Parish

Great venue.
They let me in even though I’d forgotten my ticket (I’m so used to digital delivery that I forgot to bring the one they’d mailed me — I did have my receipt though), and everyone at the gate was extremely nice. Pair that with great acoustics, a nice bar and small seating area, and an awesome atmosphere, and you’ve got one of my favorite venues in Austin.

With all of the great places to hear/​see a band in Austin, I can’t believe I’m about to say this… But here it goes.
My favorite place for live music is on 6^th Street.
Parish is, IMO, the most underrated venue in town. Yes, you enter from craziness that is 6^th street. But once you climb the stairs and walk into Parish you are somewhere else completely.
We’ve been to numerous shows here and have never been disappointed. Even for a sold out show, you have no trouble finding a good spot to stand with a great view of the stage. You don’t wait more than a minute or two for a drink, and there’s a clear path to the bathrooms. Oh, and the sound system is amazing. I’m not sure what else you’d want from a venue, but those pretty much cover my must-​have list.

Decent venue. But a bit hypocritical. Light three bowls, no one cares. Light a cigarette, get thrown out. There’s edibles and shit now. No need to get high and create a cloud for people who don’t want it. Expressed concerns to bar staff; zero fucks given. So next time I’m here, I’m bringing a gas mask.

Really really annoyed by the management here. Me and my friend were on the guest list for a show and they Denied me entrance because they thought my ID was fake… It wasn’t… Then they proceeded to not let my friend in because he was with me. And my ID was «fake» needless to say I argued and told them to call the manager but the door man wouldn’t do it. Very upset by these people

Came to the Parish with my husband to see Xavier Rudd, great experience! Small but fun music venue. Friendly and cozy place will definitely come back!

When I went up the stairs to the show at the Parish, I was expecting to enjoy a mellow night of killer tunes with my pal Corey. What I was not expecting was a nice groundscore — a bag of drug, about half full, nestled at the foot of a groping couple. It was probably theirs, because they were really going at it, but like how do you not realize it fell out of your pocket lol? So I got a definite visual lock on its location, but it was still guarded by the neckers. It was really hard to focus on the rest of the set as we had to position ourselves behind them, even though we were now facing center stage. Corey had the idea of waiting for banger moments when everybody would be dancing to illuminate the floor with the light from my phone’s screen, but that garnered some weird looks from people, as it probably looked like I was trying to take photos of their butts (not true). The smoochers had scooted up a fair bit, but short of blindly feeling around on the ground I didn’t have any other move, so I had to bide my time. It was during the second song of the encore when the lighting was finally good enough again that I realized it wasn’t a bag of drug, but just a bit of tape in the exact dimensions of a bag of drug stuck to the floor. Really disappointed me but the show was good so the night wasn’t wasted. Shots are around 4 $.

Terrible. I was the first person in line for the KCRW showcase, and was told I would get in after the badge holders. After waiting 2 hours (!) another guy comes out and tells me too bad, only badge holders get in, and then was rude and condescending when I was upset. Worst concert experience ever. I’m happy to give these guys one star. I was given conflicting statements and would have never wasted two hours of my life if I knew that was how things were going to end. SXSW has to be the worst festival ever. So lame. And Parish just added to that! Never patronize these guys please!

First, and likely the last, time here. If there’s one thing that drives me nuts, it’s rude servers. I hope the bartender I got today is temporary because she was absolutely rude. Gave us our drinks and barely said two words to us. Then there’s the price for the drinks themselves. $ 10 for a beer and glass full of ice with a little soda in it? Hope this isn’t what the rest of SXSW is going to be like…

It is an intimate setting with fine acoustics. The biggest problem is the heat. Its 35 degrees outside, and near the stage I could not breathe the air is so thick and warm. The fans are all in the back of the room, and do not touch the stage area. I actually felt bad for Pete Yorn tonight, I had several times I wondered if he was going to pass out. Again, love the small venue. Perhaps work on the air movement in that place and less focus on how loud the music is, more focus on sound quality.
The bartenders were attentive and snappy, the staff was helpful, although every time I walked by an employee I could see the glow of their cell phones.
I would probably whoop some tail if I owned this venue. Way too much disinterest in the door staff. Not sure I would avoid this venue, I would try it out for sure. Just hang to the back so you stay comfy!

