Plymouth lacks a large modern music center to attract big names and big bands. Yet the town compensates with many other venues to get your fix for live musical performances. Beyond downtown and waterfront bars that feature 1- to 3-person musicians, Plymouth has two principal music venues: Memorial Hall and The Spire Center, both on Court Street.
The historic but ancient Memorial Hall reigns as the town’s largest theater, attracting not only the adept Plymouth Philharmonic, but bands like 83-year-old Graham Nash and his younger proficient band, who played last week.
Memorial Hall’s dated lobby – funky and perhaps fun, particularly if you have consumed edibles for the performance – features mannequins adorned in World War II-era service uniforms and museum-like wall charts explaining a bit of history.
The treasure of all of Plymouth (no offense, Mayflower): The Spire Center, built in 1886, resides across from the beautiful Town Hall. With its recently restored exterior (down to its original paint colors), The Spire boasts stellar acoustics and an intimate seating area and balcony.
For the budget conscious, Thursday nights sports the Spire Lobby Series at $17 per ticket. The series showcases local and reginal musicians in a relaxed, intimate setting. (If the crowd is large enough, the venue moves into the Spire’s main ground-level seating. Thursday, August 7 at 7:30 Monica Rizzio performs. (Find her on Spotify.) Doors open at 6:30.
The Spire, built in 1886 as a Methodist church, later became a community center for Congregation Beth Jacob. In 2012, the Greater Plymouth Performing Arts Center acquired and renovated the building, transforming it into a venue for music, theater, and dance performances. The Spire, run by town luminary Bob Hollis, actually rents the building from the town of Plymouth. A Plymouth Town Meeting voted to acquire and renovate the building using Community Preservation Funds.
Beyond outdoor concerts during the summer, one of my and Beth’s favorite outdoor venue: The outdoor deck overlooking the ocean at Plymouth Sands Hotel at 150 Warren Ave. While some might describe the hotel as nearing tacky, its music on the deck is glorious and has access to a bar serving drinks and pub food. Live music appears on Fridays and Saturdays (6 to 9) and Sundays (4-7). Try to vet the musicians playing to ensure both their competence and music genre.
The deck at the Plymouth Sands features weekend music.
Three Harts Farm at 232 Beaver Dam Road (near Pinehills) presents an unusual music venue. The farm offers its third free “Rock Your Soul Music Series” Saturday 26, featuring Trop Rock Judy, from 12 to 2. While there, peruse its funky-designed store stocked with wonderful jellies, jams and vegetables squash, zucchini, green beans, sweet orange cherry tomatoes and hydroponically grown lettuce. Run by Chris and Diane Hart, the farm supports, which supports veterans and first responders, is open 10 to 3:30 Tuesday through Saturday.
Outside the scope of this story (but building on Plymouth’s music scene), The Middle Street Music School offers lessons across a range of instruments. Gift certificates are available (in fact, my “better three quarters” got me (who stupidly gave up drums and sax as a youth) a Middle Street Music gift certificate). Visit the music school at 12 Middle Street or call (508) 830-1766.