Concerts & Shows

Concerts & Shows: The Academy Is... in Sacramento 2026: Where to Stay

The Academy Is... plays Ace of Spades on May 8, 2026, on their 20th Anniversary Almost Here Tour. Stay at City of Trees House — 10 min from the show.

The Academy Is... at Ace of Spades — May 8, 2026

If you grew up on pop-punk in the mid-2000s, this one means something. Twenty years after Almost Here landed and rewired what that generation understood a guitar record could be, The Academy Is... is back on the road celebrating the anniversary — and Sacramento is on the route. They play Ace of Spades on May 8, 2026, and if you are coming in from out of town, we want to make the logistics easy and the rest of the weekend good.

We're Ryan and Ashley, your hosts at City of Trees House in West Sacramento. We have welcomed guests since 2017 and we know what it takes to make a concert trip feel like a real trip rather than just a hotel check-in and a parking hassle. Ace of Spades is about ten minutes from the house, the R Street Corridor gives you dinner and pre-show drinks, and we'll have everything ready when you arrive.

The Album That Started It

Almost Here came out in 2005. William Beckett's vocals, the guitar interplay, songs like "The Phrase That Pays," "Classifieds," and "Slow Down" — it was an album that felt immediate and specific in a way that still holds up. Twenty years is enough time to know which records actually lasted, and this one did. The 20th anniversary tour is the kind of show that rewards coming in from out of town to catch it properly.

Ace of Spades is the right size for it. Roughly a thousand-person capacity, general admission floor, the kind of room where you can get close to the stage if you want to or find a good sightline from anywhere if you do not. It is Sacramento's best midsize music venue, and The Academy Is... is exactly the right band for the room.

Where to Stay Near Ace of Spades Sacramento

City of Trees House — West Sacramento, Ten Minutes from the Show

Ace of Spades sits in Sacramento's R Street Corridor, a stretch of the city that has become one of the most interesting neighborhoods for food, drinks, and live music. From City of Trees House in West Sacramento, it is a ten-minute drive — or a quick rideshare for the night of the show when you would rather skip parking entirely. Either way, you are close without paying downtown hotel prices for a room the size of a closet.

City of Trees House is a full 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom private home that sleeps up to 10 guests. Whether you are coming as a couple for a proper concert weekend, a group of college friends reconnecting over a record you all grew up with, or a cluster of people who met at a show fifteen years ago and finally have an excuse to do it again — having the whole property to yourselves is different from a hotel room in a way that actually matters: you have somewhere to come back to.

What's at the House

• Private hot tub — Six-person, heated to 104 degrees, and ready when you check in. Post-concert, your energy is either very high or very tired, and a hot tub in a private backyard handles both states equally well. It is consistently the most-mentioned thing in our reviews, and it earns that every time.
• Neon game room — Retro arcade games, pool table, ping pong, and darts. A concert's energy doesn't dissipate the moment you walk out of the venue — bring it somewhere with room to run.
• Full gourmet kitchen — KitchenAid stand mixer, Caraway cookware, Fellow Aiden coffee maker with quality beans stocked. Friday morning at City of Trees House is real coffee at a real table, better than anything you would find at a hotel continental breakfast.
• Private fenced backyard — Fire pit, string lights, hammock, and outdoor seating. May evenings in Sacramento are warm in a way that makes staying outside until midnight the obvious choice. The backyard is where the post-show conversation tends to settle.
• 8-burner Mont Alpi grill — If you arrive early enough on show day for a backyard cookout before the drive downtown, this is the right tool for it.
• Tesla EV charger — Level 2 charging in the driveway. Arrive Friday, plug in, leave Sunday with a full battery and no range anxiety.
• 7-minute walk to Sutter Health Park — The Sacramento River Cats play home games here through May and June. If there is a game the night before or after the concert, you can walk from the house. A concert weekend that picks up a ballpark game on the side is a Sacramento weekend done right.
• 3,000-vinyl record collection — Putting a record on at 1 AM after a concert is the right move. We've got enough depth that you'll find something that holds up, whatever the mood.

Planning Your Weekend Around the Show

Friday: Arrive, R Street Corridor, Curtain

Check in Friday afternoon, settle in, and head over to the R Street Corridor before the show. Ace of Spades is anchored in that neighborhood, and the pre-show walkability is one of the things that makes it work well as a concert venue. Tank House BBQ is right on R Street — smoked brisket, a good patio, the kind of place that sets the right pace before a general admission floor show. The Rind, a cheese and charcuterie bar a couple blocks over, is a good alternative if you want something lighter before the pit.

Doors at Ace of Spades typically open an hour before showtime. Arrive early if you want to get close to the stage — general admission fills from the front and the room is not enormous, so your position when doors open sets your position for the show.

After the Show: Back to the House

Ace of Spades lets out and your group has opinions. There are last-call options within a few blocks — bars along K Street and the broader Midtown stretch stay open late and are a short distance from the venue. Or drive back to the house, sit in the backyard with the fire pit going and the hot tub at 104, and let the night finish itself properly. Both are correct choices. Having a private home instead of a hotel room means you actually get to make that call.

Saturday: Farmers Market, Old Sacramento, and Sutter Health Park

Saturday morning, Sacramento's Midtown Farmers Market runs from 8 AM to 1 PM at 20th and J Street — about ten minutes from the house. Fresh produce, handmade pastries, local honey, flowers, and consistently good coffee from Sacramento's rotating local roasters. It is the best slow start to a Saturday in this city and it costs almost nothing.

If the Sacramento River Cats are home Saturday evening — and in May they often are — Sutter Health Park is a seven-minute walk from City of Trees House. A Triple-A ballgame in warm May weather, walking distance from where you're staying, is a different experience from driving to a parking lot. Check the schedule when you book and build the weekend around it if the timing lines up.

Old Sacramento Waterfront, ten minutes from the house, is worth a detour before you leave the city — cobblestone streets, the Sacramento River from the levee, the California State Railroad Museum, and the kind of quiet that downtown Sacramento hits on Sunday mornings. It is the right final note for a concert weekend.

What to Know About Ace of Spades Sacramento

• Ace of Spades is general admission standing. Wear shoes you can stand in for a couple of hours — this is not a sit-in-your-seat show.
• The venue is 21+ unless otherwise noted. Check the event listing before buying tickets if you are bringing anyone under 21.
• Parking on R Street on a Friday night is workable but competitive. A rideshare from the house is $10–14 each way and removes the variable entirely. On a show night, it is the right call.
• Tickets are available through Ticketmaster. Ace of Spades shows at this size do sell out — buy early if you are planning the trip around the concert.

Book Direct and Save

Downtown Sacramento hotels near R Street and Ace of Spades run $160–220 per night on concert weekends — one room, hotel bathroom, no kitchen, no hot tub, no backyard. City of Trees House gives your entire group the full 3-bedroom property, private hot tub, neon game room, and gourmet kitchen, starting at $249 per night total for up to 10 guests. Split across four or five people, it is not a close comparison.

Book at City of Trees House directly and skip the 14–17% service fee that Airbnb layers on at checkout. Use promo code DIRECT5 for an additional 5% off your direct booking — savings that cover a round of drinks at the show or a full Saturday dinner on R Street.

We're Ryan and Ashley — Superhosts since 2017, 4.94 rating, 721+ reviews. We're nearby, we respond fast, and we know Sacramento well enough to answer any question before or during your stay. A concert weekend at Ace of Spades with The Academy Is... playing Almost Here in May is the kind of trip worth doing right. Book at City of Trees House and we'll have the hot tub ready when you arrive.