See bands before they play the 9:30 at the Red & the Black.

[MindCage]

The Red and the Black should be boycotted by bands and patrons should look elsewhere for local music in DC. Members of a local band that I have seen regularly were screwed the last time they played there in terms of their take of the door. The show brought in a decent crowd, but most of the money that was collected at the door was given to the door man. The person running the sound board had no clue what he was doing and the staff was generally rude to the bands on the bill. Bands in DC have a hard enough time and don't need clubs screwing them to add to their difficulties...

And I have heard this complaint from more than one band, so it was not necessarily an off night. Stay away...

A decent crowd with a venue capacity of 99 people? 25 people in there would make it looked packed.

[snailhook]

The Red and the Black should be boycotted by bands and patrons should look elsewhere for local music in DC. Members of a local band that I have seen regularly were screwed the last time they played there in terms of their take of the door. The show brought in a decent crowd, but most of the money that was collected at the door was given to the door man. The person running the sound board had no clue what he was doing and the staff was generally rude to the bands on the bill. Bands in DC have a hard enough time and don't need clubs screwing them to add to their difficulties...

I have heard this from many bands.

I admit I'm pretty biased in my hatred for the Red & Black, but I used to book there and I know firsthand how they operate. Nobody there gives half a fuck about music or treating bands with respect. The sound system is a joke and they have the bartender running it. Local bands are better off playing a house show. Or the Galaxy Hut, if you want to play in a shoebox. I tell bands to skip DC if the only play they can get is the Red & Black. It's just not worth playing.

[snailhook]

I'd much rather go to the Red and the Black over the VL, if just because of the upstairs bar and the lack of surly bartenders.

seriously, redsock?  the surly bartender comment may have been accurate pre-2007, but when i was booking and managing the velvet from 2007 to late 2008, we did not have surly bartenders.  i bartended three times a week, and even though i may be opinionated, i am certainly not surly.  and neither is the rest of the staff.  also, the velvet's sound system and booking are far superior to the red and black.  there is no comparison between the two venues, except that the red & black serves shitty food and the velvet serves no food.

the velvet lounge is a completely different place now than it was before 2007.  the only thing that remains is that we still run shows late.