Emo’s

Great concert space. Very fun bar scene. And they should definitely be rewarded for their diversity in acts they bring through. One of my first memories of Sixth Street was back as an undergrad years and years ago coming to see Sage Francis and his «F*** Clear Channel Tour» (he did not censor it with asterisks like I kindly just did for the children reading on their iPads) which was totally sweet for this kid to see.
I saw other shows here but none of them really live up to that epicness.

To keep it short and sweet, Emo’s is a bit of a dump Which is part of the appeal. My brother was in town for business so I got us tickets to go see FIshbone. The crowd was rowdy and the band was crazy. Good times indeed.
It appears that Emo’s will be shutting down by the end of 2011 so enjoy it while you can.

You don’t go to Emo’s for the atmosphere, or the drinks, or for any other reason than a band you like is playing. Whenever I even start to feel myself having a good time or a little nostalgic, I have to go to the bar, where, up until about a year ago, every single bartender was a complete jerk. Then you remember, «wow, I really hate being here».
All the crap they have done to the outside area has not really improved anything. It’s no wonder they are having to move to the east side. I come here plenty when they are not even half-​full – oh, did I forget to mention the cover prices are usually RIDICULOUS? And I happily support live music but it is so hard to pay good money and get shitty service and probably have to wade through pee coming out of the men’s room AND have to endure the 50% likelihood that the sound is going to be terrible that night.
I mean, the business model is all wrong. The second they started charging more than $ 2 – 5 for most shows, (coincidentally around the time Liberty Lunch closed), it seemed this place was a lot more empty. Isn’t it better to get people in, buying drinks, having a good time, and coming back more often? When the cover prices went up, so many people just stopped going. And the ticket prices at Emo’s East seem really high too. I can only hope a better venue of club will go up in this space: a venue where the cover is reasonable, the sound is good, and the staff is at least civil.

I grew up going to shows here. my first time was when I was around 14 – 15 and saw Retarded Elf in the outdoor venue. definitely a classic, couldn’t tell you how many shows I’ve seen here or how many drinks I’ve had here. I’ve got a lot of great stories that stemmed from this place.
a dirty little dive that will steal your heart.

Updated to 5-​stars baby! Saw 100 Monkeys on Sunday, August 7^th and it was amazing!
Maybe it was the craptastic experience at House of Blues two days prior; maybe it was the awesome bouncers that had our backs when some crazy chicks tried to push us out of the way; maybe I’m just a dive bar kinda gal. I don’t know and I don’t care. I HEART Emo’s! Wait. That’s not a very dive bar-​ish expression, huh? Don’t judge me.
The show was inside this time, so no smoking… woo hoo! We were front row again and the sound was effing fantastic! I could feel the music deep in my soul. The drinks were cheap, there was no a/​c to be felt and I was drenched in sweat and I still have no voice, but dayum I had fun!
Oh! And the bathrooms had doors! Score for Emo’s! Ok, I think I’m in love with this dingy, dirty place… I need a moment. Wait for me Emo’s in all your dingy glory… I will be back!

I have been to Emo’s for more shows than any other location downtown in the last 15 years. It’s never changed in all that time other than being more frequently sold out and packed. The staff is either one of two types: typical bouncer aggro or completely apathetic.
As a guy, I understand that the ability to stand and pee is considered a blessing by many. I may be peeing alone when I say I do not enjoy lining up to a trough style urinal with other men, especially drunk men who lose all sense of personal space. That bathroom is the stuff of horror movies or pee fetish films. Old Gregg comes to mind, You want to go to a club where people wee on each other? Why no Old Gregg, I don’t.
All in all, I don’t expect much from downtown locales. I like that the place sticks to its roots and doesn’t feel the need to redesign the scheme just to get more business (not incuding the bathroom of course).
Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention, I only order beers at Emo’s as the «drinks» are watered down nothingness. Sad sober face.

I was here during SXSW 2011. I had so much fun. There drinks were cheap. the music was good. they have an outdoor smoking patio with a bar, so you can drink and smoke at the same time :)
…will def. check it out again when i’m in Austin!

I can’t remember the first time I saw a show here. It’s been a long long time. I DO remember performing here many times for burlesque shows, concerts, etc.
The last 3 years, I’ve had my sxsw event here, and the event people, managers, stage manager, and barkeeps are all great to work with.
This isn’t the type of place you want to see up close and personal in the daylight. This is a large venue that you want to fill up with interesting people clad in fantastic attire. They’re very easy-​going on our decorating and bringing in large art pieces. They don’t mind when I have a last-​minute marching band come through the door. And they liked all the kolaches I left for them.
Thanks for your help over the years, y’all.

