The Sara Lorea Band at Easy’s in the Aria is one of more than a dozen free live bands you can find playing at secret and not-so-secret nooks across the Las Vegas Strip. (Image: Toby Acuna)

Finding free live music on the Las Vegas Strip is often a happy accident while exploring different locations along Las Vegas Boulevard. Plenty of casino venues are sure to keep the entertainment flowing, but much of it isn’t promoted very well. Few visitors have time or patience to scour their poorly designed websites.

How do we know the websites stink? Because we took it upon ourselves to click through the pages of every bar listed on every Las Vegas casino website to find out which places offer free music.

The good news: There are casino bars with free live music from one end of the Strip to the other. If there’s “bad news” it’s that “free” in Las Vegas is a bit of a misnomer.

Bars offer free music to draw customers in to drink and/or eat. And while there may not be a posted drink-minimum requirement, the house is willing to gamble that you will pay for something at their casino-inflated prices. 

Still, the cost of a drink or two to see bands performing live for an hour or so might be the best value on the Vegas Strip nowadays. A few joints will even let guests take over the mic for karaoke. And one place, The Barbershop at Cosmopolitan, lets guests do the singing while backed up by a live band. 

Here’s your guide to where and when you can find skilled performers playing live instruments for your entertainment at minimal cost:

Aria

• Easy’s: Thursday – Monday beginning at 7 pm
• Lift Bar: Friday – Nightly beginning at 8 pm
• Lobby Bar: Friday and Saturday 9 pm – 1 am, Sunday 8 pm – 12 am

Bellagio

• Petrossian: Live pianist throughout the day
• The Pinky Ring: Monday and Tuesday 9:30 pm – 12 am, Wednesday, Thursday, Sunday 9 pm – 12:30 am, Friday and Saturday 10 pm – 1:30 am

Cosmopolitan

• The Barbershop: Nightly beginning at 10 pm. Tuesdays feature the live-band karaoke experience

The Cromwell

• Interlude: Dueling Pianos Friday and Saturday from 8:30 pm - 1:30 am

Faded Karaoke at the Cosmopolitan on Tuesdays lets anyone get up on stage and sing covers with a live band. (Image: Alex Jerome)

Excalibur

• The Lounge: Karaoke Thursday – Monday from 8 pm – 1 am

Fontainebleau

• Collins: Nightly beginning at 5 pm
• Nowhere: Nightly beginning at 9 pm

Harrah’s

• Piano Bar: Dueling pianos nightly beginning at 9 pm, Big Elvis Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2 pm – 6 pm, Karaoke Wednesday – Sunday from 6 pm – 9 pm, Michael Brown & Kent Duo: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday at 2 pm, 3:30 pm, and 5 pm
• Carnival Court (outside): Throughout the day and night, schedule changes often

Horseshoe

• Ole Red in Grand Bazaar Shops in front of the casino: All day beginning at 11 am

Luxor

• Aurora Bar: Friday and Saturday at 8 pm
• Centra: Friday and Saturday at 9:30 pm

Mandalay Bay

• Hazel Coffee & Cocktails: Friday and Saturday 8 pm – 1 am
• House Of Blues: Daily at 8 pm, Saturday and Sunday at 11 am and 8 pm (full calendar) 
• Rhythm & Riffs: Thursday - Monday from 10 pm – 2 am
• RiRa Irish Pub: Tuesday – Sunday at 8 pm - 12 am

MGM Grand

• Brad Garrett’s Comedy Club Lounge: Friday and Saturday beginning at 5:30 pm
• Centrifuge: Thursday - Sunday beginning at 10 pm
• Level Up: Sunday - Thursday 9 pm - 1 am, Friday and Saturday 10 pm - 2 am
• Losers Bar: Daily from 3 pm – 1 am
• Whiskey Down: Tuesday -Thursday and Sunday 9 pm – 1 am, Friday and Saturday 10 pm – 2 am

New York-New York

• Nine Fine Irishmen: Nightly beginning at 9 pm

Paris Las Vegas

• Le Cabaret Lounge: Friday and Saturday beginning at 6 pm

Resorts World

• Dawg House: Weeknights except for Monday 7 pm – 11 pm

Sahara

• Casbar: Saturday 7 pm – 11 pm

Treasure Island

• Gilley’s: Karaoke Tuesday 8 pm – 10: 30 pm, live bands Monday – Thursday 1 pm – 4 pm, Wednesday and Thursday 8:30 pm – 10:30 pm, Friday and Saturday 6 pm – 8 pm and 10 pm – 12 am, Sunday 8 pm - 10 pm

Wynn

• Eastside Lounge (Encore): Dueling Pianos Sunday – Thursday from 9:30 pm to 1:30 am, ’80s music weekend Friday and Saturday 10 pm – 2 am