It's coming along, but let's face it: downtown L.A. is still pretty starved for live entertainment. Save for the occasional high-priced act stopping off at Nokia, Crash Mansion, The Orpheum or Staples Center, music fans quite frankly have little reason to travel east of Silver Lake to catch a show.

So be it. But for those who call this neighborhood home, there is plenty of quality entertainment around the corner, any night of the week. What we downtown dwellers know as a live music scene comes mainly in weekly events at neighborhood bars and cafes. These gigs tend to fly under the radar. You'll find the vital stats—dates, times, price—listed in the Downtown News or Metromix, but downtown's recurring weekly gigs are deserving of some deeper coverage.

Say you like to get drunk on Mondays but can never quite justify it. Or maybe you suddenly need to drown out the sound of your Thursday-night date's voice with some ambient strumming. Whatever your fancy, pull up this guide and start making yourself a regular at one of these weekly neighborhood highlights.

 A different event is featured for each day of the week, Monday through Thursday, with one very special event speaking up for the weekend. The five featured venues are charted on the map below.