The reason that I didn’t give it one star is due to SXSW. I dig Emo’s during SX because of the day parties, where everyone is chill and you can come and go as you please, and they have better music than they usually do the rest of the year.
Aside from SX, I dread when I see a band on the calendar that I want to see. I will say this; I have been coming here for over 10 years, and not once have I had a pleasant experience with anyone who works at Emo’s. Scroll down and read Lacey’s post to get an idea of the mentality of someone who works here. We get it, Emo’s — you are crusty old punk/​metal heads with a chip on your shoulder. You despise anyone who smiles often and you love sitting at the door or behind the bar scowling at younger kids, and you love taking their money. You love laughing and responding, «No, we don’t have that,» when someone asks for a certain type of beer. And your favorite thing is when the crowd gets a little crazy and you get to find someone to kick out.
One of my early experiences here was as a young girl of 17, I was at a punk show of one of my favorite bands at the time. It was a sold out show and I had driven 5.5 hours to get there, and waited early outside for a few hours so I could be up front. It was packed, and I was being pressed up against the outdoor stage REALLY badly, to the point where the bassist saw this and got freaked out enough to help pull me up onstage and yelled at me to watch from the side stage so I didn’t get hurt. The Emo’s staff quickly grabbed me by the arms and threw me out on 6^th street alone and wouldn’t let me back in or listen to me. I was forced to sit outside Emo’s with big underage X’s on my hands getting harassed by homeless people and thugs while I waited for my older friends who were still inside and didn’t realized what had happened.
That was a long time ago, but since then they have never redeemed themselves. I still go if there’s a band I want to see, but there’s always a sigh and curses when I see it’s at Emo’s.
Unfriendly, aggressive, egocentric, don’t care about clientele, shitty bar selection. I will say, though that after so many stagnant years, there’s a part of me that enjoys it a little now — it wouldn’t be Emo’s if the door guy smiled at me or the bartender was pleasant. I enjoy mocking it in conversation, for example when eating at a place with unfriendly wait staff, «Man, this place is like the Emo’s of the restaurant world tonight.»

Dude. I have no idea what kind of sixth street bathrooms my fellow Unilocalers are used to, but the indoor women’s bathroom at Emo’s is FINE. As in, there’s toilet paper, there’s no schmutz on the seats, there’s soap, and the sink works. What else are you looking for in a punk establishment?
I went to see Ringo Deathstarr, Ume and a couple other bands here in the inside room and it was a good time — cover under ten bucks, cheap beer, and the room was packed. The sound is not the best, but Emo’s is still a great place to see good bands for cheap.
The only thing — I came here a lot in high school and I couldn’t believe when I went back recently that somebody’s mom came up to me in the bathroom and told me I should smile. Um, I’m in the bathroom, and I’m trying to look somewhat cool at a show. Who smiles while waiting for the bathroom?!

I’ve seen more concerts at Emo’s over the years than any place else. I ALWAYS have a good time. In fact, my favorite concert I’ve ever been to was here at Emo’s. I saw Cut Copy for the first time back in 2007 or 2008, I can’t remember. It was a sold out show and more dudes than chicks were there. It was the BEST concert ever. I was right up front, in front of the singer. Everyone danced the night away.
So many good concerts and memories from here. I remember when I saw Recover and Say Anything way back in the day. 2005? Before Emo’s renovations. I liked the venue side where it was partly inside and partly outside.
My most recent venture here was to see local band, Missions. They came heavily recommended. Got here early but not too early. The opening act was amazing, can’t remember the name.
The entire time I was there, I kept thinking «Enter the hipster zone.» Daniel J and I tried to dress fittingly to fit in here with this crowd. I hope we succeeded but I fear not. There wasn’t a single person here who wasn’t dressed in some way to the hipster status.
It was cool of the bartender to say he wouldn’t care if smoking inside happened… But we decided to be polite and go outside. I also managed to walk into a closet instead of the bathroom, which was hard to find since I hadn’t been here in awhile. Bathrooms, as always were not pretty or maintained. The challenges of being a girl…
Totally my type of concert though. Max 30 people there. No one pushing or shoving or dancing on your feet. And of course, there were more guys here than girls. Typical!
What I love about Emo’s is the affordability and the variety of shows that are played here! $ 5 on a Thursday night for 3 local bands. AWESOME.

