Paris: Venues, Line-ups and Booking

Paris has some thirty regular venues where concerts are staged, from the small rock club to the 40,000-seat indoor stadium. Rather than a listing with specific dates — which would be out of date the moment it was published — this guide catalogues the main concert venues in Paris and the inner suburbs, with their characteristics (capacity, neighbourhood, the style of music usually programmed, access), and explains how to follow an up-to-date line-up and book seats safely.

How to find the concert programme in Paris

No single website brings together every concert in Paris. For a concert in Paris tonight or this weekend, the most reliable approach is to cross-check several sources:

Each venue's official website — the most reliable source for start times, last-minute changes and remaining seats.
General ticket agencies: Ticketmaster France, Fnac Spectacles / France Billet and Eventim list most Paris venues and let you filter by date, neighbourhood or musical genre.
Songkick, which aggregates tour dates by artist and sends an e-mail alert when an artist you follow schedules a Paris date — handy for not missing the start of ticket sales.
Local cultural listings (such as L'Officiel des Spectacles, Sortiraparis, Time Out Paris) for a week-by-week overview, particularly useful for free or low-profile concerts.

For tickets, always favour the official website of the venue or artist, or an authorised ticket agency: buying resold tickets on unofficial sites or from private individuals exposes you to fakes, especially for headline acts.

The major concert venues within Paris

Accor Arena (Bercy)

The largest indoor venue inside the Paris city limits, used for international pop/rock tours as well as sport and large-scale shows.

Address: 6 boulevard de Bercy, 75012 Paris
Capacity: up to about 20,300 in 360° concert configuration
Access: metro Cour Saint-Émilion (line 14) or Bercy (lines 6 and 14), Paris-Bercy railway station nearby
Typical line-up: pop, rap, international mainstream acts, major tours
Official ticketing: accorarena.com, also relayed on Ticketmaster and Fnac Spectacles

Zénith Paris – La Villette

A modular venue created in the 1980s, now one of the go-to addresses for rock, mainstream music and comedy in Paris.

Address: 211 avenue Jean-Jaurès, 75019 Paris (Parc de la Villette)
Capacity: up to about 6,800
Access: metro Porte de Pantin (line 5)
Typical line-up: rock, French and international mainstream, comedy, electronic music
Official ticketing: le-zenith.com

Philharmonie de Paris (Grande salle Pierre Boulez)

The reference concert hall for classical music in Paris since it opened in 2015, but also for jazz and world music.

Address: 221 avenue Jean-Jaurès, 75019 Paris (Parc de la Villette)
Capacity: about 2,400
Access: metro Porte de Pantin (line 5), tram T3b
Typical line-up: classical music (the Orchestre de Paris in residence), jazz, world music
Official ticketing: philharmoniedeparis.fr

Olympia

The oldest Parisian music hall still in operation, legendary for French chanson and still very busy.

Address: 28 boulevard des Capucines, 75009 Paris
Capacity: about 2,000 to 2,800 depending on configuration
Access: metro Madeleine (lines 8, 12, 14) or Opéra (lines 3, 7, 8)
Typical line-up: French chanson, mainstream, rock, comedy, jazz
Official ticketing: olympiahall.com

Salle Pleyel

Not to be mistaken for a classical music hall these days: since the Philharmonie opened in 2015, Pleyel has repositioned itself on amplified music (jazz, mainstream, world music, dance) so as not to duplicate the Philharmonie.

Address: 252 rue du Faubourg-Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris
Capacity: about 2,000 to 2,800 depending on configuration
Access: metro Ternes (line 2)
Typical line-up: jazz, mainstream, world music (no more regular classical programming)
Ticketing: through the shows' promoters, relayed by Fnac Spectacles and Ticketmaster

La Cigale

A historic Montmartre venue, one of the reference addresses for mid-sized rock, pop and electro concerts.

Address: 120 boulevard de Rochechouart, 75018 Paris
Capacity: about 950 seated, up to 1,400 standing
Access: metro Pigalle (line 12) or Anvers (line 2)
Typical line-up: rock, pop, electro, hip-hop
Official ticketing: lacigale.fr

Le Trianon

Right opposite La Cigale, an Italian-style theatre with balconies, for slightly more intimate audiences.

Address: 80 boulevard de Rochechouart, 75018 Paris
Capacity: about 1,000
Access: metro Anvers (line 2)
Typical line-up: chanson, pop, world music
Ticketing: relayed by Fnac Spectacles and Eventim

Le Bataclan

A legendary Parisian rock venue, reopened since 2016, still one of the reference addresses for human-scale indie and rock concerts.

Address: 50 boulevard Voltaire, 75011 Paris
Capacity: about 1,500
Access: metro Oberkampf (lines 5 and 9), Saint-Ambroise (line 9), Filles du Calvaire (line 8) or République (lines 3, 5, 8, 9, 11)
Typical line-up: rock, pop, indie
Official ticketing: bataclan.fr

The major venues in the inner suburbs

Two very large venues lie outside the Paris city limits but remain easy to reach by public transport; they host the biggest international tours when the audience outgrows the Accor Arena.

Paris La Défense Arena (Nanterre) — the largest indoor venue in Europe, up to about 40,000 in concert configuration. Access by RER A (Nanterre-Préfecture) or RER E (Nanterre-La Folie), or via the La Défense hub (RER A/E, metro line 1, tram T2) then a 10-minute walk. Official ticketing: paris-la-defense-arena.fr.
Zénith — see above (within Paris, La Villette). Some towns elsewhere in France (Saint-Herblain, etc. — outside the Île-de-France region) also have venues called "Zénith", but these are different halls: for a "Zénith Paris" concert, make sure it is the Zénith at La Villette.

Free concerts in Paris

You do not have to pay for a ticket to see a concert in Paris:

The Fête de la Musique, every year on 21 June, turns the streets, squares and courtyards of Paris into improvised stages, with free concerts all evening in every arrondissement.
Summer concerts in the parks — several Paris parks (the Parc Floral de Vincennes, municipal gardens) organise series of free open-air concerts over the summer; the programme changes every year and can be found on the City of Paris website or that of the park in question.
Concerts in churches — several Paris churches (organ, sacred music, chamber ensembles) offer pay-what-you-wish or free concerts, particularly around the holidays; enquire directly with each church or parish.
Showcases and sessions in bookshops/record shops, announced ad hoc on the venues' social media.

These free slots are not always announced far in advance: it is best to check local cultural listings in the weeks leading up to the date you have in mind.

In short: how to plan

Identify the venue that matches the style of music and size of show you are after (list above).
Check its official website for the up-to-date programme, then cross-reference with Ticketmaster, Fnac Spectacles or Songkick to compare availability.
Book on the venue's or artist's official ticketing platform — never on an unverified resale site.
For a free concert, think of the Fête de la Musique on 21 June or the open-air summer programmes, to be checked in the local listings a few weeks beforehand.