The Red Door

A music venue speakeasy? There’s a term for that; an «underground venue».
Came here to watch a much awaited performance by Apes & Androids last week, and was utterly surprised upon finding myself on the purported address with no sign of queues, ppl, anything! Underneath the scaffolding these huge, ugly and rusty red doors were shut and yet bore the correct number: 140
If it wasn’t for the fact that someone was waiting for me outside, I would have thought I was at the wrong address. Nope. I open the huge unassuming door and immediately I saw that the inside was teeming with yahoos and jonesy’s; we paid our $ 3 bucks entrance, threw them in the money bucket and went inside. It is a tiny tunnel-​like space, at the end lies the stage, on the sides some seating. That’s it. There’s a DJ booth on one corner, and an old piano, complete with candlelight standing in as bar; only draft beer available, 3 a piece and you’re set.
The spartan frugality of the venue actually makes it perfect for certain music/​bands; there were ppl sporadically smoking inside (which is not allowed) but they were being discrete about it, and didn’t get caught. Bathrooms are upstairs and the lines can get maddening but what do u expect? We drank and watched three performances and of course, Apes & Androids which rocked the «room». I was actually surprised at the light show capability of such a tiny place, and the sound system wasn’t bad either. All in all, for the underground charm, a giddy grunt; «blah» of 3 star proportions is what the Red Door gets. It’s not the Hammerstein, it’s not the Bowery, or Studio B; but come to see ur favorite indie just don’t forget… a flask.