Empire Live has quietly earned its place as one of the better rooms in downtown Albany — two floors of standing room, a capacity of 1,000, right on North Pearl Street in the heart of the city. Built To Spill hits the stage here on Friday, October 23, on their Fall 2026 Tour. If you have been waiting for a reason to make the run down the Thruway, this is it.
About Built To Spill
Doug Martsch has been running Built To Spill as a collaborative project out of Boise, Idaho since 1992 — the only constant in a band whose lineup has shifted deliberately and productively over more than three decades. Their 1994 debut, There’s Nothing Wrong With Love, is a foundational indie rock record. The band spent two decades on Warner Brothers before returning to Sub Pop in 2022 with When the Wind Forgets Your Name, their eighth studio album.
That album is worth knowing before you walk in. Martsch built it alongside Brazilian musicians Lê Almeida and João Casaes of the psychedelic jazz rock band Oruã — a collaboration rooted in 2018 Brazil tour dates — and the result is something genuinely wide-ranging: guitar-driven rock sitting alongside reggae and dub-influenced tracks, experimental production that keeps moving between sessions. The current lineup features Teresa Esguerra of Prism Bitch on drums and Melanie Radford of Blood Lemon on bass. Live, Built To Spill is described as heavy, psychedelic, melodic, and visceral. In a 1,000-person standing room, that combination hits differently.
About Empire Live
Empire Live opened in fall 2021 at 93 North Pearl Street in downtown Albany. It is a 1,000-capacity standing room venue across two floors — close enough to the stage that there is no bad spot in the room. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 11 AM to 4 PM. For questions, call 518-900-5900.
Tickets
Built To Spill at Empire Live, Friday, October 23, 2026. Show time is 8:00 PM. Get tickets through Ticketmaster — Friday night, a band this good in a room this size, it goes fast.