The late 1970s shaped Zagreb's musical identity in ways still audible today. When novi val, Croatia's new wave movement, emerged in 1977, Zagreb was one of its two main centers, and the concert club Kulušić became its recording ground, preserving the era's defining live performances on tape. Bands that formed in the city during those years, including Azra, Haustor, and Prljavo kazalište, built careers that remain reference points for Croatian rock. Prljavo kazalište, formed in the working-class Zagreb neighborhood of Dubrava, eventually opened for David Bowie at Maksimir Stadium in front of over 50,000 people. Jazz has its own deep roots here. Boško Petrović founded the Zagreb Jazz Quartet in 1959, the HRT Big Band traces its lineage to the jazz orchestra of Radio Zagreb founded in 1947, and the city now hosts the NO Jazz Festival, which focuses on free and avant-garde jazz. The current venue map covers a wide range. Tvornica kulture holds up to 1,800 people in its main hall and runs a smaller stage for local acts. KSET, student-run and 400-capacity, has pushed underground, post-rock, punk, and avant-jazz for decades. Bacchus Jazz Bar operates as a cellar jazz room, Vintage Industrial Bar occupies a former button factory, and Arena Zagreb handles stadium-scale events. For classical and prestige programming, Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall serves as Croatia's primary concert institution.
Upcoming concerts in Zagreb
