Encore

This was my first venture out to Encore to check out a few DJ’s, keep in mind this was a special event and I haven’t been on a regular night.
I thought the club was pretty good. It’s certainly not what you would expect for an electronic music venue though. It had more of an underground/​ravey vibe than other clubs that seem more «uptight» that play similar music. Yet there weren’t really many «ravers», thank god.
Nice big outside area to go get some fresh air when you needed a break and there was always an open seat if you needed to sit down for a bit. The inside area was nice too, one good size dance room that had some really simple lighting, but it worked well. Also, always an open seat inside if you needed a break from the dancing. There was a good crowd who loved to dance and everyone was very friendly… This is certainly not Spiros of old.
Great drink specials until 11. I think pretty much everything was $ 3 until 11 and then went to $ 6. I’m use to spending $ 6 or $ 7 for a red bull/​vodka from the get go, so it was nice to get there early and drink for cheap, then sober up from 11 – 3 and drive home :)
All the bartenders/​staff were very pleasant and quick, the front bar made way better drinks though, not sure what was going on in the back. I never had to wait more than a couple minutes for a drink.
This was a refreshing change to the usual clubs with big name DJ’s. I liked the place, had a blast and can’t wait to go back for the next show.

8÷6÷2010− Paid $ 6 buck cover for the «Jai» Reggae show– Was expecting bands and good reggae. Had Reggae Kareoke (sp) basically. Joke show– big promotion and some flammer shoving a probably laced beer in my face saying with a lisp «Here, you can have this, my buddy is too drunk to drink it»…Im like… RUFKM.
Sound was good if you like DJ action. Make sure the show you think you are going to is really a show… I feel ripped off.

Ok, I’m a little biased because I am part of the team helping to promote POW! on Saturday nights, but I am not just a DJ or promoter — I’m a long-​time supporter and fan of Austin electronic music events, and this venue has a ton of potential. In time, I’m hopeful that this will become one of the mainstays of the Austin nightlife scene. I’ve been going out in Austin since 1997, and going to events worldwide including NY, Miami, LA, London, Barcelona, Ibiza, etc., and I truly believe this venue has possibly the best sound and lighting of any club in Austin.
If you like techno and house music, come out for a Saturday and come ready to dance. You won’t be disappointed!

i checked out this venue to see a friends band. even on a night feauturing rock bands this club has an all metal vibe. the sound guys get free reign over music between sets and have a very selfish playlist. a good dj plays to the crowd to set the atmosphere. keeping to their style they could have played sabath, iron maiden, or even ministry instead of their friends shitty metal band, but a better idea would have been to play prince, bowie or queen to set a good rock vibe. the sound guy at the patio stage further injected his poor taste during the bands set by taking a great sound system and bending it to his insatiable appetite for bass. this sound system was very accommodating to his misguided idea of what sound reinforcement is, but that doesn’t make it right. the kick drum and bass were so dominant in the mix you could not escape it even at the very back by the merch booth. this guy should not be allowed behind any mixing board at any time without supervision by a qualified sound engineer. other than that this club is suffering from an idenity crisis. glow bracelet merchants?, family guy art?, shitty glitter art of grateful dead logos? and all to the most horrible metal soundtrack imaginable. i had to listen to skinny puppy’s «rabies» to cleanse my metal palate after leaving this twilight zone of a club.

So… Regulation Size got an email TODAY 4÷21÷10 at 5:30pm cancelling their show for tomorrow night. LAME!!! The owner claims that he does not want to open and lose $ tomorrow night so he cancelled all bands performing. We had a huge crowd planned to make it out to support the band and the newest live music venue on Red River. How is pulling about 40 – 50 folks in losing money?
Encore BLOWS with their last minute cancellation.

This is the site for the first Rock Raizer event on April 17^th. Awesome location and awesome people. Love this place!

Not that I expect club bathrooms on 6^th street to be anything special, but Encore boasts almost certainly the most disgusting ladies’ room downtown. Of the 4 stalls in the bathroom, one was out of order, 3 were lacking doors, 2 next to each other also lacked any divider between them, and there was no toilet paper or paper towels anywhere. I probably could have had more privacy peeing in an alley behind Sixth. Why even have a bathroom?
I came for some SXSW shows, which were okay. The stages were hard to see (one inside and one outside), but I’m short so I guess that’s nothing new.
The two stars this place did earn are for cool lights (especially on the ceiling in the main room!) and freaky/​fun artwork, such as gangsta sesame street, freaky doll heads, and giant Howard Stern and/​or Joey Ramone. Oh, and it isn’t Spiro’s anymore, so that has to be an improvement. The décor can best be described as ’70’s porn film chic.‘
I hope to God this place fixes their bathroom, because it could be a pretty fun place to see a show… maybe.

So… new rock club on Red River to take over Spiros… aight…the space is great and the staff is friendly and those two aspects each earned a star I gave Encore. I threw the third star in for good measure because I’m hoping the following is just part of those opening jitters most businesses experience…
When you tell me top shelf liquor is $ 2 as a way to get me to pay cover at the door and then not only have a chintzy selection (no whiskey? this is a ROCK club, no?) but also charge an additional $ 2 when you add a mixer (because we all know how expensive club soda is these days) I feel like a sucker.
If that was the only thing Encore did to make me feel like I was swindled I might let it slide BUT, and this is a huge massive ugly BUT, the liquor was watered down. C’mon on guys. Don’t pretend to be a good ol’ rock n’ roll bar and then do me like a college shot bar… blech…I even ordered a shot straight after not tasting one iota of it in my mix drink just to make sure it wasn’t me… it wasn’t.
Encore, scrap the $ 2 special and just serve it up regular style because this shit ain’t right.

Encore is really cool ‘cuz it doesn’t have a «scene» yet but is located in the middle of one.
Encore is worth a stop ‘cuz it has some cool features that you wouldn’t expect — a great indoor stage, cool wooden bar and trim all around, several rooms with interesting lighting schemes (the bar has this red light that makes all the ladies look super-​cute), and more.
It’s the same club where Spiro’s used to be before some gangsters shot it up ‘cuz they got to their own gig late.
I went here once when it was Spiro’s, ‘cuz SxSW put a metal bill here and the space out back was actually pretty appropriate.
I went here during free week ‘cuz my friends Muchos Backflips were playing– and although I missed them I got to see a new awesome band from San Antonio called We The Granada.