3 Best Nightlife in Palm Springs and the Desert Resorts, California

Smack in the middle of a Wild West main street movie set built in the 1940s, this haute–honky tonk saloon serves stiff drinks and hosts live music on two stages: one inside and intimate, the other out under the stars. Given that it's on the small side and in the middle of nowhere, you might be surprised at the caliber of talent it books—Paul McCartney, Robert Plant, Orville Peck, Lizzo, and Patti Smith have all made the pilgrimage—and the number of patrons it packs in on any given night. It also hosts surprise, drop-in performers, especially during the Coachella music festival. Bring your dancing shoes and come hungry, as the restaurant here dishes up open-fire, Santa Maria–style barbecue that's worth the inevitable wait for a table (reservations aren't accepted).

In addition to the expansive floor filled with all kinds of gambling options (e.g., slot machines, table games, a poker room), the casino/resort also has multiple places to wet your whistle, shake your (fingers-crossed) moneymaker, and see DJs or local acts. The Show, the resort's prized theater where none of the 2,101 seats are more than 125 feet from the stage, also books a full calendar of concerts by household names like Dolly Parton and Sting, as well as fashion shows and sporting events like boxing matches.

Not everyone who feels like having a drink and rocking out can fit into Pappy + Harriet's, so this live-music venue with two bars, an outdoor patio, and a restaurant slinging burgers and serving up tacos and chips with guacamole is a welcome addition to the valley's nightlife scene. It's set in a renovated historical Old Town building, and its wave-shape ceiling, wood-strip walls, and cork-backed flooring make for warm, open acoustics.