We love what’s going on in entertainment districts along the Scenic 98 Coastal area. Revitalization among downtown areas in Mobile and Pensacola is attracting excellent new food offerings, bars, shops, and music venues making life along the Gulf Coast better and better each year. One venue we notice each week is Vinyl Music Hall, so we dug a little deeper…

The Vinyl Music Hall sits on the ground floor of The Masonic at the corner of Palafox Place and Garden Street in Pensacola. The Masonic was erected in 1897 as a masonic lodge with the ground floor operated by Avery Hardware Company, generating revenue to fund operations for the lodge. Fast forward to this century, and the building sat vacant for many years before cousins Evan and Harry Levin opened the Vinyl Music Hall in 2010.

The owners closed the property for two months in 2018 to renovate the space and increase audience capacity from 526 – 860 allowing them to attract more popular touring acts. This primarily included the addition of a 2nd-floor mezzanine space. In recent months, the venue has hosted acts such as Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Circles Around the Sun, and Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. Looking ahead, The Wood Brothers will be stopping by on December 2 during their national tour.

Since opening, the Vinyl has served as one of the anchors for the transformation of Palafox Street into a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly entertainment district with breweries, restaurants, bars, and music venues. This area hosts major events including the annual Mardi Gras Parade and New Year’s Eve Pelican Drop. The Vinyl Music Hall regularly brings high-quality musical acts, well worth planning an evening to sample some of the food, drink, and music offerings along Palafox.