Over the course of the show’s seven-year run, Buffy The Vampire Slayer‘s inexplicable “small-town night club for teens that also serves coffee and alcohol”, The Bronze, brought a slew of impressive musical performances to Sunnydale. The Bronze acts as the backdrop of some of the series’ most memorable moments, from high-school romances to vampire fights to the death.

Here are five of the most memorable musical performances that took place at The Bronze over the years, “Once More, with Feeling” not included.

5. The Breeders

Season 7, Episode 6

Out of all of the major acts to appear on Buffy (and on this list), The Breeders have the most low-key performance, largely playing in the background of the scene rather than driving the action in any way. Kim and Kelley Deal were huge fans of the show and hoped to one day play at The Bronze, and the band started covering the Buffy theme song on tour. Soon, the Deal sisters got to live their dream, which makes this performance all the more special.

4. Cibo Matto

Season 2, Episode 1



This entry requires a video, because this scene is just that ridiculous. In the season two premiere, Buffy tries to make Angel jealous by dancing seductively with Xander, while Cibo Matto performs in the background, because of course Cibo Matto is performing at The Bronze. The scene goes on for just a little too long, but it works. It works partially because in the heightened world of Buffy, pretty much anything works (beer drinking cavemen aside), and partially because Cibo Matto was the perfect choice for the scene. This is a perfect example of how musical performances on Buffy can be used to direct the plot: in this case, Cibo Matto entirely set the atmosphere for the scene. Cibo Matto’s eclectic, dreamlike sound gives the scene a surreal enough feeling without being completely over-the-top.

3. Aimee Mann

Season 7, Episode 8

Aimee Mann gets credit, first and foremost, for being the only musical guest on Buffy to have a speaking role. The fact that, canonically, Aimee Mann knows about vampires is great in itself. Her performance of “Pavlov’s Bell” also gets credit for being the most well-directed musical performance on the show. As Mann performs, Spike fights another vampire on The Bronze balcony, eventually dusting her on the dance floor below. The fight is well-choreographed, well-timed and “Pavlov’s Bell” fits perfectly.

2. Michelle Branch

Season 6, Episode 8



Ah yes, season six: the one where everyone is sad and everyone gets hurt. Buffy is back from the dead unwillingly, Giles thinks he wants to leave the Scoobies and Willow’s addicted to magic. Things really start to fall apart at the end of “Tabula Rasa”: Buffy’s still depressed and resents her friends, Giles hops on a plane and Tara leaves Willow. Cue a montage of everyone looking sad set to Michelle Branch’s “Goodbye to You”, and you’ve got one of the most memorable moments of the series. Again, as with Mann’s performance, good editing turns what’s initially a great performance into one of the best of the series.

1. Angie Hart

Season 7, Episode 7

“Conversations with Dead People” is Buffy‘s most underrated hour. It may not be the spectacle that “Once More, with Feeling” or “Hush” are, and it’s not heartbreaking and poignant like “The Body”, but “Conversations with Dead People” is Buffy‘s tightest entry from a writing standpoint, weaving seemingly disjointed narratives together in its memorable final act. Angie Hart’s “Blue” bookends the episode, from the cold open to just before the blackout. Hart – who had earlier appeared on Buffy with her band Splendid, and guest starred on Firefly – co-wrote the song with Joss Whedon for the episode.

“Blue” gets at one of Buffy‘s core themes: loneliness. Loneliness is particularly present in the episode: all of the show’s main characters are separated from each other, making this the only episode where none of the Scoobies interact with each other.

Loneliness is part of Buffy’s job description as a Slayer. She actively tries to avoid the isolation that plagued every Slayer before her by surrounding herself with friends and family, but even that isn’t enough during the series’ darker moments. Hart’s “Blue” pulls from these moments, referencing the fact that Buffy has “crawled out of the world” twice now: the first time being when she died in “The Gift”, and the second time being when she literally “crawled out of the world” when she dug herself out of her grave after being revived by her friends. Even though her friends were there for her when she came back from the dead, Buffy still had to face the world alone – and in the end, she’ll always be alone.

Hart’s “Blue” is not just a fantastic, standalone song that sets the mood for the episode – it’s a fantastic, standalone song that gets at the very heart of Buffy‘s emotional journey, making it the most haunting and memorable musical moment on the show.