Pretty good venue with great sound/​acoustics. great beer options, lots of great acts come through the doors and its located on dirty sixth. a couple of things to point out, directly across the bar on the long wall– this is not seating its a slanted slippery surface, don’t fall. also the bathroom doors push in, no you didn’t hit someone.

Probably my favorite small indoor concert venue in Austin. It holds about 600 people, the sound is usually spectacular, and they have a decent selection of reasonably priced local beers. Most crowds here are respectful to the artists, in direct contrast to the social hour at Stubb’s. I love the black walls and chandelier lighting. If you need to sit down, there’s seating along one wall, although it’s often full. There are a couple pillars that can block views in certain places, and yeah it’s on 6^th street, which is a pain — but other than that, 5 stars.

Probably my favorite small indoor concert venue in Austin. It holds about 500 – 600 people, the sound is usually spectacular, and they have a decent selection of reasonably priced local beers. Most crowds here are respectful to the artists, in direct contrast to the social hour at Stubb’s. I love the black walls and chandelier lighting. If you need to sit down, there’s seating along one wall, although it’s often full. There are a couple pillars that can block views in certain places, and yeah it’s on 6^th street, which is a pain — but other than that, 5 stars.

The Parish is probably my favorite place to see a show in Austin. When I first walked into this venue, it was instant-​love. Who wouldn’t want to see a show in a weirdly elegant, funky, historic, hip venue that’s a good size and has great acoustics? Somehow this place maintains an intimate vibe, despite its sometimes large crowds.

Came here tonight with my wife for Austin Free Music week. Really impressed with the sound and the bands were fantastic from the ones we heard. Definitely swing through here for some good tunes.

This could be a great venue if they would upgrade the sound system. Decibel level does not equal sound quality! We went to go see the Kopecky Family Band 09÷15÷14, I’m not sure how they could make a great band like that sound so terrible. At one point they were playing trombones which sounded like kazoos on their sound system. Don’t get me wrong, I love to rock out with the volume turned high, but this system made everything sound garbled and tinny.

Really irritated by this place.
Came a few weeks ago for Sabra Johnsin show and was utterly disappointed. The front had a few small tables and chairs for people to sit and the rest was standing room only. The problem was that if you aren’t right behind the tables or with in the first few rows you are unable to see. We stayed 10 minutes and left. I could literally only see the heads of the dancers.
I contacted the venue to get a refund which they said they could not do and it had to come from Sabra herself. I contacted her and she said that it was done through the venues management company. So it seems as the venue is pointing fingers at their performers and I think that is totally crappy of them. Sabra did offer me tickets to a future show at no charge and I really appreciate that. She was really nice. I do NOT appreciate that Parish basically robbed me of $ 30.
I won’t be back.

I don’t doubt there have been great shows here, and the venue itself exceeded my expectations. My friends who have gone for shows in the past have had positive experiences here.
The above being said, my rating is based on a single experience, so take it as you must. I (with a group of four others) came for the Nightmares on Wax show, which we were really excited for and purchased tickets in advance for. We were supposed to receive ‘tickets’ at the box office for will call, but were instead on a list and crossed off as we came in. Not really a big deal, of course, but it makes entry and re-​entry difficult. And selling off tickets too, since there is no refund possible.
We had someone in our group who was under 21, and I’m familiar with the policy of stamping or marking individuals who are over 21 with a valid ID to separate out the minors. The person in our group was tagged with huge X’s across the entire top of both of her hands with a sharpie, no exaggeration — as if it wouldn’t be obvious enough. I understand putting ‘X’s and the liability issues here, but there was no reason to go that overboard — there must be a better system for this anyway, especially when the event detail for the concert says «All Ages» are welcome to attend. I’ve been to a number of venues before where I didn’t have my ID and they either used wristbands or a small ‘x’ on my hands.
These small, arguably meaningless issues would have easily been forgotten had it not been for the concert itself. We liked the venue and enjoyed hanging out for a bit once inside. A bit… According to the website and information outside, doors for the show opened at 8 PM and the show would start at 9 PM. We showed up at 9:30 PM. And nothing had happened. Not even the opener had started. 15 minutes later, the opener did start, so no problem. And we waited patiently, listening to the opener… and listening… and listening.
An hour later, the same opener, playing the same music, was still playing. We decided to step outside to take a break from the droning music, around 10:45 PM. The problem was, the individual in our group under 21 was not allowed to leave the venue and come back in, even with those huge, obvious ‘X’s on both of her hands. Why? Because apparently their policy at the Parish is that this is to prevent the minor from leaving, drinking and coming back again. Okay. Could they at least mention this somewhere (perhaps an asterisk next to the ‘All Ages’ on the event detail, a sign at the entrance, somebody telling us this beforehand)?
We gave it 15 more minutes and then, realizing the opener was still going and knowing we had to get back home, had no choice but to leave early (on the way out, we were told the opener would be going another 30 minutes). We were really disappointed we couldn’t even see Nightmares on Wax start. We payed a reasonable amount of money between the five of us for weird, targeted ID policies, a delayed start to a show, a drawn out opener, and main act that wasn’t even going to start until 11:30 PM (and no refund possible, of course).
Again, I’m not discrediting the positive reviews out there. But I felt it was important to share this bad experience. True… one isolated experience. But to me and everyone else in our group, this was a poor enough experience that we would have to hesitate going there again.