For some reason, when invited to Emo’s, I typically decline. It just seems like I’m too clean and lack the appropriate body art i.e. skull chest pieces. There’s some truth to this but the cool thing is that there’s not really a specific kind of person here 100% of the time. Emos has done a great job of appealing to all types — whether you’re the guy with tattoos on his nose (Are you Maori? WTF?) or the sorostitutes who are just there to scream over Mickey Avalon’s scabby body (vom).
We were here to hear the Authors (check em) and WMMF on the last night of free week. The place is big enough that you can be right in front of the stage where the sound is best or over to the right on the bleachers, sippin on a tallboy and goggling at the natives from afar. The service at the bar, though three deep, was REMARKABLY fast. And the drink prices were reasonable and reasonably strong. Overall, although we planned to watch a few bands and skeedaddle, we wound up hanging, having frosty lonestars and running into old and new friends there for the same.
Next time I go, I’m taking a good camera. Because under the greasy hair and the excessive bearding, some of those punkrock boys are HAWT. Making someone shower doesn’t count as «fixing them»… right? Also, do yourself a favor and stop at Kebabalicious on your way back to the car. Worth it.

I’ve seen in other reviews that people are complaining that Emo’s is dirty and the staff is rude. What do they expect? It’s a punk club?! Of course it’s dirty! Of course the staff treats people like shit! That’s all part of the experience of going to a place like Emo’s. Do people think they might meet that special person and create memories for the rest of their lives at Emo’s? That’s insane! Go to Stubb’s for that.
Emo’s exists for:
1. Loud Music
2. Getting Drunk
3. Making Mistakes
If you’re interested in one, two, or three Emo’s is for you.
The only real complaint that holds water is if you’re too far from the outdoor stage the sound gets muddied up due to people backed in, and that half roof thing.

I went to a show with my friend over the weekend. A guy groped her near the stage. While I did not personally witness what happened, I believe my friend, and according to her, he put his hand under her skirt, and rubbed her thigh and butt. He also burned her hair with his cigarette (which again, I didn’t see, but I did smell that burning hair odor). She was upset and went to inform security. They came over, talked to the offending party, who naturally denied he did anything. Rather than contacting APD (which is what I think should have happened), throwing the man out, or forcing him to move (at the very least), the security guards told the guy and my friend to just «try to get along» for the show or all of us would be kicked out. Ridiculous!
My friend had been looking forward to the show for weeks and we got there very early and waited in the heat so we could have a great spot by the stage, so we didn’t want to leave. But I for one, will not be returning to a place where the staff appears to have no regard for the safety of its female patrons.

This review is only for the entry room. I came here to shoot some photos for a coworker’s band. Despite getting in for free, I must say that the music that night (mostly head banging heavy metal) was not necessarily my genre.
Carrying around a lot of expensive equipment, I had to be pretty aware of my surroundings and I couldn’t help but keep an eye on the group of headbangers (no offense intended here, just can’t think of a more PC term at the moment) that were «dancing» (and I’m using the term very loosely here) around and jumping into each other in the middle. In the middle of the first set, a bouncer grabbed one of the handbangers and threw him outside into the street. That was probably the one act that redeemed the evening for me.
If you’re looking for an «Austin experience», Emo’s is a pretty decent place to start. Just make sure you bring some earplugs.

Simply put:
I had an excellent time. Cheap beers. Good vibe. Cool outdoor lounge area. Great show! I think the best part was watching this frail chick get mauled in the mosh pit because I’m a fan of watching people get injured. Serves the twerp right for trying to join in on such unruly behavior!
Emo’s is known for their ability to reel in some legit live acts. The weekend I went, I got to see Early Man and Valient Thorr. The following night, Bellini and Pinback were playing. Not too shabby.
Like others have said, it’s dirty– grimy– and not exactly for everyone… but fuck it. You can’t expect a ritzy venue off of 6^th street… it’s all about the music, not about the glam.
All in all, I loved it here.

