The Cantab Lounge
If life were like a movie, The Cantab in Central Square would always be filming. This place is really quirky—half of the patrons are elderly, and the other half are drunken Harvard PhD students (yes, Harvard PhD students). The average age of the band is estimated to be 100 years old, but their music is truly amazing!
Zuzu
At Zuzu in Central Square, you can listen to classic music by James Brown, Gap Band, and Marvin Gaye, as well as some great songs you might not be familiar with. Here, you'll see many college students, but mostly edgy young people wearing long shirts and lip liner, so please keep breathing normally.
Rise
Rise in Bay Village is the only place in Boston that stays open after 2 AM. They stop selling alcohol after 2 AM, making it a great time to sober up by dancing like you're having a seizure. Don't worry about strange looks, as there will be a group of men and women dressed in flashy fluorescent clothes (looking like lamp posts) going crazy with you.
Common Ground
At Common Ground in Allston, while you might encounter a few girls teetering on sky-high heels, clad in sausage-casing dresses, awkwardly swaying (they usually hover around the edges of the dance floor, ready to touch up their makeup, take selfies, and post on social media), most people are in the crowded dance floor, sweating, flailing their limbs in what they believe to be breakdancing, and splashing beer on each other.
On the crazy town of Beacon Hill, the 80s nocturne seems to attract all kinds of people: 22-year-old die-hard fans of Whitney Houston indulging in a pseudo-nostalgic atmosphere, 30-something doctors with a bewildered look, reminiscing about their childhood, running here in a daze after a 24-hour shift at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) to listen to music they don't understand...
