The Demo

Best venue for local music!
I love a good rock and roll show. The energy, the sound, the excitement make for a great night out. St. Louis has a very unique local scene, and as far as seeing great local music, The Demo is the place to be.
The Demo is the complimentary venue to The Ready Room, a venue that typical houses smaller commercial acts, and on a busy night, Manchester Rd is covered with people waiting for shows at both venues. Sandwiched between the two venues is a little record store, so it’s basically the coolest block in the StL.
The venue is pretty plain. There’s little to draw away your attention from the music, but it’s usually dark inside anyway. The floor is pretty well open with some seating on the side and the bar directly in back. The stage, however, is tall and awesome, and there’s no problem seeing the acts that are performing.
There’s no food but plenty of beer to choose from, whether you’re looking for cheaper swill or craft beer. The Demo has a nice selection. I don’t go very often during the week, so I don’t know if the run specials or happy hours. On occasion, they do have collaborations with the record store, and the beer doesn’t usually run too high. However, the beer prices are pretty standard on weekends, par for what you’d pay anywhere in The Grove.
The staff is great. Those guys work between both venues, and they do a very good job.
Altogether, I can’t think of a local venue that I would rather hang around. Great place, sound, people!

Imagine the most annoying, terrible, 21 year-​old hipster douchebags and combine that image with a subpar, wannabe band that belongs in your mom’s basement. That pretty much sums it up. To top that off, the owner’s a complete jerk.

I went to the Demo on Saturday to see a comedy show. Let me start off by saying i gave this 4 stars based on my expectations being realistic before arriving there.
This place is small! Its basically like someones basement with a plywood stage thrown together and filled with folding chairs. Sounds kinda crappy right? To some it might just be, but amazingly it works!
There is a bar along the back wall and the smallness actually made the experience more intimate and personal. The seats may be minimal but there was not a bad one in the place.
The Demo was also very clean and the bathrooms are enormous and also very clean.
Don’t go here expecting the Pageant or anything in fact imagine if the Pageant and Pop’s had a premature baby, that would be the Demo! Its perfect place to catch some cool independent music that you wouldn’t be able to see many other places!
Don’t judge a book by its cover and give the Demo shot!

Also saw the comedy show Saturday. At one point during the show some asshole pounded on the glass outside, then walked in and screamed in order to disrupt the show, which he did. He was promptly ejected… just joking. He seemed to know the guy working the door so he hung out there for a bit, then walked alongside the stage and folded his arms in an «impress me» pose. He then walked to the bar and was served. He then walked back up front and a manager (or someone who worked there at least) told him to leave. The situation escalated and the drunk guy started throwing punches. The fight moved outside but the manager kept his foot in the door, letting in all the noise from the fight. At this point the comedians had to stop the show to see what the commotion was. They took it in stride and recovered well.
After leaving another fight broke out outside a club a few doors down. Don’t plan on heading back.