Blue Nile

The Blue Nile occupies an 1832 building at 534 Frenchmen Street that is reportedly the first structure built on the block -- and arguably the birthplace of the strip's live music culture. The space originally opened as the Dream Palace in 1977, becoming the first bar on Frenchmen to feature live bands, before cycling through incarnations as Cafe Istanbul and Tin Roof Cafe. The current Blue Nile opened in 2002 and has since become one of the street's most dependable rooms for funk, brass, blues, and soul. The two-story venue holds about 300 people across stages upstairs and down, with a balcony overlooking the Frenchmen Street scene and ritzy blue-and-gold decor that lends the room a distinct personality among its neighbors.