Intimate setting, with great sound. What more could you want from a music venue. Not too crowded, and no awkward spots that limit viewing. If you come early even some comfortable spots to sit against the wall. The bartenders were friendly and the service was good. Better yet, clean bathrooms that were well lit.

Ok, count me in, I’m a big fan of this place, was here for the first last night to see Lucius. Think the tickets were maybe 12 bucks each, quite a steal indeed. We stopped and had a drink at The Underground first before they were letting folks upstairs, and they most definitely will NOT take it upstairs, seems they share separate liquor licenses. They have two bars, don’t know how much beers are since I let my lady buy the beers in a reversal of sorts. I was worried about the sound after hearing the first band, but it was the band, not the venue ’cause Lucius sounded perfect! The staff was pretty friendly, coming and going they wished us a good show. Certainly a younger, college crowd of course being on sixth street. Crowd was generally well behaved, they did have seating along with a padded bench along the right side of the wall for us old geezers out there. This experience made me feel like I was back in my college days in the 90’s hearing classic alternative rock! Good times, I’ll be back.

Came to one show here. It was an EDM style DJ. The acoustics are not great though and at least in this situation the guy controlling the soundboard had the amps up way to high. Bring ear plugs you so you don’t damage your ears. Even with them my ears were ringing for a day. The place is not huge. It’s incredibly dark with little security so you will probably get a contact high if you go see the right type of act. The drinks were not very strong but not über expensive either so I suppose I shouldn’t be complaining. One thing I will say was great about the place was the bathrooms. usually clubs have gross small bathrooms but these were really clean and spacious. I’m not a huge fan of 6^th street but I would come back here. It probably helps that the club is actually upstairs and not street level.

Oh Parish… I foiled your plan to overcharge my bar tab by $ 25…here are 3 things you didn’t realize…
First: you assumed that 3 drinks for me in the span of 4 hours would render me «drunk.»
Second: you didn’t give me an itemized receipt when I paid out with my credit card… Thats what we in the business call a «clue.»
Third: you probably thought I was stupid and couldn’t do math. My boyfriends beers were $ 6 a piece… there’s no way my 3 piddly vodka drinks were $ 15 A PIECE!
I showed you… hope you enjoy your crappy tip!

The Parish is a top notch music venue. They bring in fantastic artists, have a sweet sound system and it’s big enough for you and all your 4200 friends. We recently went to a Shakey Graves show, the last of his «residency» there.
Even though it didnt happen until midnight, the show was stellar. Crowded but not too packed, we all had a pretty solid view of the stage. The bathrooms were clean, the servers were prompt and friendly and it’s an all ages venue. 18 year olds need tunes too!
One gripe: I would love if they had water around. We were at the end of our night and drinking H2O. Having to ask for it each time was a drag.

The acoustics are great, the décor is great, the bands they book are great, but the drinks are so expensive for 6^th street.
I ordered a gin and tonic ($ 5) and AGHHHH their well gin is Taaka. For the price of two gin and tonics I could have bought the whole damn bottle. It tasted pretty gross. A Jack and Coke cost $ 7.50. Tall boy Lonestars were $ 4.
So, don’t expect to get a bang for your buck at the Parish, but do expect to see some great bands. Sarah Jaffe blew my mind last night, and the Parish hosted last year’s SXSW NPR party.