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The North Shore does not do crawls. The towns are a drive or a train ride apart, the taprooms keep earlier hours than Boston's, and the evening that works is the one you plan around a single town. Beverly is the best bet for a ticketed show with a pint nearby, Salem has the most bars and live music, and Lynn and Peabody are beer stops. Pick one.
Beverly: the show town
Start with the show and work backward. The hall decides the night.
- The Cabot is the main hall, an 850 seat venue.
- Off Cabot at 9 Wallis Street is the small room, 125 seated or 150 standing. It bills itself as the North Shore's hotspot for comedians.
- Coastal Mass Brewing on Rantoul Street lists Thu 4pm - 10pm. Saturday is 12pm - 10pm. Have the pint before the show, not after.
- Gentile Brewing Company on Park Street is a nano brewery that bills itself as Beverly's first craft beer taproom. Small and calm makes it the right pre-show stop.
The sequence is a pint at Coastal Mass or Gentile, then the walk to the hall. Most taprooms are closed by the time the show lets out, so the post-show drink is not part of this plan. Settle the ride home before you go.
Salem: the one with the most bars
Salem has the densest cluster of bars, taprooms and music rooms on the shore. Read our Salem guide for the full run, including a week of standing open mics.
Lynn: a brewery and an old hall
Bent Water Brewing Company is a brewery on Commercial Street, built where a lumber yard stood. The taproom page lists Thursday 4-10pm with a shorter Sunday, so treat it as an early evening stop, not a late one.
Lynn Auditorium is the Lynn Memorial Auditorium, a historic venue with concerts, comedy, theater and dance on its calendar. Check its calendar first, because a night in Lynn is a night built around an event.
Peabody and Danvers: drive, with a plan
Granite Coast Brewing Company is a brewery and taproom on Main Street in Peabody. It posts its current hours, so check before you drive, and line up a driver before the first pint.
Why this guide keeps telling you to plan the ride
The Newburyport/Rockport commuter rail line serves Lynn, Salem and Beverly, among other stops. Peabody and Danvers have no stop on it. Commuter rail runs less often than the subway, so treat any train as a way in and confirm the way back with the MBTA Trip Planner on the day.
Have a rideshare, a designated driver or a hotel room as plan B, and read getting home after last call. For what the T has and has not run late, see our late-night T history. For a night that keeps you in Boston instead, try the Seaport.