The Good:
: the different bands that come here to perform. quality stuff, from the presets to cut copy to ghostland observatory to the kills and much more
: inside and outside venues
The Bad:
: it stinks in there. i don’t know when is the last time they cleaned anything in there but my god. seriously. the whole place reeks of body odor, trash, doodoo, stale cigarette smoke, and i think that about covers it
: the bathrooms are beyond disgusting. every time i use the restroom in there, i feel like i need to be quarantined as a precautionary measure. it’s seriously so foul not to mention, sometimes they are out of toilet paper. not to mention, i have NEVER seen soap there for use. GROSS. GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooosssssss
: the ATM machine doesn’t always work and this isn’t helpful when you’ve got cash-​only bars going during shows
The Ugly:
: when it is hot outside, it is about 150 degrees hotter in there. even though there is an «outside» venue, it’s enclosed to the point where air isn’t circulating for shit in there. they have a few fans blowing but it doesn’t do anything beyond slightly cooling down those lucky enough to stand near it. think of putting a bandaid on a gaping hole where your arm just got torn off. yup. has about the same effect.
Would I go back? If it’s a cool season like the spring or fall or winter, and if it’s a band i am absolutely insane about, then sure. Otherwise, summertime it will be hard to find me anywhere near here.
This place is IN (but barely, and only seasonally).

Emo’s, you get such good shows but your venue is my least favorite in town. Terrible soundsystem, the most disgusting bathrooms (troughs?!), smoking everywhere, and pillars that seem to block your view no matter where you stand.
Every time one of my favorite bands has a show at Emo’s, I die a little inside.

I can’t think of Emo’s without remembering the FuckEmos. An awesome, awesome Austin punk band from the 90s who named themselves The FuckEmos after an altercation with Emos in the early 90s. Who hasn’t gone home piss-​drunk and wanted to name their band an explicative sentence that they (and others) can cry over and over again? Especially while playing at said venue.
I’ve been going to see shows at Emo’s for the past fifteen years, and it hasn’t really changed that much. I’m glad; it is one of Austin’s best venues… that still exists. There is a small stage inside, a better «outdoor» one in the back. It can get humid and muggy eleven months a year. Now that the Roxy is gone, Emo’s ties with The Poodle Dog for «Austin’s worst women’s bathroom» prize. (Congrats!) Also, if you want to see disdain AND apathy personified, head to the space in between both stage areas. You will see it in the form of cute, yet dirty kids sitting on the ground. Atmosphere!

In San Diego, the coolest music venue, hands down, is The Casbah.
In Austin, there are easily 10 Casbahs. It’s no secret that the city is a music lovers wet dream, but it boggles my mind how cool some of these venues are.
I had a chance to check out Electric Six, Local H, and a really fun local band out there called The Lions. Those dudes were great. The legend of Emo’s precedes itself and I had been looking forward to checking out this live music spot for YEARS.
The entire city really does a fantastic job of taking advantage of the climate. Since it’s probably not going to snow anytime soon, most of the venues I’ve visited are wide open – Emo’s is no different. Plenty of open space to play around in. I also loved how they had those bleacher seats along the wall. Sometimes, standing all night sucks balls. It’s nice that there’s ample seating, because it’s definitely not a common staple in most places like this. The sound isn’t the hottest in the bleacher area, but I guess you can’t have your cake and eat it too, right?
Speaking of eating, they have a Stoney’s pizza inside! Can you say… best idea EVER? After three hours of slugging Lone Stars and watching bands hammer away on stage, one’s likely to work up a mean appetite. That cheese pizza was a god send.
I have to say, for my first visit, I was definitely stoked. This is a dope place to see a live show… and there’s nothing comparable where I’m from. You guys don’t know how good you have it! Or, maybe you do :)

WAIT SERIOUSLY? all these good reviews? I’m basing my review on the outside portion of Emo’s:
COMPLETELY RETARDED!!! First, the stage is elevated so everyone can get a better view of the band I suppose. HOWEVER, the ground’s elevation was clearly designed by a retard. The standing space closer to the stage is elevated HIGHER than the ground towards the back. WTF? So wow, youre in the back, now it’s a lot harder to see because I have all these people in front of me AND I’m standing on a lower elevation. Hmmm.
Secondly, there’s bleachers to the side so you can sit down and jam out to the band. That’s pretty cool. ONLY THAT THE POLES THAT SUPPORT A ROOF THAT’S POINTLESS IS IN YOUR WAY. Then, if you scoot around to try to get around it the bar might block your view.
Finally, there is absolutely NO circulating air in the ‘outdoors’ area except for one little area. That means you are sitting in a cloud of nasty secondhand smoke that never clears away whether you like it or not. Welcome to cancerville ladies and gentlemen!